Date: Thursday, December 1, 2011
Categories: Cut Flowers, Ethiopia, Kenya, ProVerde projects, Tanzania, Uganda
The World Bank, in cooperation with the Kenya Flower Council (KFC), organised a series of video conference-based seminars on topics pertaining to competitiveness in the floriculture industry. The 5th seminar, held on the 29th of November 2011, covered the issue of global competitiveness of floriculture production in the East Africa Region. Representatives from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda participated in the videoconference.
ProVerde was asked to prepare an issue paper on the competitiveness of the Kenyan flower industry and by extension the East African producer’s compared to other global producers and exporters. The paper provided an important contextual and experiential learning point for the other countries involved in the videoconference. Results from the study were presented and discussed during the conference. Read more »
Date: Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Categories: Kenya, News, Requirements
Europe has issued a fresh warning of possible revenue losses for Kenya should the East African Community (EAC) fails to reach a trade deal soon.
“Kenya risks taxation on its exports to Europe by virtue of economic strength if the trade talks stall”, Mr Bernard Rey, head of the European Delegation told players in the horticulture sector. “EAC should realise the risks of the current situation of uncertainty. Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, all are least-developed countries, will enjoy duty-free quota access to the EU markets even if the EPA (economic partnership agreement) is not signed,” Mr Rey
said. “But Kenya will risk seeing tariffs imposed on a good number of exports to Europe including horticulture products”.
Read more »
Date: Friday, March 26, 2010
Categories: Kenya, News
The country’s foreign exchange from horticulture dropped 2.8 per cent from KSh 73.7 billion in 2008 to KSh 71.6 billion last year.
According to the Daily Nation, produce for export fell due to drought and a drop in market demand for some products due to recession in Europe, Kenya’s main market.
Relative to 2008, the combined effects of these two caused an overall fall of 14.8 per cent in the quantity of exports. Read more »
CBI’s Export Development Programmes (EDP) for cut flowers are designed to help entrepreneurs in selected African countries to adapt to EU market requirements in order to create conditions for market entry or market consolidation. ProVerde has been involved in many parts of the programme.
Each country programme combined different elements: technical assistance, training in export marketing and management and market entry assistance. In Egypt for example, the programme mainly focused on logistic cooperation and certification. In Kenya, CBI was of the opinion that there is enough knowledge available in the country itself to help to companies to develop their product quality, so instead the programme focused on developing export marketing (including a market tour to the Netherlands), HRM skills of the middle managers, and cooperation between the farms. In Uganda, improvement of product quality and farm management were the main issues, next to marketing training. Read more »
During a series of market tours organised by ProVerde for CBI, companies were invited for a one-week market tour in The Netherlands.
When having the desire to export to the EU, it is essential for exporters to understand how the market operates. Who is buying flowers and what does that buyer expect from it? What happens with price and market position if this expectation is not fulfilled?
The market tours generally consisted of a combination of company visits and supporting workshop trainings. Read more »
Date: Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Categories: Kenya, News, Tanzania, Uganda
A technical team from countries in the East African region, which has been meeting in Kampala, Uganda, has agreed on a pact paving the way for free movement of labour in the region. Once the Kampala Common Market Protocol is endorsed, professionals, services and capital owners would be able to move freely in the five countries of the East African Community (EAC). Read more »
Date: Friday, October 30, 2009
Categories: Kenya, News
Kenyan flower exports may drop 14 percent to 80,000 tonnes this year due to drought and a depressed world market, the chief executive of the Kenya Flower Council said. Read more »
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Categories: CSR, Kenya, News
On Monday 12 October, the Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn introduced mixed long roses under their AH Pure & Honest brand (AH Puur & Eerlijk). During a short ceremony in Zaandam, Mrs. R.C. Rono, Ambassador of Kenya, presented the first bunch to Mr. Albert Voogd, Director of Commerce of Albert Heijn. During the next two weeks, all Albert Heijn supermarkets will focus on the Pure & Honest theme. This new brand of Albert Heijn makes it easy for customers to choose responsible and sustainable products. Read more »
Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Categories: Kenya, Market research, News
A water rationing mode currently effected in Naivasha, the bedrock for flower farming, is likely to deny the country the revenue from improved sales ahead of the onset of the peak flower season later this month.
Analysts say the move is adding to the troubles the sector is facing. The industry reported a decline in demand for its products in key markets since the onset of global recession last year, as production drops further with the ongoing drought.
Read more »
Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Categories: Ethiopia, Kenya, Market research
Recently published trade data (Eurostat) covering the year 2008 shows that The Netherlands remains the leading gateway for flowers from a number of different developing countries. Nevertheless, one leading supplying country can be recognised: Kenya. Imports from Kenya increased by 13% annually between 2004 and 2008, while imports from Ecuador increased by 20% annually during this period. Imports from Colombia and Tanzania showed significant increases as well. However, the most notable performance was that of Ethiopia. Imports from Ethiopia increased by 193% annually, with imports amounting to € 63 million in 2008. Only four years before, the imports from this country were still negligible. In contrast, imports from Zimbabwe decreased by 18% annually during the review period, due to the unstable economic and political situation.
Source: ProVerde, Eurostat