Avocado on toast, in a salad or a smoothie? There are many ways to eat the green fruit which is popular with hipsters across the world – a craze that Kenya is cashing in on.
At Le Grenier à Pain restaurant in the leafy suburb of Riverside in Nairobi, upwardly mobile Kenyans and expatriates enjoy plates of “toast à l’avocat” (avocado on toast).
“It’s in every magazine, on every website how good avocado is for your health,” says restaurant owner Yan Welffens.
“My father-in-law eats an avocado every day – he doesn’t leave the house without his plate of avocado, so, I try to copy him to see if I can age [well] like him.”
The growing appetite for ready-to-eat healthy options has seen the demand for avocados increase over the past few years.
Avocado exports to Europe nearly tripled in value between 2013 and 2017, according to the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI), which is part of the Dutch Enterprise Agency.
That impact is being felt thousands of miles away, on farms in Kenya’s highlands where growers’ fortunes are changing.
‘Prices have doubled’
Peter Kariuki has recently finished selling his avocados for the season in Kandara in central Kenya, and has harvested about 400,000 fruits from his farm.
“It has been a very good season – the price per fruit almost doubled compared to last year,” he says.
The trees form a continuous canopy above our heads providing a much-needed shade. Birds perched on the branches chirp away as a cool breeze blows our way.
The ground beneath the canopy is almost bare but Mr Kariuki has planted napier grass, some arrow roots and maize a short distance away.
The grass is fed to his dairy cows and they, in turn, provide manure for the farm.
Mr Kariuki says the trees are organic and grow as in the wild – he does not need to spray pesticides or apply commercial fertilizer.
He was the first farmer in the area to plant avocados more than 30 years ago.
“I used to work as a clearing and forwarding agent at the airport in the 1980s, that’s where I learnt about avocado exports.”
Luckily for him, his father worked at the Agricultural Research Institute near their village. He brought the first seedlings to the farm.
Source: Anne Soy, BBC