Africa’s Top Green Pea Producers in 2022: A Continental Snapshot
Green peas are quietly powering food security across Africa — from the highland farms of Kenya to the irrigated plains of Egypt’s Nile Delta. In 2022, the continent produced a combined 750,358.57 tonnes of green peas (Pisum sativum), a figure that reflects both the crop’s nutritional importance and its growing role in African agriculture. The distribution of that output, however, tells a far more interesting story than the total alone.
What Makes Green Peas Strategically Important
Green peas belong to the legume family and carry a nutritional profile that makes them exceptionally valuable in food systems where protein and micronutrient deficiencies remain persistent challenges. A single serving delivers meaningful quantities of vitamins A, B-complex, and C, alongside dietary fiber and plant-based protein — a combination that supports both child nutrition and adult health. Unlike many protein crops, green peas can be consumed fresh off the vine, preserved through canning, or frozen for long-distance distribution, giving them unusual commercial flexibility.
Agronomically, peas are also nitrogen-fixing legumes, meaning they enrich the soils in which they grow. This makes them a valuable rotation crop for smallholder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa alike, improving long-term soil fertility without the cost of synthetic fertilizers. Their relatively short growing cycle — typically 60 to 90 days — adds further appeal in regions managing multiple planting seasons per year.
East Africa Leads: Kenya at the Top
Kenya ranked first among all African nations in green pea production in 2022, recording 203,814.35 tonnes — more than 27% of the continent’s entire output. The country’s cool highland regions, particularly in counties such as Nakuru, Nyandarua, and Meru, provide near-ideal growing conditions for the crop. Smallholder farmers dominate production, with peas forming a critical cash crop alongside staples like maize and potatoes. Kenya’s output serves both domestic fresh markets and an active export trade, particularly to European supermarkets where Kenyan fresh vegetables have a well-established supply chain.
Tanzania, Kenya’s southern neighbor, also appeared in the top ten with 9,575.63 tonnes — a far smaller figure, but one that carries significant weight for regional food security in East Africa. Tanzania’s production is largely subsistence-oriented, concentrated in the northern highland zones near Arusha and Kilimanjaro, where cooler temperatures support legume cultivation.
North Africa Dominates the Rankings
Four of the top six producing countries in 2022 were North African, underscoring the region’s deep agricultural infrastructure and access to irrigation technology. Algeria came extraordinarily close to Kenya’s output, recording 203,263.15 tonnes — a difference of just 551 tonnes separating first and second place. Algeria’s green pea sector benefits from government-supported agricultural programs and a Mediterranean climate in its northern coastal zones that suits cool-season legumes well.
Egypt ranked third with 166,125.97 tonnes, leveraging its extensive Nile Valley irrigation networks to cultivate green peas as a winter crop, typically planted between October and January. Morocco followed in fourth place at 87,916.9 tonnes, with production concentrated in the Souss-Massa and Gharb regions where commercial horticulture is well developed. Tunisia contributed 53,380.81 tonnes, rounding out a North African bloc that collectively accounted for roughly 68% of Africa’s total green pea output in 2022. Libya, despite its arid interior and limited arable land, still managed 6,265.03 tonnes — a testament to localized irrigation efforts along its coastal strip.
West and Southern Africa: Emerging Contributors
Mali recorded 7,635.8 tonnes in 2022, making it the leading green pea producer in West Africa and a notable outlier in a subregion not traditionally associated with the crop. Production in Mali is concentrated in areas with access to irrigation from the Niger River basin, where vegetable farming has expanded steadily as part of broader food diversification efforts. South Africa produced 5,118 tonnes, with commercial farming operations in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal supplying both domestic retailers and neighboring SADC markets. Ethiopia closed out the top ten with 3,249.38 tonnes, a figure that, while modest, reflects the country’s vast smallholder agricultural base and the potential for significant growth as extension services improve access to improved seed varieties.
Reading the Data: Gaps and Growth Potential
The 2022 FAO figures reveal a continent where green pea production is heavily concentrated — the top three countries alone accounted for over 76% of total African output. That concentration points to both a structural gap and an opportunity. Countries across Central Africa, the Sahel, and the Horn of Africa with suitable highland microclimates remain largely absent from the data, suggesting that production potential significantly outpaces current cultivation. As climate pressures reshape which crops are viable in which regions, cool-season legumes like green peas may gain ground in areas previously dominated by other staples.
Africa’s green pea story in 2022 is ultimately one of contrast: a handful of nations producing at scale while dozens more have barely begun to tap the crop’s potential. The numbers are a starting point — what happens next depends on investment, infrastructure, and the farmers making decisions at ground level across the continent.
