Browse Data and Analysis

FAS/Nairobi forecasts a 19.8 percent drop in Kenya’s MY 2025/26 sugar production to 650,000 metric tons, from 810,000 metric ton (MT) in MY 2024/25, on an expected reduction in harvested area and lower sugar extraction rates.

Ecuador's sugar production in marketing year (MY) 2025/26 is forecast to reach 513,000 metric tons (MT), a decrease from MY 2023/24 estimate. Domestic consumption is forecast to remain stable with gradual increases expected in the coming years.

Wheat production in marketing year (MY) 2025/26 (July-June) is projected at just over 10,000 metric tons (MT), a decline from the previous year. With only about 5,000 hectares (HA) dedicated to cultivation, Ecuador’s wheat production is insufficient to meet domestic demand and thus dependent on imports.

The food processing industry is an important component of Ecuador’s manufacturing sector. This sector contributes 56 percent to Ecuador’s manufacturing gross domestic product and grossed $14 billion in net sales. Excellent sales prospects exist for U.S. food ingredient products to supply this industry.

On Friday, March 7, 2025, Kenya’s Court of Appeal put a hold on the trade and cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) products until an appeal filed by the Kenya Peasants League is fully heard.

FAS Nairobi forecasts Kenya’s marketing year 2025/26 corn production to increase by 15.8 percent due to a return to normal weather, following an unusually dry year.

In 2024, Kenya’s avocado production declined by 11.2 percent to 562 thousand metric tons (TMT), driven by reduced rainfall.

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.

With the notable exception of Bt. cotton, biotech products are not allowed to be produced, imported, or marketed in Kenya. On October 30, 2024, Kenya’s High Court is expected to make a ruling on the biotechnology case challenging the production and trade in genetically engineered (GE) agricultural products.

The legal and regulatory situation to allow the planting of genetically engineered (GE) crops in Ecuador remains the same as 2023. Commercial cultivation of GE crops is not permitted, however cultivation for research is allowed and an exception exists for GE products without recombinant or foreign DNA in the genome.

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 agricultural and related products imports reached $3.81 billion in 2023, of which 15 percent was consumer-oriented food products. Increased urbanization, a fast-growing population and middle class, an expanding modern food retail, and food...