Kenyan Tea Farmers [Photo: Down to Earth]
Data from the Kenya Trade Network Agency shows that Kenya’s export earnings for the year 2021 rose 17 percent to 666.7 billion shillings from 567.4 billion shillings in 2020.
According to the data, tea and horticultural produce led in the export earning by registering 296 billion shillings which was 44.4 percent of the total domestic exports.
This is after export volumes increased from 643.7 billion tonnes in 2020 to 743.7 billion tonnes in 2021.
Uganda remains Kenya’s largest market exporting goods worth 91.6 billion shillings, followed by Netherlands at 61.6 billion shillings and the USA at 59.5 billion shillings.
According to KenTrade CEO officer Amos Wangora, the findings were made possible through the availability and the increased use of the Agency’s TradeNet System.
He said the platform is an advancement of the new technology which is robust in nature.
“We have recently made an upgrade of the Kenya TradeNet System to Trade Facilitation Platform (TFP) which has since made the Partner Government Agencies and Users of the system enjoy vast advantages.”
Wangora also said the platform is integrated with different government agencies including the Kenya Maritime Authority, Kenya Ports Authority, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate, the Agriculture Food Authority Directorate and the Tea Board of Kenya among others.