2021-01-06 16:05:40 GMT2021-01-07 00:05:40(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
NAIROBI, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) Kenya s vegetable exports hit 24 billion shillings (about 220 million U.S. dollars) in 2020 compared to 248 million dollars, the industry said on Wednesday.
Okisegere Ojepat, CEO of the Fresh Produce Consortium of Kenya, told journalists in Nairobi that the east African nation shipped approximately 60,000 tons of vegetables compared to 73,000 tons achieved in 2019. The key reason for declining revenues was the reduced market demand due to lockdowns especially in the European Union and Britain in 2020, Ojepat said.
He observed that the continued spread of COVID-19 in the key markets for Kenyan vegetables will also affect the performance of the sector this year.
Trade bodies across the supply chain have urged the government to create a compensation scheme for losses incurred due to the French border closure.
Heads of food organisations – including the Food and Drink Federation, the Fresh Produce Consortium, the UK Food and Drink Exporters Association and the Chilled Food Association – have written an open letter to George Eustice, environment secretary, and Grant Shapps, transport secretary, calling for immediate action for businesses caught up in the blockade.
Calamitous decision
“The decision of the French authorities – to ban accompanied freight on 20 December 2020 – after the announcement by the UK government of the new strain of virus has caused a calamity for many food and drink businesses,” said the letter.
Given these are typically among the most perishable forms of fruit & veg, CGMA expects products such as gem and iceberg lettuce, baby spinach, citrus fruits, raspberries and broccoli to be the first types of fresh produce to run into short supply should the border crisis continue.
Some of these products were shown to be particularly vulnerable to supply chain disruption in January 2017 when bad weather in Spain led to shortages of salad products.
But it’s not just European-grown produce that faces complications making it to the UK.
“A large amount of fresh produce is transited to Europe to get to the UK, for example from Morocco,” says Fresh Produce Consortium CEO Nigel Jenney.
By Henry Sandercock2020-12-21T12:35:00+00:00
Freight queues in Kent could number 6,000 by the end of today, according to transport secretary Grant Shapps
Food industry bodies have urged the government to find a way to get France to unseal its border with the UK or face the possibility of “serious” fresh food supply disruption.
Channel crossings to France for passengers and freight ground to a halt at midnight last night (20 December), after the country announced it would be sealing its border with the UK for 48 hours due to news that a more virulent strain of Covid-19 was spreading in England.