Mwananchi Communications Ltd
Avocados have in a recent past become one of Tanzania’s hottest exports with more farmers engaging in what has been christened as the
green gold.However, even with production hitting record levels Tanzania is
yet to hit the top 10 global producers with much of the production being
dominated by Southern and Central American countries.
According to latest report by World of Statistics, Kenya is the
only African country in the top 10 producers of Avocados with 176,045 tones
annual production.
The leading producer being Mexico with 1,889,354 tonnes, Dominican
Republic with 601,349, Peru 455,394 , Colombia with 309,431
and Indonesia with 304,938 tonnes per annum
Others are Brazil with 195,492, USA 172,630, Chile 137,365 and
China 122,942 in the 10th slot.
Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA) estimates that the
country’s avocado exports reached 11,237 tonnes, or 510 containers worth $33
million in 2021.
This is 12.6 percent more compared to 2020 sales. According
to the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), in 2018 Tanzania exported
7,551 tons with a total value of $8.5 million to Europe, Africa, and Asia.
TAHA projects that Tanzania will export 15,000 tonnes in 2023,
thus generating $45 million in foreign currency. Tanzania Avocado Production
Avocado is a relatively new crop that Tanzania started exporting in 2009.
Commercial production/export of avocados is dominated by Rungwe
Avocado Company Ltd and Africado Ltd, which is based in Siha District,
Kilimanjaro region. The two companies jointly produce more than 5,000 tonnes
per year.
The rest of the growers are smallholder farmers who own a couple
to hundreds of avocado trees around their homesteads and in distant farms.
Popular avocado varieties produced in Tanzania are Hass, Fuerte, Pinkerton,
and, to some extent, Puebla.
Tanzania’s prominent avocado-producing areas are in the
regions of Mbeya, Njombe, Songwe, and Iringa in the southwest, as well as in
Kilimanjaro, Arusha, and Tanga in the northeast of the country, where coffee
and tea are traditionally grown
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