By Lenah Bosibori
NAIROBI, Kenya — For farmers growing fruits, vegetables and flowers across Eastern Africa, getting their produce to market can be as challenging as growing it.
High freight costs, inadequate cold-chain facilities, delays at ports and borders, fragmented digital trade systems and complex certification procedures are increasing costs and weakening the competitiveness of the region’s horticulture sector.
Dr Jacqueline Mkindi, interim chair of the Horticulture Council of Eastern Africa (HoCEA) and chief executive officer of the Tanzania Horticultural Association, says these challenges are affecting the movement of produce from farms to markets.
“These challenges include high freight costs, inadequate cold-chain infrastructure, weak first-mile aggregation systems, fragmented digital trade processes, delays at ports and borders, inconsistent sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) and certification procedures, and limited utilization of opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” Mkindi said.
Stakeholders from across Eastern Africa will meet in Nairobi on September 22 and 23 for a two-day Regional Public-Private Dialogue on Horticultural Logistics and Trade Facilitation. The meeting will bring together government officials, horticulture associations, exporters, logistics companies, technology firms and development partners.
The meeting will also mark the official launch of the Horticulture Council of Eastern Africa. The private sector-led regional platform aims to give the horticulture industry a stronger collective voice on trade, market access and policies affecting its competitiveness.
HoCEA is working with national horticulture associations across the region with support from TradeMark Africa.
Horticulture is a major contributor to Eastern Africa’s economies. The sector supports farmers, creates jobs, earns export revenue, and contributes to food systems and businesses across the value chain. However, it operates in a system where time can determine whether produce reaches consumers in good condition or loses value before reaching the market.
The challenges are not limited to large exporters. Smallholder farmers, women and young people involved in agriculture, small and medium-sized businesses, aggregators and logistics providers can also be affected when produce faces delays or higher costs before reaching buyers.
Four Issues at the Centre of the Nairobi Talks
The two-day meeting will focus on four areas considered critical to improving horticultural trade across the region.
The first is trade logistics and cold-chain systems. Participants will examine the infrastructure and transport systems needed to move perishable products from farms to domestic, regional and international markets while maintaining their quality.
For fruits, vegetables and flowers, delays can quickly lead to losses. This makes reliable transport, storage and temperature-controlled facilities particularly important.
The second focus will be digital trade and smart corridors. Stakeholders will explore how digital systems can simplify cross-border transactions, reduce paperwork and improve the flow of information between traders, regulators and logistics providers.
Sanitary and phytosanitary measures and non-tariff barriers will form the third area of discussion. Participants will look at how certification procedures and other trade requirements affect the movement of horticultural products. They will also consider ways to make these processes more efficient without compromising food safety, plant health and market standards.
The fourth issue will be market access under AfCFTA. With the continental trade agreement creating opportunities for increased trade among African countries, the meeting will consider how Eastern Africa’s horticulture industry can position itself to take advantage of these markets.
The first day will focus on technical discussions and the validation of the major constraints facing the industry. Participants will also identify possible investments, interventions and the institutions responsible for addressing the challenges.
The second day will focus on turning those priorities into policy and investment commitments, alongside practical follow-up actions.
The discussions are expected to contribute to a Nairobi Communiqué outlining priority actions, responsible institutions and proposed timelines. The meeting will then culminate in the formal launch of HoCEA, followed by discussions on its immediate priorities and the council’s first 90 days of action.
“The process is intended to strengthen collaboration between government, industry and regional institutions and create clearer pathways for addressing challenges that cannot be resolved by individual businesses or countries acting alone,” Mkindi said.
A Regional Voice for Horticulture
The creation of HoCEA comes at a time when horticulture businesses across the region are facing changing market requirements, rising logistics pressures and growing competition.
As a private sector-led platform, the council will bring together national horticulture associations and other industry stakeholders to advocate collectively on issues affecting the sector.
Its establishment is also intended to create a sustained platform for engagement between businesses, governments, regional institutions and development partners.
For TradeMark Africa, the initiative forms part of its wider efforts to reduce the cost and time of trading across African borders.
The organization works with governments, regional and continental institutions, the private sector and civil society to address trade barriers through policy reforms, infrastructure development, standards and digital innovation.
For a sector dealing in products whose value can quickly decline when transport and clearance systems fail, the outcome of the Nairobi meeting could have implications well beyond the conference room.
A farmer may grow the crop, an aggregator may collect it, and an exporter may secure a buyer. However, the entire chain depends on the systems connecting the farm to the market.
This makes logistics and trade facilitation a shared concern across the horticulture value chain.
The Nairobi dialogue will therefore place a practical question at the centre of the regional conversation: What needs to change to make it easier, faster and more predictable to move horticultural products across Eastern Africa?
The answer will depend not only on identifying the bottlenecks, but also on determining who will take responsibility for fixing them. With the launch of HoCEA, the region’s horticulture industry hopes to build a stronger platform for doing exactly that.
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