KEPROBA CEO Floice Mukabana Rallies for Value Addition and Diversification to Boost Kenya’s Export Earnings
She encouraged farmers to explore export opportunities to maximize returns.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (KEPROBA), Floice Mukabana Photo/Courtesy
By Brenda muriithi
The Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (KEPROBA), Floice Mukabana, has underscored the need for value addition and product diversification to boost Kenya’s export earnings.
Speaking during an exporters and media engagement forum in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, Mukabana said the agency is working closely with county governments and exporters to strengthen nation and county branding.
“This week we have taken time to engage exporters and the media team in Uasin Gishu with a view of undertaking two key activities,” she said. “The first was a media engagement aimed at appreciating the role of nation branding in reporting about our country’s image and reputation and increasing the visibility of both the country brand and the county brand.”
Mukabana noted that KEPROBA has been collaborating with the county government to develop a county profile that can be used as a marketing tool.
“We have been working with the county government to ensure that we create a county profile which they can use as a means of marketing and showing what Uasin Gishu is known for, as part of nation branding and county branding activities,” she added.
On export promotion, she explained that the agency convened an exporters’ roundtable to address emerging trends, challenges and market access opportunities.
“Our exporters’ roundtable is a platform where we engage exporters from Uasin Gishu. The objective is to discuss emerging trends, identify challenges and solutions, but most importantly explore opportunities and market access arising from these trends,” she said.
Mukabana emphasized that exports require collaboration among multiple players in the ecosystem, including regulatory and trade facilitation agencies.
“Exports and the export game is a team sport. The ecosystem is wide and we all need to be aligned to ensure the increase of Kenya’s exports in terms of volume, value and the number of exporters,” she stated.
Addressing the impact of branding on key Kenyan exports such as tea, coffee, flowers and nuts, Mukabana said value addition has proven effective, particularly in the tea sector.
“As part of our product adaptation and product development programme, we have worked with players in the tea industry to brand tea and mark it as ‘Made in Kenya’ so they can sell value-added tea as opposed to bulk,” she explained. “It has presented for us a proof of concept that it is possible to increase the value of our products through branding.”
She observed that although Kenya exports large volumes of tea, the country earns comparatively lower value due to limited value addition.
“While we sell the largest volume of tea exports, the value is much less compared to others who export less, because we have not done sufficient value addition,” she said.
Mukabana further called for diversification, noting that 80 percent of Kenya’s export value is supported by only 20 percent of products.
“If that is the case, it means there is an over-reliance on the first five products. In this era where global trade is very chaotic, it is in our interest to have as many products as possible in the export basket,” she said.
Also speaking at the forum, Gregory Edwin, Assistant Director of Trade representing the county trade executive, said Uasin Gishu County is taking steps to expand its export base beyond traditional agriculture.
“As Uasin Gishu, we are an agricultural economy. Currently, the county government through the leadership of the governor is promoting export crops, specifically coffee and avocado,” Edwin said. “We are in the process of value addition so that when we utilize the airport, our products meet international standards and can compete globally.”
He added that the county is partnering with KEPROBA to build a strong county profile and improve product quality for export markets.
Edwin also highlighted the county’s global reputation in athletics as a branding opportunity.
“Apart from agriculture, we are champions in terms of athletes and we are proud of that. We are partnering to brand Uasin Gishu not only as an agricultural economy but also to leverage sports and other opportunities,” he said.
Agnes Maura, Deputy Director of Sales and Marketing at the Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA), said the authority is focused on improving livelihoods across six counties through value addition and market access.
“All these regions are endowed with various natural resources, including products like honey which does well especially in West Pokot,” she said. “We help our people add value and access markets. We are proud to say KVDA has been able to access the US market because of the quality of our products.”
She encouraged farmers to explore export opportunities to maximize returns.
Youth representatives at the forum also called on young people to pursue global markets.
“We need to focus not only locally but internationally,” one youth participant said. “The challenge many youths face is lack of market intelligence and knowledge of export processes. We also lose a lot of produce due to post-harvest wastage.”
The engagement concluded with a renewed call for collaboration between national agencies, county governments and exporters to enhance Kenya’s competitiveness in global markets through branding, value addition and diversification.
About Author
