Pandemic set to drag horticulture exports down by 20pc
INDUSTRY: Kenya’s horticulture exports are expected to drop by 20 per cent due to the Covid-19 containment measures but high prices could help cut losses.
September usually marks the high season for flower exports.
However, players say the volumes have remained low and failed to march the growing orders from overseas.
“Firms that used to export flowers every month could not do that because of Covid but after the first three months of the pandemic, the flower industry started picking and prices are improving due to scarcity,” Alex Owiti, Communication Consultant, Horticulture Industry in East Africa.
The volume of orders coming in the first months of the pandemic dropped sharply and many exporters had to grapple with cancellation of orders.
Exporters in the flower market grappled with a raft of issue between ensuring steady supply and having to send workers home due to the Coronavirus lockdowns.
Owiti said that prices have, however, gone up by 7 per cent this year due to scarcity which should help to protect exporters from losses.
Aviation sector
“The aviation sector must operate optimally because transport is a critical sector for the survival of the sector so that exporters can meet the order coming from Europe,” he added.
The return to work formula is considered as very important because about 30,000 workers in the flower industry lost their jobs due to the closure of the farms and factories due to the lockdowns.
Speaking earlier during a webinar by Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency, Oserian Development Company director Mary Kinyua said their exports fell from a million stems per day to about 350,000.
“The markets are opening up slowly and barring any other disruptions, we should be back to full business by end of the year,” she said.
