Buyers of Kenya’s flowers have expressed concern over the country’s ability to continue supplies in the long term.
The Kenya Flower Council is not taking the concerns lightly, given that any market jitters could send buyers scouting for supplies from other countries, dealing a severe blow to the multi million-dollar industry.
Speaking just before leaving for Germany for this year’s annual Flower Day in Europe, which kicks off on January 30, the Council’s chief executive officer, Jane Ngige, said the government’s publicity office must come out strongly to repair the damage visited on the country by the international media, which has painted the picture of an entire country on fire.
“This is despite the fact that the volumes of flowers entering the markets has not been affected while most flower growing zones, especially Naivasha, are fairly calm,” said Mrs. Ngige.
She said that buyers have written to growers wanting to know for how long, under the prevailing circumstances, they can bank on Kenya’s supplies because they are considering making orders elsewhere to ensure their businesses are not affected should Kenya’s supply levels fall in future.
She said that although the sector’s immediate losses run into millions, the situation is now under control, with all farms reporting harvesting and exporting of flowers.
There are problems that could increase production costs in some areas but they are being managed. In the affected areas, the main problem is that workers are not always able to get to the farms. Increased security to keep looters at bay, reduced quantities delivered to the markets and flowers remaining on the farms also adds to costs.
The worst affected areas are Eldoret, Mount Elgon, Kericho and Kitale, where full operations are yet to resume. Here, the situation is slowly returning to normal but fears abound, creating uncertainty and affecting production.
At Equator Flowers in Eldoret, farm manager Nehemiah Kangogo said the farm’s workers were yet to report back to work, production was low while the farm has had to invest in increased security. The flower farms in the area transport flowers in convoy and under escort to Nakuru, complicating logistics and affecting work schedules. On most of the farms around Naivasha, work continues as usual although here, like everywhere else, the high value perishable commodity is still being transported either at night or at dawn to reduce chances of attacks.
The East African
