Category: Featured Articles July – August 2022

The signing of the framework of cooperation between Kenya Flower Council and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was to strengthen the efforts in adoption of sea freight for perishables in Kenya.

Recently the Government of the Netherlands and Kenya Flower Council signed a Framework of Cooperation on adoption of sea freight for perishables in Kenya. The Ambassador of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr. Maarten Brouwer and the Chairman of the Kenya Flower Council board Mr. Richard Fernandes signed this framework during the opening of the International Floriculture Trade Exhibition (IFTEX) at Oshwal Center in Nairobi, Kenya.

25 years of innovative cooling and freezing solutions

COMPANY PROFILE
Celtic cooling was established in 1997 by owner Joost Van Klink. Since then our company developed into professional refrigeration business with an excellent market position and reputation in the sector. We followed our customers abroad and in addition to our modern headquarters in Nieuw-Vennep in the Netherlands, we have four branches worldwide in Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana and Kazakhstan.

Our Specialties
We have experience in the design and installation of bespoke refrigeration and freezer installations, and air conditioning systems and turkey solutions for every possible purpose. Our customers come from various industrial sectors in the Netherlands as well as abroad. We set great score by building an enduring relationship with our customers and we enjoy anticipating their needs.

By manipulating environmental conditions, and paying equal attention to temperature and humidity, greenhouse growers can improve the quality of their crops and maximise yields.

Greenhouse climate control involves optimising the elements to maximise yield at the lowest possible cost, and to do this properly, growers need to understand the effect of vapour pressure deficit (VPD) on plant growth.

VPD, explains Van Rooyen, is the difference between the amount of moisture within a plant’s leaves and the air surrounding the plant. It drives various plant processes, such as transpiration, the opening of stomata, and the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and nutrients.

The past two and half years have seen the world grapple with some of the biggest challenges facing humanity in recent times. Kenya and Kenya’s floriculture industry was not spared by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Whilst demand for our products remained strong, after getting over the initial shock of Covid, freight or should I say lack of freight capacity coupled with massive hikes in freight rates, introduction of more stringent taxation, the industry grappling with control of the False Codling Moth (FCM) has made the last period challenging.

Despite these challenges, the industry adapted, as it does and performed remarkably well over the last two and half years.

Augusto Solano succeeds outgoing President Richard Fox (Kenya Flower Council, Kenya), who has served on the Union Fleurs Board of Directors since 2008 and held the position of Vice-President from 2014 to 2018 and President since 2018.

Richard Fox was the first representative of a non-European member country to hold the presidency in the 60 years of existence of Union Fleurs. The Board of Directors and members of Union Fleurs are immensely grateful to Richard Fox for his outstanding service and highly valuable contribution to Union Fleurs over the past 14 years and for his achievements in promoting the collective mission of Union Fleurs, as well as for his relentless efforts over the years to secure the continuation of the free trade of floricultural products, particularly between Kenya, the EU and the UK. They also acknowledge his long-standing dedication in promoting socially and environmentally sustainable business practises both in Kenya and globally as representative of the trade on behalf of Union Fleurs on the Board of Directors of FSI, the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative from its inception in 2013 to 2022.

The Ninth edition of the International Flower Trade Expo (IFTEX) Nairobi took place on May 3oth –June 1st, at the Visa Oshwal Centre, Westlands, Nairobi. Below is a chat with Dick van Raamsdonk, President HPP, and the organizer of the event;

After staging eight consecutive IFTEX exhibitions in Nairobi, you were happy with the outcome, one of the reasons why even after two years of absence due to Covid the event is back this year. What would you attribute this success to considering you indicated earlier shows exceeded expectations?
The fact that Kenya is the only country in the world where the production area of flowers structurally increases is a strong indicator that the sector -overall- is in a good shape. Moreover, growth in a worldwide economic turmoil shows that the sector has to row against the stream and still moves forward. This cannot mean anything different than strength for even more growth when coming into calm waters. Therefore IFTEX is an excellent instrument for the Kenyan floriculture Industry to support and accelerate this growth.

Informing, advising and debating in order to improve the quality productivity of our floriculture sector in the region. That is the aim of Floriculture Magazine.

By Mary Mwende Mbithi

Nathan A. Cobb, the father of American nematology, in a 1915 quote describes the tremendous ubiquity of nematodes on our planet and says “If all the matter in the universe except the nematodes were swept away, our world would still be dimly recognizable … we should find its mountains, hills, vales, rivers, lakes, and oceans represented by a film of nematodes. The location of towns would be decipherable, since for every massing of human beings, there would be a corresponding massing of certain nematodes. Trees would still stand in ghostly rows representing our streets and highways.”

Nematodes are found nearly everywhere, both on land and in the sea. The word ‘nematode’ is derived from the Greek, ‘nema’ meaning ‘thread’ and ‘odes’ meaning ‘resembling’.

By Mary Mwende Mbithi Air freight has for years been the sole mode of transport for flowers in the entire continent. With the international flower