Growing demand for vegetables follows influx of Chinese

Ten years living and working in South Africa taught Joseph Githu, 36, an important lesson: growing Chinese vegetables is a lucrative venture. He worked as an electrician on farms and realized that farmers there had invested heavily in horticulture.

"The market was there, and the returns were good," the Kenyan farmer says.

"I realized that I was wasting my time in South Africa and that I could do what they were doing on my farm back home."

So unlike many other young Africans looking for greener pastures who settle in South Africa permanently, Githureturne returned to Kenya last year to live on his family's 10-hectare farm.

The farm is about two hours' drive from downtown Nairobi in an area called Githunguri, which, with its cool and wet climate, is conducive to dairy farming and tea growing. Dairy farmers in the area have pooled their resources to sell milk in eastern and central Africa.

A similar undertaking is Palmhouse dairy factory, about 1 kilometer from Githu's home, and he is optimistic that it will be just as successful.

Tea plantations blanket the steep slopes characteristic of the area. These bushes are ideal for conserving soil, and tea prices have been stable for many years, Githu says, so from when he was young the industry has been blessed with success.

Yet Githu wanted to do something different. He cleared about 4,000 square meters of unused flat land and planted five grams of Chinese cabbage seeds that had come from South Africa. He also planted normal cabbages, celery and parsley.

However, the Chinese cabbages were the fastest-growing and looked just as impressive as ones he had seen in South Africa. He then decided to search for different Chinese vegetables, and he soon came across bok choy seeds, which grew just as successfully.

What greatly surprised him was the positive response from the market.

"I went and talked with vendors at Nairobi City Park Market and I received orders I promptly met. I also got a good idea of what else I should plant, because the supply of Chinese vegetables to the market was poor. I had the land, and they had the market."

For many years, the market, about 10 minutes' drive from downtown Nairobi, has served the large Indian community that surrounds it, and is known for the huge range of vegetables on sale rarely found in other markets around the city.

Githu not only established contacts with the vendors but also secured orders from two restaurant owners who each week buy more than 20 kg each of both vegetables. He delivers twice a week.

Peter Mukami is one of the vendors he supplies. Mukami has been in the business for five years and says that over that time the market for Chinese vegetables has grown steadily.

"In fact demand has drastically outstripped supply."

His little shop is laden with mushrooms, bok choy, broccoli and cauliflower. He has even given himself a Chinese name, Lin Qing, after meeting so many Chinese through his business.

Margins are good, he says.

"It is an all-season produce, so it's a healthy business."

He receives his supplies from farmers about one-and-a-half hours' to two hours' drive from the city center, he says. He speaks basic Chinese and is animated as customers haggle over prices.

Another trader, Paul Ng'ang'a, says he has traded in Chinese vegetables for 10 years. Prices are depressed at the moment because of a surfeit of supply, he says.

"We're selling a kilogram of Chinese cabbage for about 50 cents. When supplies are low, they can sell for double that."

He personally goes to the farm from which he buys vegetables, he says.

"The rise in demand has been in line with the growing Chinese population in Nairobi, but Indians and a growing number of locals eat these vegetables, too."

Increased demand among locals for organic and nutritional food is also driving demand, he says, adding that he has picked up tips from the Chinese on how to prepare the food, and he passes these on to locals.

"Trading in this market is more than just buying and selling; it is becoming personal."

The Chinese population grew markedly in 2008 and 2009, he says, when work began on building the 50 km Thika highway, which links Nairobi with the town of Thika. The work, done by two Chinese firms, cost $360 million and was completed in 2012. It was the biggest infrastructure project in the region before work began on the standard-gauge railway, the 609 km line that will link Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa, and being built by China Roads and Bridges Company.

Indeed, the Thika highway has made it faster and cheaper for farmers such as Githu to get their produce to market. He avoids intermediaries who buy direct from farmers and sell to people like him.

However, despite efforts by Kenyan farmers to venture into this nascent market, the variety and quantity of vegetables on offer still leave a lot to be desired.

One of those who laments the lack of choice is Wang Chao, a cook in Nairobi for the Chinese engineering company AVIC. It is frustrating to be unable to meet the needs of his colleagues, he says.

"The alternative is importing, but the prices really are exorbitant and beyond our budget."

Vegetables he can get locally are Chinese cabbage, green beans, tomatoes and potatoes, he says.

The company imports Chinese asparagus among other native vegetables, the former costing $8 a kg, but which is useful in doing something about the monotony of vegetables with which "my workmates are becoming bored".

Kin Xian, a Chinese restaurant owner, is another troubled by the paucity of vegetables appropriate for Chinese cuisine.

