Kenya's horticulture sector is entering a new season, with stricter export controls for avocados and renewed calls from macadamia farmers for market liberalisation. These developments reflect ongoing adjustments around quality requirements, market access, and value creation in high-value crop exports.
The 2025/2026 avocado export season officially began on April 2, 2026, following improved fruit maturity across major production zones. The Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) has introduced stricter regulations to ensure only mature fruit is exported to premium markets. Exporters are required to undergo packhouse inspections, submit lists of registered suppliers, and comply with traceability systems linking shipments to origin and harvest timing. Open trucks, pickups, or Probox vehicles are no longer permitted for transport, and harvesting immature fruit risks licence revocation. Airport inspections focus on dry matter content, with avocados required to meet 20–24% depending on variety before clearance.
These measures follow challenges in previous seasons, where mixed maturity levels led to rejection in international markets. In 2024/25, Kenya exported approximately 110,000 tons of avocados, valued at over US$190 million. Losses from rejected immature fruit in premium markets can reach US$57 million annually, reinforcing the need for compliance among growers and exporters.
In the macadamia sector, farmers are calling for a relaxation of the ban on raw nut exports. Current regulations restrict exports of processed products to promote value addition, but this has limited access to markets where raw nuts are in demand, particularly in Asia. Farmers report surplus stock, low farm-gate prices ranging between US$0.33 and US$0.53 per kilogram, and the closure of some trading companies unable to move product.
This comes ahead of Kenya's trade agreement with China, which takes effect on May 1, 2026, allowing duty-free exports of agricultural products. Industry stakeholders view this as an opportunity to expand market access for raw macadamia nuts, while maintaining processed exports to existing Western markets. Kenya produces approximately 51,200 tons of macadamia annually, supporting between 200,000 and 500,000 smallholder farmers across Mt Kenya, Eastern, and Rift Valley regions.
For growers and exporters, compliance with avocado export regulations remains necessary to maintain access to premium markets and reduce losses. At the same time, potential changes to macadamia export policy and new trade flows to Asia may alter market dynamics. Kenya's avocado and macadamia sectors continue to adjust to regulatory and market conditions in the coming season.
Source: Floriculture
