Kenyan French beans undergo strict checks in EU market from May 27

June 02, 2020: Effective May end, French beans from Kenya destined for the European Union were subjected to more stringent checks revealed Hosea Machuki, the chief executive of Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK), as reported by Daily Nation.

“FPEAK would like to bring to your attention that following a meeting of the European Commission held recently and subsequent publication in the official journal of the EU, Kenyan beans will be subjected to a 10 percent frequency of identity and physical checks,” he said in a letter to members.

Machuki said that the decision by EU was due to high frequency of non-compliance of the Kenyan beans with the relevant requirements provided.

The Nakuru county government is working on a multimillion-shilling programme that seeks to revive the pyrethrum sector and boost avocado farming. Chief officer in charge of agriculture Joel Kibet said the county government has started distributing avocado and pyrethrum seedlings to farmers.

“We have given out 173,000 avocado seedlings to 10,000 farmers, each of whom received 17 seedlings. We are concentrating on avocado because of the rainy season,” said Kibet, adding that they are also giving about 10 million pyrethrum seedlings. “Each farmer will get about 5,500 seedlings to plant on a quarter-acre,” he said.