Small-scale flower farming in the country was not given much emphasis in the past but this is changing gradually as farmers from various parts of the country continue to embrace this practice supported by players in the industry. A recent visit to Kinangop area of Nyandarua County revealed that small-scale farmers have embraced flower farming and are reaping cash out of the venture.
Farmers who in the past preferred to grow traditional food crops are now moving towards summer flower production which they say is far much better in terms of income. The farmers have come together to form groups and through the help of agents they have been able to sell their flowers through the auction in the European market.
One such group, Multigrow Investments, with a total of 86 members drawn from Nyandarua, Nakuru, Kiambu, Nyeri and Murang’a counties has been cashing in from small-scale flower farming. According to Multigrow chairman Mr. Peter Murimi, the farmers sought the assistance of agents who are well versed with the market to help in marketing their products.
“We have engaged the services of agents who assist us in marketing our products through the auction in Europe. The proceeds from the sales are them divided among the farmers as per the number of the flower stems,” says Murimi.
They grow varieties such as eryngium, mobidique, allium, claspedia, mollucella, scabiosa, agapanthus, ornis, lilies among other summer flowers mostly used as fillers. Mr. Murimi said that the Blue Agapanthus has been doing exceptionally well due to its high demand on the European market.
The farmers are trained on how to take care of the plants, harvest and package them.
Mr. Murimi says that another successful variety, Claspedia, gets high demand during Mother’s Day celebrations and also to make winter bouquets. The small headed yellow flower also has a shelf life of one month and fetches an average of 0.7 Euro cents which translates to about Kshs.7 per stem. For Claspedia, a farmer harvests a 100 stems per square metre per year.
The flower which takes about 5 months from the time of planting to harvest is not affected by diseases, a factor that Mr. Murimi says is a great advantage since controlling diseases in open fields is very challenging. Another Multigrow Investments member, Mr. Peter Kinyanjui who grows Blue Agapanthus on a 1 acre piece of land says that he has no reason to look back and regret why he abandoned subsistence farming. Mr. Kinyanjui however notes that due to the fact that they are grown in open fields, the flowers are susceptible to various climatic changes. For instance, frost which at times hit most parts of the country severely affect open field flowers.
The effects of the frost are expected to reflect in the harvest season which is at its peak from March to May. During a good season, an acre of Blue Agapanthus produces approximately 1,000 stems. The farmers usually have three season of between March-May, July-August and November- December.
Other challenges facing small scale flower farming includes high cost of inputs, and transportation. Mr. Murimi says that this at times results to quality compromise. He calls on the government to help the smsll scale farmers access vehicles equipped with coolers to retain the quality during transportation to the airport. KFC Chief Executive Mrs. Jane Ngige says the Council has been supportive to the farmers especially in providing trainings on good flower production practices.
The Council also audited some smallscale groups in Kinangop and Kipipiri in Nyandarua County which revealed that the main challenge facing the growers is failure to keep records on the performance of their flowers. Mrs. Ngige reiterates that KFC is committed to help the small scale farmers, which she says has been positively contributing to poverty alleviation and youth empowerment as envisaged in the country’s Vision 2030 Blueprint.
