Kenyan flower industry in ‘dire’ situation as sales plummet during Middle East war

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The ongoing conflict in the Middle East threatens to cripple Kenya’s floriculture sector as growers now report up to $1.4million in weekly losses. Following the attack on Iran by the U.S. and Israel, and the consequent spread of hostilities across the Middle Eastern region, global trade has taken a hit, and the effects are beginning to be felt in the Kenyan horticulture sector.

Growers in the sector worth over $800 million, according to the Central Bank of Kenya, said that flower exports have been largely affected by both a reduction in demand and shipping disruption, both to the Middle East and Europe.

At Isinya Flower Farms, located 56 kilometers (35 miles) south of Nairobi, Marketing Manager Anantha Kumar said exports have dropped by more than 50 percent.

“Previously, we used to export 450,000 stems per day, and currently we are doing about 150,000 to 200,000 stems a day. So, we are discarding almost 50 percent,” Kumar told the Associated Press. Ideally, direct flower exports to the Middle East account for about 30 percent at Isinya Flower Farms and up to 15 percent nationally; the largest market being Europe, accounting for up to 70 percent.

However, while the Middle East isn’t Kenya’s main flower market, the disruption of cargo freight to Europe has resulted in reduced exports as well as higher costs.

Kumar said the freight costs have almost doubled as the unavailability of freight made it unviable for business.

According to the Kenya Flower Council, a private sector organization representing growers and exporters of cut flowers and ornamentals in Kenya, the ongoing conflict has resulted in over $4.2million in losses over the last three weeks.

This has been attributed mainly to the interruption of the markets and disruption in shipping, as well as an increase in freight fees.

“The Middle East remains a very important market and the disruption has an immediate impact on us. We see a reduction in movement, delays in movement of produce, and longer routes, and pricing is really high,” said Kenya Flowers Council Chief Executive Officer Clement Tulezi.

This article and video were provided by The Associated Press.

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[Worker packaging flowers]

[Roses]

[Packaging flowers]

Anantha Kumar (interview): “We used to export around 400 to 450 thousand stems in a day, but currently we are hardly doing 150 thousand stems to 200 thousand stems in a day. It’s almost 50 percent we are discarding.”

[Kumar talking to a colleague at work]

Anantha Kumar (interview): “For us, the Middle East is almost 20 to 25 percent of our products that we used to sell to the Middle East. Now that, if (the war) continues, the effect will be more than COVID. The impact will be more than COVID, during the COVID period.”

[Worker packaging flowers]

[Flowers]

Anantha Kumar (interview): “Only few freights are operating. Mainly the Middle East carriers have completely stopped, and the European carriers are looking at $5 per kilo which is two times than the normal rates. With that rates and the current and the current market situation, growers are not able to export. It is not viable paying $5 per kilo and exporting the flowers.”

[Workers packaging flowers]

[Clement Tulezi, Chief Executive of Kenya Flower Council, in his office]

Clement Tulezi (interview): “The buyers whom we sell to are not making orders. So by and large if I would tell you in the last three weeks, we have lost about 4.2 million dollars worth of flowers. Probably around 2.1 (million dollars) is attributed to lack of flights or movement of that, and the other one is actually because of the delays and the other accompanying losses that go with that. That is huge for a growing market like that.”

[Rose flowers]

Clement Tulezi (interview): “We believe that if this goes on then we are basically looking at more than 1.8 million U.S. dollars that we will lose every week through produce that cannot leave this country because of those disruptions. The last one to two weeks, I have heard about seven growers who are predominantly supplying into the Middle East, really grounded. Some of them are actually contemplating downsizing to the levels where we were with COVID in terms of production, in terms of workers, in terms of what they will harvest. So the situation is dire.”

[Worker packaging flowers]

This script was provided by The Associated Press.

The related lesson for this video will be published next Tuesday.