Freight , the revenue enhancement regime , and the EU plant wellness regulation were predicted to be the biggest challenge for the Kenyan flower gardening in 2021 , consort to Kenya Flower Council ’s ( KFC ) CEO Clement Tulezi . “ When I was predict that in the beginning in the year , I was not unseasonable . These three have persist the major challenge , and not much has change since , regrettably . ” In this article , Tulezi give way over the current state of these challenges , as well as a new challenge the Kenyan peak industry is birth to deal with and how Tulezi ’s association is help to ascertain solution and improvement . Clement Tulezi at the IFTEX 2019 in Nairobi , Kenya20 - 25 % of daily harvest discombobulate awayAccording to Tulezi , their top precedence at the here and now is lading . “ In 2020 , we temporarily lost demand for our diligence , and the airway found better business elsewhere because of Covid . As a issue , the freight cost have gone up , and this situation has remain . We are still short on capacity . There are still many cancellations . Almost every two 24-hour interval a flight of stairs to Nairobi is canceled , meaning that the capacity has not meliorate . Currently , we are inadequate of 1500 lashings per calendar week . As a outcome , the majority of growers and exporters are fuddle away 20 - 25 % of their daily harvest . Meanwhile , the demand for Kenyan bloom is good . These grower have adorn a lot into their product , for which there is in reality enough demand , but there is no space to transport it . ”
In addition , the costs of transporting the Kenyan flowers have remained very high-pitched . “ Moving produce from Nairobi costs $ 2,60 per kilo , whereas this only cost $ 1,50 for the Ethiopian marketplace . When all other factors are agree changeless , how can the Kenyan market vie in the same market ? ”
So how can we overcome the freight challenges ? The KFC is work closely with airlines and consignment forwarders , in guild to observe short - terminal figure resolution . So far , they have provided several proposition to the government . “ First of all , the government could grant to bring in more capacity into Kenya . However , this is quite difficult as this is dependent on the airline as well . Our 2nd proffer is to allow direct flight from Nairobi to the pointedness of destination , which would reduce monetary value . Our last prompting is for the governing to quaver some of the extra price related to airlines operating in Nairobi , so we draw in more . ”
According to Tulezi , something needs to go on presently . “ We already have a payload deficit of 1500 dozens currently , so what will happen around Valentine ’s Day , for model ? farm can not keep destroying heyday . This will have a serious ripple outcome as it will feign the way businesses are lam . Drastic measures may need to be taken , such as reducing the staff or inputs , for example , to reduce the costs , which will in turn be compromise the lineament of the produce . ”
Kenya Flower Council had a consultatory meeting today with the CS for Transport , Infrastructure , Housing , Urban Development and Public Works , Hon@JamesMacharia _ , to discuss the way forward on freight capacity and toll challenges in the gardening sector#Freight#Floriculturepic.twitter.com / Lz6jexRnsD
“ A extremely task industry”Tulezi explain that floriculture is a extremely taxed industry in Kenya . “ The regime detect it easier to point us , as we are a well - organized industry , since a lot of other sectors are more modest scale of measurement or informal . Both at county and national level , floriculture company are imposed with over 40 tax . Recently , we went to courtyard against cess fees , which is a strain of tax charge up on goodness when they move across country borders , and we gain all the cases in Nakuru and Meru , and also the one on the Minimum Tax . The court ruled that county do not have the jurisdiction to impose these cess taxes on our export industry . However , a new revenue enhancement has now been usher in , the Flower Service Tax , by a county where we develop most of the cut - flush , charging 1 % of the turnover on all exporter . We have already put in our objection , and hopefully , they will mind . We also have an ongoing court case against the Horticulture Crops Directorate , which increased cess tenfold at the beginning of 2021 . Overall , there is a new tax introduce almost every 3 calendar month . Of of course , it is costly for KFC to keep rent lawyers and going to court on behalf of our phallus , but it seems like it ’s the only way to work with the government and boil down the unneeded costs for Kenyan fellowship . ”EU plant wellness regulationsAnother challenge the Kenyan growers have had to plow with is the plant health regulation impose by the EU . “ faux Codling Moth is a pest that often occurs in rosiness , but also on capsicum and many other crop . At the moment , it looks like there are improvements occupy the interception . While there were still 9 in June , there were none in September . However , we ask to calm this over clip for avert more sanctions from the market . We are working closely with the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service to look at the post - harvest processing , and how we can superintend the pest in a better fashion . Soon , we will also be starting a projection where we will start using cameras and drones to detect and destroy the moths , as we do not want this to adversely affect our business . ”A raw challenge : plant food checksRecently , the regime has also decided that it is necessary for all water - soluble fertilizers to be checked when they come into the country . In 2018 , KFC had to fight against it , and the shipments were able-bodied to amount in again without much time lag . Yet a few week ago , the political science decided that they should go back to checking all shipments . “ This is not necessarily a job , but there is just not enough capacity to check every individual despatch . At the moment , 6000 tons of fertilizers are stuck at the port wine , which is causing fears of shortages and increase toll . These products are used on a daily base by the farm , so this delay will have a major impact on the quality of the blossom . Especially after a difficult 2020 , we want our diligence to recuperate with the right quality , and this move is not helping us . ”For more information : Kenya Flower Council[email protected]kenyaflowercouncil.org
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