Kenya exports over 4, 200 tonnes of flowers ahead of Valentine

Workers from Naivasha based Maridadi flower farm prepare roses for export ahead of Valentine Day when demand for the flowers is at its highest. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

The country exported over 4,200 tonnes of roses in the last week ahead of Valentine's Day despite the rising freight charges and stringent rules in the horticulture market.

According to the Kenya Flower Council (KFC), this was a slight increase compared to last year in the sector that earned the country Sh110 billion in revenue.

This came as the council decried plans by the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) to increase export and import charges by 25 percent noting that this would adversely hurt the sector.

According to the Council CEO Clement Tulezi, this year's Valentine orders increased to 4,200 tonnes compared to 4,000 in 2024.

He noted that this was despite the freight charges which had increased from USD2.1 to USD4.3 in the last one year leading to a drop in profit margin for the farmers.

"Ahead of Valentine's Day, the country managed to export 4,200 tonnes to the EU market and this is a slight increase compared to last year," he said.

Speaking on Wednesday, Tulezi noted that freight charges coupled by new taxes from the national and county governments continued to affect production.

He said that the prices in the EU market had remained stable for the last couple years even as consumers continued to introduce new and stringent measures.

"Since Covid-19 struck, we have had challenges with availability of cargo freights, a move which has seen the prices double in the last one year," he said.

Tulezi said that the council last week held a meeting with the Kenya Airports Authority over plans to increase charges for both imports and exports.

"Currently we are paying 52 different taxes to the two levels of government despite the economic impact we have in the country by earning Sh110B through exports," he said.

He added that the situation had been worsened by the government's failure to pay over Sh10B that the exchequer owed farmers through VAT refunds.

Speaking earlier, the CEO Redland Roses Disha Copreaux noted that small scale farmers were the most affected by new taxes and stringent standards imposed in the sector.

Despite the challenges, she said that the sector that has employed over 200,000 had the capacity to grow and double production with the support of the State.

"There is a new pest that has affected production and exports to the EU and these plus rising taxes and unpaid VAT refunds have a negative impact on the farmers," she said.