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World Fresh Forum to analyze opportunities for the Spanish fruit and vegetable sector in Kenya
Kenya offers opportunities for Spanish agricultural technology.
Madrid, September 17, 2026.- The World Fresh Forum, where the business opportunities and commercial challenges that exist in Indonesia, India and Kenya will be presented, will be held again for another year within the framework of Fruit Attraction. Organized by ICEX Spain Exportation and Investment, IFEMA MADRID and FEPEX, the Forum will hold the session dedicated to Kenya on September 23, at 9:00 a.m., via Zoom. Registration can be done through this link.
According to ICEX, agriculture in Kenya has contributed more than 20% of GDP for nine consecutive years, reaching a record high of 23.2% in 2025. The presence of 186 active agritech startups, $192 million in venture capital investment directed at African agrifood technology in 2024, and a government-driven irrigation expansion program confirm that Kenya's agritech market is already in full swing.
The sector is undergoing three structural changes that align directly with Spain's technological strengths. The shift from exporting commodities to high-value products moving from a dominance of tea and coffee to floriculture, avocados, and specialty vegetables generates demand for technologies related to precision production, post-harvest quality, and EU regulatory compliance; these are areas where the Spanish agricultural sector has built up forty years of expertise. The transition from rain-fed to irrigated agriculture given that 97.6% of Kenya's agricultural land currently relies on rainfall, against an estimated irrigation potential of 4.5 million hectares (88% of which remains undeveloped) represents the greatest opportunity by volume for Spanish irrigation technology. Finally, the shift from volume-based to quality-based competition clearly evidenced by the Agriculture and Food Authority's decree suspending avocado exports by sea for 2025 due to failure to meet quality standards creates immediate, concrete, and commercially accessible demand for post-harvest quality technology, a segment in which there is currently no dominant foreign competitor.
No single competitor offers the integrated package aligned with EU regulations and based on multiple technologies that is most needed by Kenya’s commercial export farms. Israel dominates the irrigation sector; the Netherlands, greenhouse systems for floriculture; and China, pricing and distribution reach. Yet, none simultaneously offers the integrated five-pillar package: precision irrigation, advanced greenhouse systems, biological pest control, post-harvest quality technology, and traceability platforms. That structural gap represents an entry opportunity for Spain.
The 18th edition of the trade fair, organized by IFEMA MADRID and FEPEX and taking place from October 6 to 8, projects participation figures exceeding 2,500 companies, an occupied area of 162,000 square meters, and around 121,000 professionals from more than 150 countries, thereby consolidating its position as one of the sector's leading international gatherings.
