British High Commissioner to Kenya Jane Mariott has asked UK citizens to buy Kenyan flowers now rotting in the streets of UK.
This follows a viral video doing rounds on social media showing flowers rotting in one of the streets in Great Britain.
Under #buyflowersnottoiletpaper, Mariott acknowledged that the UK is one of the heaviest consumers of Kenya’s flowers.
However, she averred that letting them rot is contributing to the downfall of the flower industry in Kenya where 85% of UK roses are grown.
“To those in the UK – we are huge consumers of Kenya’s beautiful flowers. 70% of UK roses are from Kenya. 85% of Kenya’s flowers are rotting, unsold. Please buy a bunch if you can: cheers you up.
Supports a vital industry,” she tweeted Saturday.
This comes as The Kenyan Flower Council decried the laying off of 30, casual workers and 40, 000 permanent staff working in Kenyan flower farms.
This follows the coronavirus outbreak across the globe.
The shredding of the workforce comes against the backdrop of reduced orders for flowers overseas occasioned by travel restrictions in the affected countries.
The aftermath has been for companies to send home 150, 000 employees to cushion their ventures from the coronavirus aftershock.
“Only 50 percent of our nationwide workforce is currently working with the percentage expected to plummet to 25 percent in the coming two to three weeks,” said Kenya Flower Council chief executive Officer Clement Tulezi according to Business Daily.
