Plan ahead and move away from air freight exports, Kenyan horticulture warned

Kenya’s fresh produce sector must invest in more environmentally friendly methods of transport to maintain its grip on the valuable European markets, an official of the UK’s Soil Association has warned.

Lord Peter Melchett, a policy director at association, which certifies organic foods in UK, says only long term approach to ongoing air freight debate will prevent a possible erosion of the country’s valuable European market share.

“In a world where climate change is going to be the dominant situation, developing more environmentally friendly products is a must,” he said. “In the next 20-30 years there are going to be curbs on air travel. If governments decide to get airlines to pay for their environmental costs then it’s going to be uneconomical to fly fresh produce,” Melchett said.

Air travel has come under heavy criticism in recent months for its high rate of carbon dioxide emissions. And although air-freighted fresh produce only accounts for a tiny percentage of the total pollution caused by food production, air freight has become the fastest growing means of food transport, leading to calls for taxes on its use.

Kenyan officials in the UK have sought to counter arguments against air-freight by demonstrating the country’s environmentally friendly methods of production, typically using natural sunlight to generate energy.

Melchett urged Kenyan government and fresh produce farmers to think ahead, despite the possibility of winning the climate change debate. “Farmers may be doing good business now but a look into the long-term future reveals that it would be very misleading to base business growth on a system of transport where costs are high and bound to increase,” he said. “The problem with air travel is that it has to be tackled globally. So it won’t be one rule for the UK and one for Kenya. Measures will affect everyone.”

The air freight debate has not yet had a noticeable impact on consumer purchasing but consumers of organic products appear to be more sensitive to environmental issues. New figures out last week showed that sales of organic products delivered in boxes from local growers grew more than twice as fast as supermarkets sales last year.

“The staggering 53 per cent growth in sales through box schemes and other direct routes confirms strong public support for local, seasonal and organic food that provides a fair return to farmers and growers, boosts the local economy, and also reduces your carbon footprint,” said Helen Browning, Soil Association director of food and farming.

The Soil Association is currently discussing whether it should even certify organic suppliers that fly their produce to the UK. Its decision, due next month, may lead to similar labels to those introduced by Tesco and M&S to highlight air-freighted goods or it may even ban certificates on any suppliers using air freight.

Such moves could have a major impact on African producers of organic vegetables, a sector that is increasingly popular because of the strong demand from UK consumers and the higher margins for growers.

The Soil Association certifies around 75 per cent of organic products on the UK retail market, and has a strong reputation because of its high standards.

“We’re not against imported products at all,” explained Melchett. “Bananas coming by sea from the Caribbean have a very low carbon footprint. But the environmental impact of air freight is growing so fast that it will soon contribute more than livestock production.”

Other African countries are developing products to bring to the northern hemisphere by sea, added Melchett, and Kenyan growers should follow this example. They should also develop local markets to protect against the threat to exports.

“My advice would be to stick to organic. It’s clearly the way the global market is going to go. But I would also urge all farmers, wherever in the world they are, to look at the long-term security of their markets.”

Britain’s organic food and drink sales reached the £2 billion mark for the first time in 2006, with a sustained market growth rate of 22 per cent throughout the year.

Business Daily Africa