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Mixed fortunes for African bean producersHow farmers cope to meet Western demand for out-of-season vegetablesBy Sylvia Smith for CNN  Green gold: Kenya exports three-quarters of its vegetable produce to UK supermarkets NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Satisfying Europe's appetite for out-of-season vegetables has driven supermarkets to turn to Africa with its year-round growing cycle and low labor costs. African growers have more than met the demand, providing handsome profits for wholesalers and importers. But what has the trade done to African farmers? Take two countries -- Kenya and the Gambia -- on either side of the continent, both of which have switched to non-traditional crops, and both of which have colonial links with Britain. But, whereas Kenya has a vibrant horticultural export industry, the Gambia's is faltering. Some 70 percent of Kenya's produce goes to British supermarkets. So lucrative is the trade in slim green beans that it is ousting tea and coffee. In the Gambia, however, global trade has left over 450 women's co-operative embittered and impoverished. Having seen huge quantities of their products left to rot on the airport runway, these women are now returning to the lower-paid but more reliable local markets with its own requirements. "We deliver the goods as we are asked," explains a member of a female co-operative. "But no one loads them on to a plane. So in this heat they just get spoilt." Why should the two countries have had such different experiences? For a start, Kenya has a national airline offering ample cargo space on frequent international flights. The Gambia has a shorter flying time to Europe, but its co-ops have no regular means of moving freight. Moreover, its airport in Banjul has the reputation of being a transit point for West African drug gangs. This has led governments to discourage Gambian imports. Kenya has the advantage of a successful marketing chain linking growers to agents, exporters and freight companies. One of the Aga Khan's companies, Frigoken, is involved not just in the agricultural side but just as importantly in the marketing.  Gambian farmers have seen their crops left to rot on airport runways. Karim Dost Mohammed who oversees a successful bean factory on the outskirts of Nairobi feels that research into buying trends in Europe is important. "Growing baby vegetables, such as dwarf beans isn't just a matter of production," he claims. "It requires guaranteed markets for the season ahead." But the Gambia tends to rely on piecemeal arrangements and ad hoc purchases. Any rejection of consignments in Europe has a disastrous effect back home. Baby vegetables would be laughed off the stall if they appeared in local Gambian markets, where much mightier species are called for. Most of the companies involved with growing and marketing in Kenya are Asian. Perhaps by co-incidence, the Gambia's one and only success in this field is owned and run by members of an extended Asian family who have close ties with Kenyan horticulture. But this is an exception that proves the rule that it is a dangerous business for small-scale African farmers to try to satisfy Europe's fad for tiny green beans. 
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