It is from the center of the country, a hilly region where the rains are more abundant than elsewhere, that the majority of avocados leave Kenya, mainly heading for Europe. In Kandara, as in other farms in the country, avocado producers are helpless because for several months, gangs have been organizing to harvest and steal avocados at night.
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“Last Sunday, I got up at dawn. I came here and saw that they had cut the barbed wire. They entered the plantation and stole the fruit from this treesays Robert Kamau, a farmer at the head of four hectares of plantation. At least 2,000 lawyers. If you multiply that by 10 shillings, it was $200. I was mad with rage. They even killed my dogs! I don’t sleep well during harvest time.”
This sum of 200 dollars of booty is twice the minimum wage in Kenya. Farmers like Robert must now invest in security systems, night guards and electrified fences to protect their fruit. But few of them can afford it financially.
These thefts are particularly intense at the moment: it is not yet avocado season, international demand is not satisfied and prices are soaring. “Since December, the international demand for lawyers has explodedexplains Ernest Muthomi, president of the association of avocado producers in Kenya. The prices are getting crazy because the avocado is a seasonal crop and at the moment no country has a ripe avocado. So if you can get them and sell them on the world market, you’re rich.”
“Ten lawyers can get you $100, that’s huge for someone who doesn’t have a job.”
Ernest Muthomi, President of Kenya Avocado Growers Associationat franceinfo
These thefts reach such a level that it leads to violence in the region, sometimes leading to the death of the assailants. The government recently banned the export of immature avocados to limit pre-harvest theft. A traceability system is also under study. Not yet enough to curb cartels eager for this new “green oil”.