NAKURU,Kenya, Feb, 12 – The lack of adequate cargo planes and an increase in the price of freight charges is said to have affected the flower industry in the country as millions prepare to celebrate valentine’s day.
Farmers say that there is nothing to smile about despite efforts to plead with the government to step in and resurrect the ‘hurt’ sector.
A cost in the prices of fertilizes is said to have made the matter even worse and despite this fact, prices of flowers in the European Union remains constant.
The Human resource manager Van den Berg flower farm George Onyango said that farmers were incurring high expenses in exporting their flowers as their farm produces over 350,000 stems of roses daily for the Dutch Auction.
Securing cargo flights has also been a he challenge.
“Currently the biggest challenge facing the flower farmers is lack of cargo planes and space and those available are very expensive reducing our profit margin,” said Onyango.
The cost of production amidst the COVID-19 pandemic is anticipated to affect the over 1,000 employees at the farm.
“The President promised a Sh1.5B stimulus package to caution farmers and we have never received a penny as fertiliser prices continue to rise,” he said.
Onyango questioned the double taxation by the national and county governments noting that the sector was not getting enough support unlike their competitors in Ethiopia.
Speaking earlier, Kenya Flower Council (KFC), Clement Tulezi noted that the country produced 160,000 tonnes of flowers last year compared to 173,000 tonnes in 2020.
The drop was attributed to the pandemic and recent health travel restrictions in certain EU nations.
Despite a demand for flowers ahead of Valentine’s day, farmers are said to have failed to hit their targets due to high charges, lack of capacity among others factors.
The flower demand stands at 5,000 tonnes but only 3,000 tonnes can be supplied ur to lack of adequate cargo planes.
“We are facing a major challenge in exports of flowers due to lack of cargo planes and this has pushed the freight cost from 1.9 dollars to 5.8 dollars per kilo,” he said.
The managing Director Maridadi Jack Kneppers meanwhile said they were producing over 200,000 stems of roses daily for export.
The farm however has the capability of producing more.
“All our flowers are destined for the Dutch market and we have recovered fully from the pandemic and we are shipping out daily production despite the flight challenges,” said Kneppers.
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