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DOREEN NAWA
Lusaka
ZAMBIA has shipped its first consignment of citrus fruits to Kenya.
The first consignment of lemons was exported last week to that country.
This follows the granting of market access through Kenyan Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) and the subsequent issuance of phytosanitary requirements for citrus fruits from Zambia to Kenya.
According to information from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Plant Quarantine and Phytosanitary Service (PQPS) department, Sunsweet Produce Limited has shipped 25 metric tonnes of lemon fruits to Kenya as the first export to that country.
More shipments of citrus fruits to Kenya and other East African countries are expected as the harvest season progresses.
Last year, Zambia exported citrus fruits to Rwanda, Uganda and United Arab Emirates for the first time.
The Ministry of Agriculture through the Plant Quarantine and Phytosanitary Service (PQPS), certified the commodity by conducting a pre-export inspection and issuance of a phytosanitary certificate to ensure compliance to Kenya’s regulations.
Smallholder citrus producers who are growing the Valencia and Naval oranges and the Eureka and Lisbon lemon varieties have an opportunity to access these export markets through Sunsweet’s aggregation and processing arrangements in Mkushi.
However, their orchards must be compliant to export requirements to access these markets. The farmers are encouraged to work closely with PQPS to ensure that their produce meets the export requirements.
And Sunsweet Produce Limited chief executive officer Chris Morris said the export is evidence of Government’s good agricultural policies that have made it possible for the export to be actualised…https://enews.daily-mail.co.zm/welcome/home

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