Zero-rate farm inputs to save flower sector, state urged

The Kenya Flower Council has urged the government to zero-rate all farm inputs to cushion the floriculture sector from the effects of the coronavirus.

Council CEO Clement Tulezi said the sector is on its knees, with flower farms disposing of their harvest. The exports have dropped to 10 per cent.

Tulezi said President Uhuru Kenyatta has ignored the sector that employs more than 150,000 workers.

“Due to the current crisis, farmers have been forced to send home over 50 per cent of their workers on paid leave hoping that things will improve in the coming month,” he said.

Tulezi said this has left farmers incurring huge losses as the crisis deepens.

“We had sent some proposal to the government to zero-rate all farm inputs and scrap PAYE, but this has not been addressed,” he said.

Tulezi said farmers are ready to ship flowers once the situation stabilises in Europe, which is the main market for Kenya’s flowers.

“Since the Dutch auction collapsed, farmers have been forced to dispose of their flowers while a few of them are exporting little to supermarkets and Japan,” he said.

Kenya Export, Floriculture, Horticulture and Allied Workers Union secretary general David Omulama said over 50 per cent of farms in Naivasha had sent most of their workers home.

Omulama said most employers agreed to pay the workers in the period they would be away from work.

Edited by A.N