Kenya is betting on bigger shipments of processed food, tea and coffee to help double its export earnings from the US free-trade deal in five years’ time — marking a shift from its long dependence on apparels.

Several Kenyan products, notably apparel and agricultural produce, are big beneficiaries of the preferential African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) arrangement, which has lifted import duty on all eligible products and granted preferential market access upon compliance with Rules of Origin.

Apparels have long dominated as Kenya’s biggest export earner in the US with most other product lines unexploited.

“While the apparel sector is considered the leader, it will be necessary to equally improve the performance of the other identified sectors to avoid the over reliance on the apparel sector in the US market,” Industry, Trade and Co-operatives secretary Peter Munya says in Kenya’s 2018-2023 strategic plan on Agoa.

The country’s export earnings under the Agoa are expected to hit Sh110.5 billion by 2023, representing an 82 per cent leap from the estimated Sh60.2billion realised in 2016.

Earnings from processed food exports to the US are expected to grow fastest at an average 28 per cent per annum to fetch the country about Sh3billion by 2023. Coffee exports are expected to post the second fastest growth over five years and realise Sh11.4 billion. Tea earnings are forecast at Sh6.7 billion by the same year.