The Green Gold Sweeping Sub-Saharan Africa

A rise in global demand for avocado is attracting farmers in Africa to tap the opportunities from the export market. In Uganda, farmers are already diversifying from their traditional cash crop coffee to plant avocado. Due to high global demand, the avocado has become a lucrative export product. Its consumption per capita increased by 406% between 1990 and 2017 in the US alone. The so-called green gold is rapidly gaining popularity on the African continent. Both Nigeria and Uganda aim to drastically increase their avocado production and become top exporters in the next decade. Kenya is already among the global top 10. Export revenues in the East African country surged by a third between 2019 and 2020. Farmers are hailing the crop as an antidote to poverty in rural areas. Avocado farming across Africa is promising a brighter future, according to both farmers and scientists. Due to an emphasis on smallholders and beneficial rain patterns, the crop’s production is expected to be less environmentally harmful than on the American continent.

SOURCE: DEUTSCHE WELLE