Kenya's flower sector's environmental edge threatened by new greenhouse technologies

Kenyan flower growers could lose their environmental advantage soon as Dutch growers adopt cutting-edge heating systems for their greenhouses, a new study indicates.

The study shows that while Kenyan roses are produced in a more environmentally friendly way than those in energy-intensive greenhouses in the Netherlands, the difference in overall carbon dioxide emissions is not as large as previously thought. And as the Netherlands increasingly switches to new, non-polluting technology to heat its greenhouses, Dutch roses may gain the upper hand when it comes to comparing carbon footprints.

If Kenya were to lose the environmental edge at a time when debate over carbon footprint is gaining global commercial and political prominence, the country’s Sh50 billion ($750 million) horticultural trade could face increasing difficulties accessing key markets in Europe.

CO2 emissions are becoming just as important for the flower sector as the food sector as concern over climate change continues to rise. Proponents of the ‘food miles’ campaign have singled out Kenyan roses as damaging to the environment because of the reliance on air freight for export markets. Air freight produces much greater amounts of greenhouse gases than other forms of transport.

A recent study at Britain’s Cranfield University claimed that despite the pollution caused by transporting Kenyan roses, its outdoor farms made Kenyan flowers more environmentally friendly than those grown indoors in Europe.

But new research by Dr Myrtille Danse, leader of a team of researchers at the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI) in the Hague, has found flaws with that study. She claims that the differences in total CO2 emissions produced by Kenyan roses compared with Dutch roses are not as big as those reported by the Cranfield researchers.

The Cranfield team had reported that emissions from Kenyan flowers (including air freight) were 5.8 times lower than for Dutch flowers.

“Maybe if you compared the most old-fashioned, inefficient farm in the Netherlands with the most modern one in Kenya, using the most energy-efficient planes, you could come close to this result. But only in the most extreme range of comparison,” Dr Danse told Business Daily.

She added: “We have the impression that the data they used for Dutch production is not correct. We have checked it over and over and we come nowhere near to their results each time.”

The Cranfield researchers, who did not make their research fully public, underestimated output per square metre, or the volumes of flowers produced, in the Netherlands greenhouses, according to Danse. They also made their comparisons based on the number of stems but should have measured the weight of the flowers, she added. Kenyan roses are typically small buds while in the Netherlands big bud sizes are more common.

Danse’s findings, not yet published in full detail, could be a blow to Kenya’s growers. The Cranfield study was one of the first to take a comparative look at flower production in different locations. It has been frequently cited by the Kenyan government and horticultural industry as evidence to support the country’s exports against concern about the polluting impact of air freight.

But Danse’s results suggest that it will not take such big changes to Dutch production systems before the Kenyan advantage is eroded. The Netherlands horticulture sector has ambitious goals to become ‘climate-neutral’ within five to 10 years.

In new, innovative greenhouses currently under trial, heat captured by solar panels during summer months is stored in water in aquifers – permeable rock materials - placed up to 120 metres underground. This warm water is pumped up to the greenhouse during winter, while cold water is circulated in the summer. The first greenhouse using this system opened in Holland last year, and around five to 10 are currently being tested around the country.

When the experimental phase ends within the next two years, they will be constructed on a bigger scale across the country, says Peter van Ostaijen, the director of wholesale group HBAG and vice secretary general of the international trade association, Union Fleurs. “There is enormous development and innovation going on in Holland. We are using less and less energy and we hope that by 2015 or 2020 the whole sector will be climate-neutral.”

In contrast to this substantial investment in Holland, Kenya will find it harder to improve its carbon footprint. “The problem for Kenya is that transport is really out of their influence and it will require huge investments to be able to use sea freight for flowers,” says Dr. Danse.

Nevertheless, Union Fleurs, whose members include the Kenya Flower Council, is calling for collaboration in the industry to improve the sector’s overall sustainability.

“We have concluded that it is not useful to discuss whether production in Kenya is better than in Holland or vice versa. It is better to work together to try to diminish greenhouse gases across the whole sector,” says Mr van Ostaijen.

About 30 per cent of Holland’s flower market is made up from imports. Most Kenyan imports arrive by air, but there are some flowers leaving Mombasa port bound for Europe by sea. van Ostaijen says this amount will increase with ongoing research into sea freight. “Kenyan and Colombian flowers make a substantial contribution to the European market and they deserve to retain their place here. We want to support our trade partners,” he said.

Business Daily Africa