( 3 minutes read)
· Global demand for cut flowers is dithering whether they are
from Thai orchids, Dutch tulips and Kenyan roses.
· As the world’s fourth-largest exporter of cut flowers, Kenya
is behind the Netherlands, Colombia and Ecuador, and accounts for 7%
of global market share.
· According to Kenya Flower Council the industry provides a
source of income to some 500,000 Kenyans and is gearing to expand its
global reach by setting its eyes on Asia where several Kenyan products
have been very well accepted.
Global demand for cut flowers is dithering whether they are from Thai
orchids, Dutch tulips and Kenyan roses. Consumers are shying away
from buying them from the market since they are closeted at home.
That has hit the flower exports from Kenya, which is the world’s
fourth largest flower exporter and makes over US$500m a year.
According to a July 2018 report by the World’s Top Exports, an agency
tracking exports, Kenya’s cut flowers and plants represent 10.4% of
the country’s exports. Significantly, cut flowers are the second
most exported product from Kenya. The country made US$595.6 million
from flower export to Europe, the United States and some parts of
Africa in 2017.
As the world’s fourth-largest exporter of cut flowers, Kenya is
behind the Netherlands, Colombia and Ecuador, and accounts for 7% of
global market share. Earlier, it occupied the third position in
exports and had slipped to fourth in 2017, though it is expected to
climb back to the third position in 2019.
Kenya’s top buyer is the Netherlands which then sells close to 35% of
the flowers bought from Kenya to the EU. Other direct buyers include
Germany,
Russia and the U.S. and some 56 other countries worldwide
Kenya boasts of exporting flowers almost all year round since the East
African country’s roses, carnations and summer flowers are known to
last longer than flowers from other parts of the world.
According to Kenya Flower Council the industry provides a source of
income to some 500,000 Kenyans and is gearing to expand its global
reach by setting its eyes on Asia where several Kenyan products have
been very well accepted.
