Kenyan cucumber farmers can earn more than 10 times by exporting their produce to Israel.
A sharp rise in demand has led to price spikes following a supply stress, which has hit the Middle East country for six months.
Despite the desert country being one of the leading global agribusiness and horticultural producer and exporter, local farmers have been compelled to suspend selling to outside markets to meet the internal demand.
According to a global agricultural produce publication, Fresh Plaza, cucumber production in Israel is barely enough to satisfy the local market.
This has resulted in prices rising up to three times.
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“In these cases, the high price of €3.68 per kg (Sh408 per kg) was more than triple the average price. Under normal conditions, cucumber prices in supermarkets range from €0.98 per kg (Sh109 per kg) to €1.30 per kg (Sh145 per kg),” the publication says.
In Kenya, 50 kg of cucumber cost Sh1,900 in Nairobi. This translates to about Sh38 per kilogram. The same quantity in Israel is fetching Sh408.
The shortage has forced the Israeli government to introduce tariff-rate quota to increase imports to shield consumers’ again high prices.
Tariff-rate quota is a trade policy tool used to protect a domestically produced commodity or product from competitive imports.