Superflora is implementing a project that seeks to improve sustainability in the flower industry in East Africa by developing solutions to the challenges faced by the region and industry. The project will focus on a range of initiatives to solve environmental, social and economic challenges through the implementation of applied research, development of new business models and training.
It is estimated that 60,000 workers are involved in the floriculture industry just around Lake Naivasha in Kenya. Looking at the whole of East Africa would reveal that this industry is a major employer to the region. The local conditions ensure that East Africa has a worldwide competitive advantage in the production of cut flowers. The high altitude leads to high yields and excellent quality. Climate and geography enables year-round production and the developed aviation infrastructure ensures speedy delivery of the finished product to consumers in the UK and throughout Europe. These strategic competitive advantages provide a wealth of opportunity for the flower sector to further develop the production and supply model to the UK retail industry.
Fillers (stems of foliage to go into bouquets alongside flowers) are a significant group of plant species that are demanded by the market and suit smallholder flower production. While smallholder production of filler crops currently exists, there is little utilisation of this product in the UK. This is mainly due to the mix of products being produced not being demanded by the UK market and the quality and consistency of the product not matching the UK market requirements. The opportunity therefore exists to develop a new model for smallholder filler production, building on the competitive advantage this area of the world has in the production of flowers and the existing supply chain that is used by large scale businesses that already supply Sainsbury’s.
Other horticultural industries in East Africa have developed a smallholder model that is both sustainable and successful. Examples include; vegetables, coffee and tea, all of which are grown by thousands of smallholders and exported to the UK market. The flower industry has not been able to replicate this model successfully for the UK market despite attempts in the past due to lack of investment, poor quality product and irregular post-harvest practices. This project will fund a pilot project trialling different flower types and foliage production by smallholders with the potential to supply to Sainsburys in the UK.
In addition to this, there are increasing sustainability challenges in the production of flowers in East Africa. Water availability in the region has been more variable in recent years due to more unpredictable weather patterns. Roses require approximately 8 litres of water to produce each stem. At an industry level, this represents a huge pull on a country’s natural resources and therefore represents a threat to the industry in the future. For low tech smallholders, the need for solutions to improve water efficiency through irrigation are all the more important due to the nature of their production systems. Therefore any successful development of smallholder flower production in East Africa will have to find innovative solutions to using water efficiently.
There is currently little research available looking at what is the most efficient means of irrigation in terms of equipment and grower management practice. The opportunity therefore exists to develop solutions to improve water efficiency in irrigation of flowers and fillers. The findings of this research and its application could then be applied to smallholder flower production as well as large scale flower production.
In order to address the issues and opportunities highlighted above, the project will be split into four work streams:
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