Summer flowers From Kenya – A case for Co-operatives Transforming Lives Of Smallholder Farmers

A group of 100 small-scale farmers who sell their harvests to an export oriented company for onward sales

Summer flowers are typically grown only in summer in northern European countries, but can be cultivated throughout the year in Kenya due to abundant sunshine. The most common summer flowers in Kenya include arabicum, craspedia and eryngium and are used to blend other flowers in order to make a bouquet.

Smallholder farmers most grow summer flowers in the open fields including; onis, Craspedia, mobydic, eryngium, bulprelium, ammi, scabiosa arabicum and eryngium. They are attracted to this venture by the high returns in relation to other farming practices.

Benefits of Co-operatives among Farmers

• To seek to contribute to the commercialization of agriculture in Kenya by providing farmer groups with technical and marketing guidance to enhance productivity and marketing capabilities
• Work with farmers’ groups/cooperatives to help farmers improve their business management skills, marketing, financial, administrative, and organizational performance
• Work with farmers in collective marketing, linking to reliable local, regional and international markets with a view to ensure the allocation of equitable economic returns for all of those within the chain and build communities based on justice and sustainability through fair trade
• Provide services for facilitating direct contracting between the different parties involved in production while networking with reliable markets e.g. schools, hospitals, hotels wholesale markets and supermarkets
• Strengthen knowledge exchange through technologies such as mobile phones, TV and radio. Link farmers with market information through mobile phone technology