Kenya’s flower exports could soon hit 100 percent following the resumption of international flights after a four-month suspension linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said on Wednesday.
Clement Tulezi, chief executive officer of the Kenya Flower Council (KFC) said that resumption of international flights will boost the volume of cut flowers exported to the overseas market.
” Currently we are exporting up to 80 percent of our produce and we can increase this to near 100 percent of our produce if we get more cargo planes and lower freight charges,” said Tulezi.
He said that high freight charges remained the major challenge currently facing the sector that employs over 150,000 people.
Tulezi said that Kenyan flower farmers were currently exporting over 500 tonnes of the commodity per day despite the high freight charges.
He said the sector had lost over 10 billion shillings (about 100 million U.S. dollars) in the last four months following the collapse of the Dutch auction market and the strict lockdown regulations in the European Union.
“We were losing 300,000 dollars per day in the last three months but there is a tremendous improvement in the sector with the majority of the workforce resuming duties,” said Tulezi.