He has to go to a Chinese vegetable shop near his upmarket restaurant early in the day to secure what he wants from the limited variety available, he says.

"The shop mainly supplies products to big Chinese companies. If you're late, you find that most stuff is packed and ready to send out."

The choice of vegetables available locally has grown greatly since he opened his restaurant 20 years ago, he says.

"The market (for Chinese vegetables) is huge and growing."

Smart businesspeople such as Leng Dongxing, whose brother runs a Chinese restaurant in Nairobi, have sensed the potential and have started farming, which he did with a little more than a hectare of land about a year ago.

A Chinese supermarket in downtown Nairobi is a regular customer, he says, and it sells the produce to 80 percent of Chinese companies in the city.

"Current supply can only meet 40 percent of the demand from the Chinese living in Kenya. That's in addition to the growing needs of Indians and Westerners living here."

In addition to managing his own farm, he has formed partnerships with local farmers. He sells seeds and offers advice on growing these vegetables and then buys what they produce.

He now plans to lease land and sell seeds to farmers who would then sell the produce. Farmers would take an agreed cut from sales as long as they managed the farms efficiently.

"I would like to closely work with local farmers to attain sustainable benefits from this budding market," he says.

After all, Leng says, Kenya boasts of having a soil and climate well suited to farming.

"Seeds from almost everywhere in the world can sprout here. Producing quality is the challenge."

Local farmers are still learning the ropes. Many, for example, do not know how to tend to asparagus sprouts after they germinate.

Another problem local farmers face is the lack of good seeds.

Githu says good yields from local Chinese cabbage leaves are elusive. Results have been disastrous compared with what he achieved with the packet of seeds brought from South Africa.

"I bought some and I trusted the packaging and branding, but the leaves are a hybrid of normal cabbage and Chinese cabbage. There is no market for them, so I'm feeding them to my cows."

Because of his ill-placed trust, there was havoc with his supplies, and he was unable to meet demand, he says.

Thiagarajan Ramamurthy, regional director, strategy and operations, of Nakumatt Holdings Ltd, a well-known retailer in East Africa, says the main problem with Chinese vegetables is the lack of availability and the inconsistency in quality.

Although Nakumatt imports hardware and non-food products from China, he says, with fresh produce its hands are tied because of high costs.

"The number of Chinese living here has grown steadily, and they want particular things. If we are going to cater to 90 percent of other nationals, then we should give Chinese what they want, too."

Nakumatt stores target the medium, high- and high-end income group, within which Chinese living in Kenya fall, he says. The target group comprises 1.5 million households in East Africa, about two thirds of those in Kenya.

Nakumatt Holdings says it has a 10 percent market share regionally.

"Business is growing and we are making about $100,000 a month," Ramamurthy says. "We can make way more. Our business model is to connect with our customers, and this means that variety must be there and pricing must be proper."

Nakumatt has introduced a Chinese food section in some branches. Most of the products are snacks, beverages and spices that have long shelf lives. Even though the company has done little promotion, it has had good sales, Ramamurthy says.

"It has been going less than a year, but things are going very well."

Management of the section has been outsourced to a locally incorporated company run by a Chinese entrepreneur, Seven Days International, he says.

"The Chinese connect to the Chinese. So the company knows what to supply, and about availability and consistency to keep the customers happy."

The demand for Chinese foodstuffs extends far beyond Chinese, he says.

"We are taking in more than $1 million on vegetables alone. Produce has a big market."

The company encourages local supply and supports more than 500 vegetable and fruit farmers, he says.

Ramamurthy says the regional retail market is growing.

"Currently, 30 percent is formal while 70 percent is still informal. In about two years, those numbers will be reversed."

The company plans to move from urban to rural areas and will open eight to 10 branches a year, he says, and increase its market share to 22 percent. New suppliers will have to partner with the company's existing contractors, who will verify quality and quantity.

In the meantime, farmers such as Githu have to be content with the informal retail market, which is the farmers market at Nairobi City Park Market. He understands his limitations and looks forward to a partnership that will guarantee him quality seeds.

He says he is confident of his know-how, having worked closely with South African farmers who had a bigger Chinese market to serve.

His venture has aroused the curiosity of neighbors who come in droves to see what he is doing, he says.

"They want to know more and how they can engage in this, too. And because crops mature in six weeks they provide a steadier income than conventional vegetables that take about 12 weeks to grow."

He is also a role model for the youthful population of the area, he says. Previously many of them, with few productive activities, had had problems with alcohol abuse but now they have an alternative: making use of idle land on their tea farms.

"I think the Chinese vegetables will transform not only the landscape but the lives of many people here. Farming is the next biggest sector after real estate."

Contact the writers throughhouliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/16/2015 page6)