Eastern African countries have been urged to strengthen regional cooperation to address high logistics costs, trade barriers and fragmented cold-chain systems holding back the horticulture sector.

The Principal Secretary (PS) for Trade, Regina Akoth Ombam said the region needed to move from fragmented national efforts to coordinated action to boost productivity, deepen regional value chains and retain more value from processing, packaging and branding within Eastern Africa.

Ombam, said the sector faced common challenges, including high logistics and cold-chain costs, lengthy border procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary requirements, non-tariff barriers and limited digital integration.

The PS made the remarks in a speech read on her behalf by the Deputy Director, Secretary of Administration, State Department for Trade, Mathew Komen, on the occasion of the Regional Public-Private Dialogue and official launch of the Horticulture Council of Eastern Africa (HoCEA).

“Kenya exported about 457,700 tonnes of horticultural produce valued at Sh143.78 billion in 2025, but the region’s ambition should go beyond export volumes to increasing productivity, value addition, and market diversification,” she added.

Horticulture Council for Eastern Africa (HoCEA) Secretary General, Clement Tulezi, said the challenges facing producers and exporters were increasingly regional and could no longer be effectively addressed through national responses alone.

He cited high freight costs, fragmented cold chains, non-tariff barriers, inconsistent border procedures, changing sanitary and phytosanitary requirements, limited cargo capacity and post-harvest losses as some of the challenges confronting the industry.

Tulezi said delays at border crossings were particularly costly for perishable products because they reduced shelf life and quality, resulting in lost income and markets, noting that HoCEA would focus on addressing cross-border challenges while national associations continued handling country-specific priorities.

Tulezi said the Council’s immediate priorities would include establishing a mechanism to identify and escalate horticultural trade barriers, pursuing fast-track arrangements for compliant perishable cargo, developing a regional logistics and cold-chain agenda and advancing SPS harmonization and digital certification.

The Council, he added, will also develop an African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) market-access programme aimed at helping horticultural enterprises move from understanding the continental trade agreement to actually trading under its preferential arrangements, he said.

The East African Community and AfCFTA, the CEO said, provided frameworks for regional integration, but their benefits needed to be felt by businesses moving goods across borders.

“If certificates are unnecessarily duplicated, harmonization remains incomplete. If an enterprise cannot use AfCFTA preferences, then AfCFTA remains an opportunity on paper rather than a commercial reality,” Tulezi said.

Netherlands Ambassador to Kenya, Jan Bakker, said Kenya’s horticulture sector generates about Sh193 billion (€1.3 billion) annually in exports and provides more than 250,000 direct jobs and 3.5 million indirect jobs.

He said the Netherlands’ expertise in cold-chain logistics and Kenya’s production capacity provided an opportunity to strengthen East Africa’s position in global horticultural markets.

Bakker said Netherlands was working with Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda under the Fostering Resilient Exports in Sustainable Horticulture (FRESH) programme to strengthen horticultural exports through investment in cold-chain infrastructure, trade facilitation and digital systems.

The programme, co-financed by the European Union and the Netherlands, also seeks to promote more efficient transport of fresh produce, including increased use of sea freight and multimodal logistics.

Bakker called for stronger public-private cooperation, saying policy predictability and consistent implementation were critical to attracting investment and expanding horticultural trade.

“Many of the constraints for traders and exporters are about policy or the application of policies,” Bakker said, urging governments to create a predictable environment for businesses investing in the region.

He congratulated the organizers on the establishment of the Horticulture Council of East Africa (HOCEA), saying the regional platform would provide an opportunity to address challenges facing the horticulture sector.

HoCEA Chairperson, Dr. Jacqueline Mkindi, said the Council would seek to strengthen the regional private sector voice, while promoting farmers’ access to markets, finance, technology, knowledge and value-addition opportunities.

She said the regional body was established to transform Eastern Africa’s horticulture sector from fragmented national efforts into a coordinated production, processing and trading ecosystem, capable of competing in regional and global markets.

“This sector should shift from continually seeking markets, technology and investment abroad to creating opportunities for international buyers and investors to come to Africa,” Dr. Mkindi said.

She cited HortiLogistica Africa, an international horticulture trade and investment platform scheduled for Arusha, Tanzania, from November 8 to 10, 2026, as an opportunity to showcase the region’s production capacity and connect producers with global markets and investors.

HoCEA was launched, today, in Nairobi, Kenya, following consultations among horticulture associations in the region that began in Arusha, Tanzania, in November 2024 and continued in Entebbe, Uganda, in April 2025.

The Council brings together the horticulture industry across nine Eastern African countries and seeks to strengthen regional coordination in trade facilitation, logistics, digital systems, value chains and sustainability.

by Wangari Ndirangu