Boost for Kenyan farmers after KQ deal to export flowers to Australia

Workers at a flower farm in Naivasha. Flower farmers have received a major boost after Kenya Airways (KQ) agreed to a deal have an estimated 30 tonnes of freshly cut flowers exported monthly to Australia. PHOTO | FILE 

By JAMES KARIUKI, jkariuki@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• The route follows market research that identified Sydney and Melbourne as key markets for Kenyan flowers.
• Kenya Flower Council Chief Executive Jane Ngigi said Kenya was keen on expanding its markets especially in America and the Far East as a way of boosting incomes and enabling flower farms to employ more people.
• In 2015, Kenya sold a total of 122,000 tonnes of cut flowers worth Sh63 billion to the European Union, up from 114,000 tonnes in 2014.

Flower farmers have received a major boost after Kenya Airways (KQ) agreed to have an estimated 30 tonnes of freshly cut flowers exported monthly to Australia.

The national carrier’s Cargo Sales Manager Patricia Odida said the new KQ service, in partnership with Australia’s Qantas Airways, would help market Kenya’s flowers and horticultural produce to Australia and other nearby countries.

She noted that through the partnership, they had created an efficient supply service that had helped create a new demand for Kenyan flowers in Australia.

“This is a major game changer for Kenya in terms of increasing trade exports of flowers to non-traditional markets. This partnership opens up the Australian market for exporters and is a business opportunity for us to generate revenue,” she said on Thursday.

Kenya Flower Council Chief Executive Jane Ngigi said Kenya was keen on expanding its markets especially in America and the Far East as a way of boosting incomes and enabling flower farms to employ more people.

New markets

Ms Odida said they were pursuing more engagements with Qantas which will see them partner on the Nairobi-Sidney-Melbourne as well as the Bangkok route thereby opening a new markets for Kenyan flowers.

The new route follows findings of a market research that identified Sydney and Melbourne as key markets for Kenyan flowers and a new source for tourists.

In 2015, Kenya sold a total of 122,000 tonnes of cut flowers worth Sh63 billion to the European Union, up from 114,000 tonnes in 2014.

Last year, production fell slightly due to harsh weather but fetched good prices that raised returns by more than Sh 10bilion.

Kenya has 127 flower farms and half of them are located around Lake Naivasha and the others in Nyeri, Kiambu, Embu, Kirinyaga, Nakuru, Uasin Gishu, Baringo, Trans Nzoia and Narok counties.

Kenya is known for roses, carnations, hypericums, alstromeria, gypsophilla and lilies, with new flower species that are gaining popularity around the world being grown in small-scale farms