Where flowers bloom, so does hope. – Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007), Former First Lady USA
Broccoli, your favourite vegetable with its high nutritious value containing fibre, vitamins C, K, iron and potassium is actually a flower. Flowers have been in existence for millions of years and long been admired and used by humans for their beauty and medicinal value.
People continue to seek ways to cultivate, buy, wear, or otherwise be around flowers and blooming plants, partly because of their agreeable appearance and smell. Around the world, people use flowers to mark important events in their lives such as:-
- For new births or christenings.
- As a corsage or boutonniere worn at social functions or for holidays.
- As tokens of love or esteem.
- For wedding flowers for the bridal party, and for decorations for the hall
- As brightening decorations within the home
- As a gift of remembrance for bon voyage parties, welcome-home parties, and “thinking of you” gifts.
- For funeral flowers and expressions of sympathy for the grieving
- For worship. In Christianity, chancel flowers often adorn churches. In Hindu culture, adherents commonly bring flowers as a gift to temples.
In East Africa, flowers are prominent for occasions such as weddings and funerals. It is worth noting that rose flower traders have experienced booming business during the Valentine’s Day on February 14th every year. While the expatriate communities from mostly Europe and other non-African countries provide the high patronage to flower vendors, the culture of flowers is taking root, mostly with city residents, as a decorative and gift item for homes and offices.
There is more to flowers than just their beauty and scent. In Kenya alone, flowers directly provide an income to more than 150,000 people. Horticulture is Kenya’s third largest foreign exchange earner with the flower business contributing to 1% of the country’s GDP. There is big business in flowers, the market is still open for growth.
In addition to the growing business of flowers, the demand for flowers is rising with the knowledge of their health benefits. Flowers are also used as vegetables and spices.
Flower vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower and artichoke. The most expensive spice, saffron, consists of dried stigmas of a crocus flower. Other flower spices are cloves and capers. Hops flowers are used to flavour beer. Marigold flowers are fed to chickens to give their egg yolks a golden yellow colour, which consumers find more desirable; dried and ground marigold flowers are also used as a spice and colouring agent in Georgian cuisine. Flowers of the dandelion and elder are often made into wine. Bee pollen, pollen collected from bees, is considered a health food by some people. Honey consists of bee-processed flower nectar and is often named for the type of flower, e.g. orange blossom honey, clover honey and tupelo honey.
Hundreds of fresh flowers are edible, but only few are widely marketed as food. They are often added to salads as garnishes. Squash blossoms are dipped in breadcrumbs and fried. Some edible flowers include nasturtium, chrysanthemum, carnation, cattail, Japanese honeysuckle, chicory, cornflower, canna, and sunflower. Edible flowers such as daisy, rose, and violet are sometimes candied.
Flowers such as chrysanthemum, rose, jasmine, Japanese honeysuckle, and chamomile, chosen for their fragrance and medicinal properties, are used as tisanes, either mixed with tea or on their own.
What are Kenya’s main flower exports?
The main cut flowers exported are roses, carnations, and alstromeria. Other flowers include gypsophilla, lilies, arabicum, hypericum, and statice, as well a range of summer flowers and greenery. The biggest percentage of Kenya flowers find their way to the EU, with the most significant markets being in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and other EU countries. New markets that are currently showing lots of potential include the USA, Japan, Dubai, and Russia.
GS1 Kenya is able to incorporate the track and trace standards with the flowers and using technology the flowers can be traced from the farm on when they were planted, the progress it has been making and when they were harvested to the point of packing and sent to the buyer. The final consumer may be anybody but they can be able to know that somewhere in Africa, this flower grew and a smile has been placed on their face not only because of the flower but because they know how and when and what was used to grow and get it to look beautiful in their table or home.