China to purchase Kenyan mangoes amid bumper harvest

Kenya's mango farmers will soon be able to export their produce to China to prevent a price slump amid abundant harvest, a chamber of commerce official said Saturday.

Chairman of Kenya Chinese Chamber of Commerce Zhuo Wu said during the Chinese Mango Festival held in Nairobi that they will soon start exporting Kenyan-grown mangoes to China in order to boost local farmers' income.

"We will work together with Kenyan mango growers to assist them to source for market for their products in order to absorb their bumper harvest," Zhuo said.

Zhuo said the Kenyan farmers from Machakos County, one of Kenya's drought-stricken areas, approached the trade federation to help find market for their produce to prevent the perishable fruits from going bad and hence incurring losses.

"We responded to their appeal and were able to purchase 15 tonnes of mangoes and in the process putting money in their pockets," Zhuo said.

East African Legislative Assembly Member Of Parliament Peter Mathuki said the event created awareness and visibility for the products and expanded the farmers' pool of potential buyers.

"The Chinese have shown true friendship especially by buying the mangoes at almost three times the market price in order to assist their Kenyan brothers so that their farm products do not go bad," the lawmaker said.

He welcomed Chinese investors to build factories in the area to take advantage of the abundant mangoes grown in the county.

The region is more densely populated with mango trees than anywhere in the country.

However, farmers have found it difficult to profit from the local mangoes, which fruit at the same time of the year, resulting in lower prices and wastage, with so many unsold mangoes left to rot. Endit