Kenya flower farmers bet on new toolkit to up earnings

By MARK KAPCHANGA

Returns from Kenya’s flower sector are set to rise hugely following the launch of a toolkit that measures carbon emissions.

The Carbon Reduction and Opportunities Toolkit (Carrot), a computer generated data platform, is the first of its kind in the world.

It will capture data on water usage, fuel, gas, kerosene and power and indicate sources over 13 months, the minimum measurable time.

Pesticide, fertiliser applications and cold storage operations will also be netted.

Once the information is fed into the system, the toolkit will calculate the level of carbon emissions, making it possible for a grower to know the highs and lows from each application.

The development is a relief to a sector whose growth globally is being constricted by the markets sensitive to carbon impacts in the production processes. The importing destinations are continually insisting for products cultivated under a regime of environmental care minimising water and energy.

The Kenya Flower Council Chief Executive Officer Jane Ngige says the kit will provide crucial data that will show that the flowers are grown in a low carbon emission environment. This, she says, will increase marketability.

More energy

“The data generated by the Carrot will show the world that despite airlifting our flowers, the carbon from airfreight is much less compared to production processes in Europe where they use more energy to light and heat greenhouses,” she said.

The floriculture industry contributed over Sh47.3 billion to Kenya’s economy in 2011.

Over 90,000 people work in flower farms with over two million people depending on the business.

Netherlands Ambassador to Kenya Joost Reintjes also disclosed there are plans to export flowers by ship in conditioned containers at a temperature of between one and two degrees celsius.

This, Mr Reintjes says, will take about three weeks to reach the Netherlands but emissions will be reduced drastically.