Agriculture deputy minister Antony Mavunde (second right) listens to ATCL managing director Ladislaus Matindi (right) during the launch of the maiden shipment of Tanzanian avocados to India at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Da es Salaam yesterday. Centre is Kamal Group director Sameer Santosh Gupta who is the coordinator of the Avocado market in India.
Summary
- Tanzania has already secured permits to access India and South African markets and now, Tanzania Horticultural Association and the government are working to open the lucrative China avocado market
Dar es Salaam. Efforts to find international markets for Tanzania’s avocados achieved a milestone after a maiden consignment was exported to India on Friday. This is good news to smallholder growers, traders and the government alike.
Tanzania has already secured permits to access India and South African markets and now, Tanzania Horticultural Association (Taha) and the government are working to open the China avocado market.
Agriculture deputy minister Antony Mavunde said India granted market access to Tanzania’s avocados last November.
Mr Mavunde was speaking at the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) before the Air Tanzania Company Limited’s (ATCL) Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner carrying two tonnes of the fruit, took off.
“This is an opportunity that we need to capitalise on in order to up our avocado exports,” he said.
He said out of 40,000 tonnes of avocados that Tanzania is currently producing per annum, only 9,000 tonnes were being exported.