The World Fresh Forum to examine opportunities for the Spanish fruit and vegetable industry in Kenya

According to ICEX, agriculture in Kenya has accounted for more than 20% of GDP for nine consecutive years and reached its all-time high of 23.2% in 2025. The existence of 186 active agritech start-ups, a 192 million dollar in venture capital investment earmarked for African agri-food technology by 2024 and a government-led irrigation expansion programme confirm that Kenya’s agritech market is already in full swing. 

The industry is undergoing three structural changes that align directly with Spain’s technological strengths. The shift from exports of basic commodities to high-value products — moving away from a dominance of tea and coffee towards floriculture, avocados and specialised vegetables — is driving demand for precision production technologies, post-harvest quality and compliance with EU regulations, areas in which the Spanish agricultural industry has built up expertise over the past forty years. The shift from rain-fed to irrigated agriculture — given that 97.6% of Kenya’s agricultural land currently depends on rainfall, compared with an estimated irrigation potential of 4.5 million hectares (of which 88% remains undeveloped)— represents the greatest opportunity in terms of scale for Spanish irrigation technology. Finally, the shift from volume-based competition to quality-based competition —clearly demonstrated by the suspension of avocado exports by sea, ordered by the Agriculture and Food Authority for 2025 due to a failure to meet quality standards— creates an immediate, specific and commercially viable demand for post-harvest quality technology, a segment in which there is currently no dominant foreign competitor. 

No single competitor offers the integrated package — compliant with EU regulations and based on multiple technologies — that Kenya’s commercial export farms need most. Israel dominates the irrigation sector; the Netherlands, greenhouse systems for floriculture; and China, prices and the scale of distribution. However, none of them simultaneously offer the integrated five-pillar package: precision irrigation, advanced greenhouse systems, biological pest control, post-harvest quality technology and traceability platforms. That structural gap presents an opportunity for Spain to enter the market. 

The 18th edition of the trade fair, organised by IFEMA MADRID and FEPEX is taking place from 6 to 8 October, with attendance figures expected to exceed 2,500 companies, with 162,000 square metres of exhibition space and around 121,000 professionals from 150 countries, consolidating its position as one of the industry’s leading international events.