By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The ongoing war in the Middle East has affected Kenya’s meat exports to the region, reducing it to less than 5% of the expected level during the peak Ramadan season, industry officials have said, as sharp rise in air freight costs paralyses shipment.
The Middle East is Kenya’s main market for meat exports, with the United Arab Emirates traditionally accounting for 40% to 60% of shipments, Reuters quoted the chief executive of the Kenya Meat and Livestock Exporters Industry Council, Nicholas Ngahu as saying.
Exporters of fresh chilled meat such as beef, lamb, mutton and goat are however able to send limited volumes to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, while exports to markets such as Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan have also been stagnated.
“We are doing below 15% of our normal exports, and now that it’s Ramadan, we are doing less than 5% of what we are supposed to be doing,” Ngahu said.
Kenya ordinarily sends about $2.3 million worth of meat and animal products to the Middle East every week.
According to the director of Konza Clearing Agency, Dennis Muraya, most airlines serving the region had cut operations, forcing exporters to rely on costly cargo charters into the UAE.
“We usually pay $1 to $1.50 per kilo,” Muraya said. “But at the current moment, we’re even paying up to $3 to $3.50 per kilo.”
He said airlines had attributed the surge in rates to higher insurance costs linked to the conflict.
Ngahu said the industry would normally ship around 200 metric tons of meat a day during the holy month, but volumes had fallen to roughly 5 to 15 tons a day.
Since Sunday, March 8, exports would have been expected to total a million kilograms, Ngahu said. “We have not done even 50,000.”
One consignment of about 20 tons on its way to Sharjah, UAE had to be sent back on February 28 as airspace closed, saddling Konza with a $5,000 bill for handling, storage and cold-room charges, Muraya said.
