Flower farmers are not fleeing from Naivasha, contrary to recent reports, a horticultural group based in Naivasha has disclosed.

Commenting on recent reports indicating that Naivasha-based flower farmers were moving their operations to neighbouring Ethiopia and South Africa, the chairman of Lake Naivasha Growers’ Group, Peter Szapary said the firms were only putting up additional operations in Ethiopia.

“The operators are basically expanding their operations outside Kenya. The expansion is normal and it is mainly driven by market forces,” said Szapary. “Operators have been forced to review their production costs in order to remain competitive in the industry,” he added.

Speaking during the official opening of the Naivasha Horticultural Fair, he said that Ethiopia currently has a favourable investment climate for flower farmers but the expansion is not, at the moment, a big threat to the local flower industry.

Szapary also noted that even though the farms’ expansion in Kenya was reducing, the acreage in cultivation was on the increase.

He added that the decline was mainly as a result of a hostile operating climate. He urged the Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, to address key issues affecting the sector in order to encourage and retain investors.

This, he said, could only be done through creating a suitable business environment that would spur economic growth.