EU to invest 5 mln euros in Kenyan horticultural sector

NAIROBI, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The European Union said Thursday it will invest 650 million shillings (about 5 million euros) in Kenya's horticultural sector in the next four years to boost household incomes and access to the export market.

The investment would be done under a four-year program dubbed New Export Trade (NExT Kenya), whose aim is not only to boost incomes but also create employment opportunities and improve food safety.

Katrin Hagemann, deputy head of the Delegation of the EU to Kenya, said the European bloc is committed to helping Kenya comply with horticultural exports requirements especially sanitary and phytosanitary standards through the initiative.

She told journalists in Nairobi that the NExT project was conceptualised in the context of the European Green Deal, a set of policy initiatives that seek to make Europe climate neutral by 2050 and which in part calls for compliance with food safety standards for countries exporting fresh produce to the EU.

NExT Kenya targets the whole value chain with specific focus on micro, small and medium enterprises and the private and public services that support the horticultural sector.

Hamadi Boga, principal secretary for crop development and agricultural research in Kenya's Ministry of Agriculture, said the investment will boost the competitiveness of Kenyan horticultural products in the global market.

Chagema Kedera, program coordinator of NExT Kenya, said that the program will secure lasting improvement in the capacity of all stakeholders to adapt to evolving sanitary and phytosanitary.

According to Kedera, the program will ensure that smallholder farmers apply good agricultural practices, comply with standards and market requirements, access to markets and finance, and acquire business skills.