Bʏ Mᴀʀʏ Mᴡᴇɴᴅᴇ,
Last week’s FPEAK 50th anniversary forum brought together industry players to discuss key issues shaping Kenya’s floriculture sector. Topics like sustainability, compliance, the EU Mirror Clause, market access, and climate action took center stage. Exporters, logistics companies, and policymakers shared their perspectives. But amid these important discussions, one question deserves more attention: What is the real cost of these changes for growers on the ground?
Every new market requirement comes with a price. Labour audits are paid by the grower. New waste management systems? the Grower. Digital traceability software? Grower. EU Mirror Clause adjustments? Guess who’s paying. And while everyone talks about the billions floriculture earns Kenya, ask any farm owner in Naivasha, Thika, Isinya or Timau what their margins look like right now. It’s not pretty.
We can talk about moving to sea freight, but if the cold chain isn’t ready, who takes the loss when the flowers spoil? It won’t be the airline, and it definitely won’t be the retailer in Europe. It’s the grower. This is the story of Kenya’s flower industry. Profits made abroad, compliance costs absorbed at home.
The EU Mirror Clause is another ticking time bomb. By 2030, imported produce must meet the same environmental and chemical use standards as EU-grown crops. Sounds noble, until you realize small and mid-sized farms have no idea what that actually means for them. No clear communication, no financial buffer, no grace period. And when the deadline comes, guess who’ll get locked out of the market first.
We hear a lot about social sustainability too. It’s good. Workers deserve fair pay, safe conditions, and dignity. But farms are being audited back to back by certification bodies, each with their own checklist, all at the grower’s expense. Meanwhile, market prices haven’t budged.
If this industry continues to focus on positive export figures while overlooking the mounting challenges growers face, it risks serious trouble ahead. You can’t keep draining growers while expecting them to carry the weight of the sector. If one big farm closes, it makes news. If ten smallholder farms quietly fold, no one even notices until it’s too late.
Growers ought to demand a seat at the front of the table. Not as spectators at industry forums. As decision-makers. No compliance policy, no market deal, no new standard should be passed without direct, honest grower input, because without the grower, there’s no flower business, and right now, that’s the simple truth this industry can’t afford to ignore.
Enjoy reading this week’s Floriweek!
Talk to us via editor@floriculture.co.ke