The value of aloe gum is expected to double in Kenya beginning next month with the planned roll out of a new policy allowing its export.
Export of the medicinal products was banned in the 1980s, confining growers to the low-paying domestic market.
Kavaka Watai, the coordinator of the aloe project at the Kenya Forest Research Institute, said the ban has seen most dealers revert to smuggling of the product, forcing the price to fall to as low as $2 per kilogramme.
Dealers said the anticipated publication of the new guidelines for export has already pushed up the value of aloe to about $5.
Industry guidelines on aloe production have continued to emphasise plantation extraction rather than extraction from the wild. This is meant to prevent exploitation of naturally growing aloe.
In central Kenya, the race is on among farmers who are positioning themselves for the expected windfall.
A district monitoring committee comprising of KWS, KEFRI, livestock and environment officers will grant the necessary authorisation. The committee will have to certify that a farmer has the skills to harvest the crop according to the guidelines. Besides, those who want to export the crop will obtain another licence from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Kenya is a signatory to the convention, which classifies aloe as one of the world’s endangered species that needs protection from overexploitation.
Gerald Thuo from the Kieni Aloe Growers Association said local farmers were ready to grow and exploit aloe for commercial purposes under the new guidelines. “We look forward to exporting this crop since we are the only group that has been planting indigenous aloe.”
Permission to export is also expected to offer a lifeline to the Baringo Aloe Project that was launched in mid 1980s to build a large scale extraction factory.
Business Day Africa
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