Fair trade for Kenya's flowers

The flower business is becoming increasingly competitive, with fresh blooms flown from all over the world to grace European tables. Leading producers in developing countries are Colombia and Kenya, and both have attracted criticism for poor labour conditions and high use of agrochemicals. As consumers are turning their attention to fair trading conditions, major supermarkets suppliers are increasingly willing to establish appropriate criteria.

The Kenyan Flower Council (KFC) was recently formed with a Code of Practice to improve the image and standards of growers(1). The Code aims: "To foster the responsible and safe production of cut flowers in Kenya, while protecting the natural environment and benefiting the welfare of all farm staff." KFC has just opened a London office reflecting the importance of the British market, where the huge retail outlets Marks & Spencer, Asda, Safeway, Sainsbury's and Tesco all sell Kenyan cut flowers, as well as to wholesalers.
    Kenya exports 35,000 tonnes of cut flowers to Europe, putting it only behind Colombia and Israel for global flower exports, and giving it 60% of the US$165 million African flower trade. Flowers make up a major part of Kenya's horticultural industry, the fastest growing sector of the economy, and fourth behind coffee, tea and tourism.
    KFC could be influential-17 grower members, responsible for about 60% of total flower production in Kenya and 90% of exports to Britain-have signed up. These include the massive Sulmac, a Unilever company, and Homegrown, each employing around 5,000 people. The agreed labour standards aim to provide fair wages and conditions. Standards include salaries above the government minimum; a six-day working week of 46 hours and overtime rates paid for additional hours; 21 days paid holiday a year; two months paid maternity leave and paid sick leave after one month's service; employers will provide reasonable housing for employees, or pay rent in addition to wages. Growers have 12 months after joining KFC to achieve the standards.

The KFC Code on pesticides
The targets of the Code in relation to pesticides are more modest than those on labour conditions, and go little beyond general codes established for pesticide use in developing countries, and encouraging good horticultural practices. Nevertheless, these practices are not always known or enforced, and if the Code can achieve these minimum standards it takes a necessary first step. Members of KFC undertake that they will:

• provide protective clothing to workers spraying pesticides and ensure it is worn;
• reduce pesticide use through good practices such as regular crop inspection, scouting to determine pest levels rather than calendar spraying, trapping pests and use of rotations;
• under no circumstances use products banned in Kenya, and will use only pesticides which are registered in the country;
• only in justified circumstances use World Health Organisation categories 'extremely' and 'highly' hazardous pesticides;
• avoid reliance on continued use of a single chemical to minimise pest resistance.

Many of the pesticides used in flower production are organophosphates (OPs), which suppress the enzyme acetyl cholinesterase in the body, and affect the nervous system. The Code will not affect the use of OPs, whose problems for horticultural workers in Kenya were recently detailed in an epidemiological study. Comparing four regions in Kenya, Grace Ohayo-Mitoko's study found the lowest cholinesterase levels (a sign of OP exposure) on horticultural workers in the flower-growing Naivasha region. The study indicated that the symptoms experienced by pesticide users were produced at lower levels than the WHO recommended threshold level for exposure.
    The big flower growing estates all buy in from outgrowers, members of the Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya. In welcoming the KFC Code, Ms Ohayo-Mitoko pointed out that at least 270 growers belong to FPEAK, who follow weaker guidelines: "the next step must be to harmonise the two approaches, and to achieve further reductions in pesticide use. There is an urgent need to decrease worker exposure to pesticides."
    The ozone-depleting fumigant methyl bromide, now due to be phased out under the Montreal Protocol, is widely used by Kenyan flower-growers: and the KFC Code has no specific policy to phase out the use of this highly toxic and environmentally hazardous pesticide, although Homegrown has indicated it has reduced use and is looking for alternatives.
    The Code is a welcome first step in responsible marketing practices. At present, the monitoring of growers is, however, carried out internally by the Executive Officer, who comes from a background of working with international agrochemical companies in Kenya. To ensure credibility, KFC will need to establish a system of independent auditors, and the London office acknowledged that this is a goal. (By Barbara Dinham)

1. Kenya Flower Council Code of Practice Edition 3, December 1996. KFC, PO Box 24856, Nairobi, Kenya, Fax +254 2 883041, or KFC 34 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0RE, UK, Fax +44 171 630 9750.
2. Ohayo-Mitoko, Grace JA, Occupational Pesticide Exposure among Kenyan Agricultural Workers: an epidemiological and public health perspective, Kenyan Medical Research Institute, and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Wageningen Agricultural University, PB 238, 6700 EV, The Netherlands, 1997.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 39, March 1998, page 15]