Flower Farms in Naivasha have resumed operations as EU markets ease the lockdown. As a result, 90 percent of the staff in Naivasha flower farms are now back to work. However, flower farmers are still battling with high flight costs to transport flowers to Europe as most airlines remain grounded.
On Monday, Companies under the Lake Naivasha Growers Group announced that they had resumed business. According to the Group’s CEO Joseph Kariuki, reopening of the EU markets helped bring back jobs of nearly 2,000 staff who lost jobs in March and thereafter. The EU is the primary regional market for Kenyan flowers, accounting for 70% of flower exports.
“Currently, our exports stand at 60 percent despite challenges like high flight charges as many airlines are not operational, and we hope that this will change with time,” the Standard quoted the CEO.
Kenya’s flower industry started recovering in mid-April, after reopening of the Dutch Auction and other EU markets. However, farmers face hurdles like high freight charges and massive losses due to the pandemic. For example, freight operators tripled the price per kilo of fresh produce to $3 in end-March, making it too expensive for exporters. Kenyan Flowers Council (KFC) CEO called the government to offer cargo planes to allow more exports.
Currently, our weekly demand is 2,800 tonnes per week, but we can only export 1,000 tonnes due to a lack of flights and high charges.
KFC CEO Clement Tulezi
Tulezi expects flower exports to peak to 80% at the end of 2020 as other EU markets lax lockdown regulations. However, he notes that the flower sector will recover fully in June 2021, if the government supports the industry.
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