Mango is the second most produced fruit in Kenya after bananas. According to a report by TechnoServe in 2016,920,000 tonnes of mango were produced in Kenya. This is approximately 2.7 billion fruits. There are about 150 mango varieties grown globally out of which about 6 varieties are grown extensively in Kenya. Pineapple, avocado and watermelon follow in terms of production in that order.
Mango farmers can largely be categorized into three.
- Smallholder farmers – 61% of farmers have less than 50 trees. They are the least commercial in the value chain and have little use of latest technologies.
- Medium scale farmers. They have 50-300 trees. They are semi commercial to fully commercial with significant deployment of various technologies and are able to negotiate better prices due to consistency in quality.
- Large scale farmers. These have over 300 trees. They are fully commercial and use some of latest technologies in production and post-harvest. They are consistent when it comes to quality and receive better prices for their fruits.
See below how different mango varieties look like and their characteristics.
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