Kenyan Flower Output May Fall 20% This Year, CEO Says
September 15th, 2009 by admin
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(Bloomberg) — Flower production in Kenya may fall about 20 percent this year as the global economic crisis causes a slump in export demand.
The East African nation’s output of fresh-cut flowers, consisting mainly of roses, may drop to 80,000 metric tons this year compared with about 100,000 tons in 2008 Jane Ngige, chief executive officer of the Kenya Flower Council, said in an interview in the capital, Nairobi, today.
As a result, Kenya’s export sales from flowers will likely be “quite a bit” lower than the 40 billion shillings ($530 million) the country earned in 2008, she said.
Demand in the European market — in which Kenyan flowers account for about 35 percent of all sales, according to the council — is expected to decline by a quarter compared with last year and prices will fall by up to 20 percent, Ngige said.
While a drought in Kenya has “taken a toll” on flower production, many farmers use drip irrigation methods, which are more efficient than conventional methods and require less than half the water, she added.
“We haven’t been able to expand production as we should, but there’s still hope the clouds will let go,” said Ngige. “Our high season is September to December so now we’ll be paying much more attention.”
Kenya’s main flower markets include Holland, the U.K., Germany, France and Switzerland.
The value of Kenya’s horticulture shipments abroad, of which flowers comprise half, in the first six months of 2009 fell 21.1 percent compared with the year-earlier period, according to the Central Bank of Kenya’s latest monthly economic report.
Lower flower production this year means farmers do not have available funds to make new investments, Alfred Serem, managing director of the Horticultural Crops Development Authority, said today in an interview in Nairobi.
“Most have put expansion plans on hold and reduced costs which may have an impact in the coming years,” he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah McGregor in Nairobi at smcgregor5@bloomberg.net
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Tags: e-floralink, Fresh Cut Flowers. Flower Industry, Floral Industry, Floral Logistics, Flower Logistics, Flower Growers, Flower Exports, Flower Imports, Flower Market, Flower Wholesale, Floricultores, Traceability, Trazabilidad
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