The Kenya Flower Council has said it is in negotiation with EU authorities to resolve the standoff between the council and retailers such as Tesco over the issue of the carbon footprint of Kenyan blooms sold in Europe.

KFC chairman Erastus Muriithi told delegates at a workshop at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute that KFC, the Kenyan government and the EU authorities are handling the matter.

Muriithi has also urged Kenyans to develop a culture of buying flowers in order to boost the horticultural sector, which has become a major source of livelihood for more than 100,000 Kenyans. To this end KFC has entered into an agreement with Kenya’s Equity Bank to provide loans to small-scale flower vendors to help them boost their trade.

And the horticulture industry in Kenya has also teamed up with the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) to enhance quality certification and meet the expectations of its European customers.

The standards body will now act as a guarantor and oversee how the Kenya Flower Council (KFC) is implementing international quality standards as part of efforts to improve the quality certification process and boost consumer confidence.

KFC had previously relied on its principal farm auditor John Njenga, for verification to ensure compliance with European standards.

Besides Kebs, Kenyan produce will also be verified by global certification group Bureau Veritas. The partnership means that all Kenyan produce will now bear the Kebs diamond mark of quality.

In return, Kebs will get 0.2 per cent or Sh98 million (£739,000) of all KFC sales based on last year's figure of Sh49 billion.

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