Aloe (Aloe vera) farmers in Kenya are voicing fears of losing export markets for the health-related plant to Uganda due to delays in gazetting a policy framework on aloe production in the country. The plant has remained an endangered crop protected by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). No aloe exporter has been licensed by the government and exports of the plant are all technically illegal.
Meanwhile, the Ugandan government has devoted resources to aloe production and has a policy for the crop. Kavata Watai, who heads the aloe exploitation department at the Kenya Forest Research Institute (KEFRI), says that aloe production in Uganda is at a more advanced stage. "The Ugandan government is more aggressive and has put a lot of resources in aloe exploitation," he said.
Kavata said that an aloe extraction factory bigger than the one currently in Baringo will soon be constructed in Uganda. "We fear that the export orders we have gotten may be taken to Uganda where the aloe industry is already established and ready to supply," said Gerald Thuo, chairman of the Kieni Aloe Plantations. "Our farmers have been waiting for a long time and are eager to export aloe gum."
Various stakeholders, including KWS, Kefri, producers and dealers have already met and come up with a policy draft. Dr. James Njogu of KWS said that it is waiting to be gazetted into law, expected in April.
Thuo said his organisation, which has more than 350 aloe farmers, has received orders to provide 12 tonnes of the crop per year to Britain, China and Japan. But the farmer says he cannot apply for a licence, as the policy has not been passed into law.
The Kieni group finished building a Sh3 million ($45,000) extraction plant at Nairutia in 2006. In Baringo, the aloe project already lost orders of more than 200 tonnes, but Kavata attributes that to internal wrangles rather than Ugandan competition.
The lack of a legal framework has led to the emergence of a large black market and smuggling of the plant out of the country. A report by the Kenya Revenue Authority shows that aloe worth Sh320 million ($5 million) was smuggled out of the country between 1986 and 2000. This stopped when many loopholes for illegal exports were closed by the government, forcing local producers to find legal channels of exporting aloe gel.
Kavata said the government had put in place many control measures for sustainable harvesting of aloe and to prevent destruction of naturally occurring aloes, which grow in communal lands and in restricted areas like parks and game reserves.
Business Day
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