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Lockdown Easing in Europe Revives Kenyan Flower Industry

  • Kenyan flower exports have reached 60% of daily capacity
  • Dutch auctions show global market is almost back to normal
A worker piles up roses at a flower farm in Kiambu County, Kenya, on March 24

A worker piles up roses at a flower farm in Kiambu County, Kenya, on March 24

Photographer: Patrick Meinhardt/AFP via Getty Images

Kenya’s flower industry is recovering from a near-collapse as European movement restrictions ease and Dutch auctions report an up-tick in operations.

Europe’s biggest supplier of flowers was hit hard by the crash of the global $8.5 billion trade in March as countries closed their borders to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Farms exported only 20% of the 60 tons of cut flowers they normally sent daily to the U.K., the Netherlands and Germany, and destroyed the rest.