The problem with avo waste

Jonas Cromwell, lecturer in food security in the School of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Leeds, UK, explains how avocado waste in Tanzania is hurting farmers and what should be done to rectify the problem.

- By Jonas Cromwell

Avocados have been grown in Tanzania since the early 1890s. The global appetite for the creamy fruit, also known as green gold, is booming. The industry's market value was over US$6,5 billion (around R112 billion) in 2020, reached US$16,24 billion ($275 billion) in 2024 and is projected to reach US$23 billion (almost R400 billion) in 2029.

Tanzania has seized this opportunity in the last two decades and is now Africa's fourth-largest avocado exporter, behind Kenya, South Africa and Morocco.

The top destinations for Tanzania's avocados are Europe (40%), India (30%) and the Middle East (19%). Tanzania's avocado exports increased from 1 393t, valued at US$1,9 million (almost R33 million) in 2013, to 36 520t, valued at US$79 813 million (over R1,3 billion), in 2024.

EXPORTERS, BROKERS AND PACKHOUSE OWNERS HAVE MUCH MORE POWER THAN FARMERS

For my doctoral research, I followed Tanzanian avocados from the farms through to local markets and packhouses for export. The research aimed to uncover the underlying structures, relationships and systems that cause food waste in Tanzania's avocado trade. I knew avocados were being wasted, so I set out to uncover why this was happening and who carried the heaviest cost.

The farmers, farmer associations and commercial packhouses managers that I interviewed said that in Tanzania's domestic avocado production sector, up to 40% of the avocados over all were wasted because of damage to the fruits and pests or diseases. In the export avocado sector, we found 30% to 50% losses for smallholders and some large-scale farmers, and 10% to 20% for large commercial farms due to fruits not meeting quality standards.

My research shows that the choices of consumers who buy avocados in Europe are directly connected to the real-life struggles of Tanzanian farmers. Global food systems can harm local communities. Farmers need protection.