Desperate times call for desperate measures and with Kenya’s flower sector hit hard by covid-19, it is time that the country sought ways to maintain relationships with its key markets.
The first gesture by the Kenya flower sector has been to send some 300 bouquets to the United Kingdom in what was called "solidarity with covid-19 frontline combatants" in a campaign dubbed Flowers For Hope.
Kenya’s national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) flew the consignment on Friday night last week in a move set to keep the flower market open for business when the coronavirus pandemic passes.
The flowers to be distributed to those in the frontline of combating the pandemic including doctors, nurses and recovering patients and care homes were in sleeves inscribed with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s goodwill message.
Kenyatta’s message read, "There have been a few moments in history when the world has faced a crisis as far-reaching and consequential as this. It is exactly at moments such as this that we must display our humanity, perseverance and hope. Whatever the adversity, no matter the foe, we shall triumph together. We stand united. Tuko Pamoja. From Kenya with love – H E Uhuru Kenyatta."
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The flower sleeves with President Kenyatta’s message to the UK frontline combatants. [Photo/KFC]This initiative came from a committee set up by the president which brought together the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), KQ and the Kenya Flower Council.
KEPSA Chief Executive Officer Carol Karuga said, "Our member, the Kenya Flower Council, has done this to show empathy and this sends a strong message of partnership at a time when many countries are facing difficulty. It is part of our campaign dubbed ‘Flowers of Hope’ informed by the realities brought forth by how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting world economies."
The campaign has seen thousands of roses distributed to doctors, nurses and the sick at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), Mbagathi, Pumwani Maternity, Mama Lucy Hospital and the Spinal Injury Hospital.
Flowers For Hope campaign is informed by the need to celebrate and support those actively involved and affected by the contagion while helping in saving thousands of jobs in Kenya’s flower farms that are on the line as sales of cut flowers in overseas markets plummet to record lows.
The Kenya Flower Council says the dip in sales is now below 35 per cent of what would currently […]
