Browse Data and Analysis

This report highlights the food processing industry, its drivers, key players, and market landscape in the Caribbean Basin. The region relies heavily on imports, and the United States is the largest supplier of food ingredients.

Kenya's dairy sector is one of the most advanced in East Africa, and the second largest in Africa in terms of herd size. The industry remains an important part of the Kenyan agricultural economy, contributing 17 percent to agricultural GDP and 3.8 percent of the total national GDP. The sector is still largely informal, with only 15 percent of total milk processed in 2023.

The Kenyan dairy and beef sectors are important drivers of the country’s economic growth, yet both sectors are unable to meet domestic demand. The challenges facing Kenya’s dairy and beef sectors present opportunities for U.S. technical capacity building in research, knowledge, and technology transfer.

Kenya’s strategic geographical location and growing middle class makes it an economic, financial, and transport hub for East and Central Africa. Agriculture remains the main contributor to the economy with approximately 75 percent of the 54.7 million population working fully or partially in the agriculture sector. However, high fertilizer prices, small rain-fed fields, and low productivity are obstacles to increasing domestic supply while Kenya’s growing population, increasing urbanization, and growing incomes will spark higher demand for imported food.

Kenya is a growing middle-income nation that acts as the economic, financial, and transport hub of East Africa. Kenya’s population demographic consists of a median age of 20 years, with 33.8 percent of the population between the ages of 25 and 54 years.

On June 10, 2021, Kenya notified a draft standard on canned vegetables to the WTO TBT Committee as G/TBT/N/KEN/1102.

Caribbean imports of consumer-oriented products shrunk from $2.3 billion in 2019 to $2.1 billion in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet Caribbean retail grocery sales grew by an estimated 6 percent during the same period.

“Sips” (such as wine, beer, and spirits) and snacks (including potato chips, baked foods, fruit and nut mixes, and peanuts/peanut butter) are growing segments of sub-Saharan Africa’s...

The Cayman Islands tourism industry has experienced tremendous growth during the past several years.

The Bahamas is the second largest market for U.S. consumer-oriented products in the Caribbean.

Kenya is an emerging middle-income country and has one of the best performing economies in sub-Saharan Africa.

Kenya’s imports of consumer-oriented food products grew at an annual average rate of 12.6 percent between calendar years (CY) 2013 and 2017.