Event

EU market access for avocado agribusinesses in Kenya

This project aims to inform East Africa Community (EAC) and European Union (EU) officials about the climate and other sustainability implications of practices by export-oriented agricultural SMEs in East Africa and identify areas for cooperation to ensure environmental standards and sustainability commitments are met. It draws on networks developed in Africa and the EU during the previous ECF grant to SEI.

7 December 2023 at 09:00 EAT

ending at 17:00 EAT

Nairobi, Kenya

Stockholm Environment Institute Head Office, World Agroforestry Centre, United Nations Avenue, Gigiri, , P.O. Box 30677 , Nairobi, 00100

Event contact

Alphayo Lutta / alphayo.lutta@sei.org

Avocado tree with fruits — Avocado tree with healthy fruits

Photo: sandid / Pixabay

The project also builds on the work during that grant on the sustainable trade index evaluation of EU-Africa trade arrangements, including the EU-EAC EPA, which was validated with stakeholders.

Background

The EU Market Access explores access to EU markets for East African Avocado Agribusinesses and the effect
of EU sustainability standards. It aims to identify challenges and opportunities for the region’s trade
relationship with the EU as it moves towards more environmentally stringent requirements for market access.
Stakeholder discussions at a workshop in Kigali, Rwanda, delivered under SEI’s previous ECF grant, indicated
that research and analysis on African exports and EU market access would complement existing efforts
focused on sustainable production in the agricultural SME sector.

Africa’s biggest export market is the EU, accounting for 33% of total exports in 2020. While there are still barriers
to market access, the East African Community finalized an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU
in 2014. Still, it has been held up as not all EAC member countries have ratified it into national laws. Kenya has
ratified the EPA and this year agreed with the EU to pursue an interim agreement with binding commitments on
environmental protection, climate, and labour rights. Once agreed, this will provide Kenya with full access to the
EU market for its exports in advance of the delayed EPA, provided these sustainability commitments are met.

The trade and sustainability chapters of trade agreements that include such commitments have been given renewed focus in the EU’s Trade and Sustainable Development Action Plan, released on 22 June 2022. This will provide more scope for locally developed approaches and enforcement as well as support by the EU’s development cooperation tools. Agricultural commodities are the region’s largest export to the EU and are likely to be among the focus areas for the trade and sustainability chapters being negotiated by the EU and Kenya.

Workshop Objectives

The objectives of this workshop are threefold:

Present the project findings on climate-smart avocado production management practices, the challenges and
opportunities across the avocado value chain, the EU market access requirements and niche development for
the avocado value chain.
Co-develop with avocado agribusinesses, practical recommendations to overcome the production, post-harvest, and market challenges across the avocado value chain.
Discuss sector-specific strategies and guidelines for implementing the recommendations.

Workshop outcomes

The following are key expected outcomes from the workshop:

Enhanced understanding of the challenges and opportunities to sustainably upgrade the avocado value chain in Kenya.
Practical recommendations to overcome the production, post-harvest, and market challenges across the
avocado value chain.
Strategies and sector-specific guidelines for implementing the above recommendations.

Target participants

This workshop is expected to bring together representatives from avocado agribusinesses in Kenya who have
directly or indirectly contributed to or are well placed to influence the implementation of the findings.

*Session I – Welcome and Introduction*
8:30 – 9:00 AM	Registration of Participants
9:00 – 9:15 AM	Opening Remarks *Speakers:* Mr. Matthew Langdon – European Climate Foundation Dr. Romanus Opiyo – Stockholm Environment Institute, Africa
9:15 – 9:30 AM	Introduction to the Workshop Objectives and Outcomes *Facilitator:* Dr. Anderson Kehbila – Stockholm Environment Institute, Africa
9:30 – 9:45 AM	Keynote Address *Speaker:* Mr. Muyambi Fortunate – Deputy Executive Secretary, East Africa Science and Technology Commission
9:45 – 10:00 AM	Introduction of Participants *Facilitator:* Ms. Cynthia Sitati –Stockholm Environment Institute, Africa
10:00 – 10:30 AM	Group Photo and Tea/Coffee Break
*Session II- Presentations and Breakout Sessions*
10:30 – 11:00 AM	Presentation of Discussion Brief *Speakers:* Dr. Alphayo Lutta – Stockholm Environment Institute, Africa Ms. Elizabeth Sunguti – Stockholm Environment Institute, Africa
11:00 – 13:00 P	Breakout sessions per value chain stages of development (production, processing and market). Based on the results of the presentation, group discussions will focus on (1) co-developing practical recommendations to overcome the production, post-harvest and market challenges across the avocado value chain, (2) sector-specific strategies and guidelines for implementing the recommendations. *Facilitator:* Dr. Anderson Kehbila – Stockholm Environment Institute, Africa
13:00–14:00	Lunch
*Session III – Plenary and Definition of Implementation Roadmap*
14:00 – 15:00	Feedback on the extent to which the realities in Kenya are adequately reflected, and to improve on the usefulness of the report by ensuring consistency of the findings with the recommendations *Facilitator:* Dr. Alphayo Lutta – Stockholm Environment Institute, Africa
15:00 – 16:00	Discussion on a roadmap for the implementation of sustainable/climate-compatible trade cooperation between EU and EAC partner countries *Facilitators:* Ms. Elizabeth Sunguti and Ms. Cynthia Sitati – Stockholm Environment Institute, Africa
16:00 – 16:15	Closing remarks *Speaker:* Dr. Romanus Opiyo – Stockholm Environment Institute, Africa
16:15 – 17:00	Tea/Coffee and Departure