Europe suspends plan to censor Kenyan produce

A campaign that has been urging European consumers to shun Kenyan fruits, vegetables and flowers, because of the carbon footprint caused by air freighting, has been suspended.

The Soil Association (SA) — the accreditation body in the United Kingdom that is the widely recognised quality mark on sought-after organic produce — has suspended earlier intentions to single out air freighted Kenyan organic produce as bad for the environment.

The ‘food miles’ campaign has been encouraging consumers to buy goods that have travelled the shortest distance from farms to tables, and to discriminate against long-haul transportation, especially air-freighted goods.

Air freight is used to move fresh fruit and vegetables around the globe that are too perishable to be transported by sea. Fronted by human rights and environmental lobbyists, the European food miles campaign claimed that buying locally produced vegetables, fruits and flowers is better for the environment because it reduces carbon emissions associated with transporting the goods.

Proponents of this trade concept argued that to discourage threats of environmental degradation, all produce brought in through long haulage should be accorded cautionary labels such that buyers ‘skipped them’ for locally produced ones.

Ken Hayes, and SA official, said the UK department will withdraw its organic certificates from air-freighted organically grown produce that would effectively deny vital markets to products from Africa.

“Following a lengthy consultation on air freighted organic goods, SA has decided to monitor the amount of air freighted organic goods and work with partners in East Africa to promote the positive contribution organic farming makes to food security and people’s livelihoods,” he said in the report.

Following the verdict, the Kenyan High Commission in London said it will prevail on leading supermarkets bearing the aeroplane stickers on the country’s fresh produce to remove them.

“The SA has ruled that they will not consider air freight to certify organic produce. The issue of CO2 emissions will be separated from organic production,” a top mission official told the Business Daily.

Kenya Flower Council — the umbrella body for the country’s biggest producers welcomed the milestone achievement.

“We can now be considered at par with our European farming community. We hope to maintain and grow our market share. We look up to a very successful 2009,” said Jane Ngige, the KFC chief executive.

The SA verdict means that when addressing air freight, organic agriculture’s potential to alleviate poverty and enhance the local environment in developing countries will be a key consideration.

It argues that air freight makes it possible for producers in developing countries to sell high value goods in the UK, bringing them social and economic gains. It notes that growing organic food in developing countries significantly improves the livelihoods of farmers and rural communities.

“The SA were here and we took them around the farms. Definitely, this is good news for us. Last year was a tough year for exporters,” said Hasit Shah, the chairman for the Fresh Producers and Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK).

“We now have a closer working relationship with the Kenyan Organic Agriculture Network and other organisations in East Africa and believe there is great potential in implementing a joint project looking at the positive contribution organic agriculture can make to development,” said the SA report released last week and seen by the Business Daily.

The announcement coincides with recent decisions in the key European market to promote eating of fruits and vegetables as a way of healthy eating, meaning more opportunities for the market which buys 95 per cent of its fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers from the Kenyan market.

The UK government is presently encouraging more efficient distribution within the food and drink sector, and has proposed that food industry trade bodies look into achieving a 20 per cent reduction in the social costs of transporting food in the UK by 2012.

“It will be worthwhile to network and engage the industry which is already looking to increased demand in future. The school dinner programme which includes slogans such as “five a day” is a sure sign of upward demand in such products.

Kenya should position itself to reaping more of this new demand,” added the embassy official but who is familiar with the happenings but did not wish to be named.

In 2005, the UK imported 20,700 tonnes of cut flowers from Africa with a declared value of around £56m. Kenyan cut flowers accounted for around £52m (about Sh52 billion).

Major exports include roses (60 per cent) 40 per cent field or summer flowers. At an annual growth rate of 20 per cent, horticulture generated Sh49 billion in the 2008 to emerge as the country’s top foreign exchange earner. In 2007, the industry realized Sh43 billion.

Cut flowers

The cut flowers world market is worth $5.7 billion market. Dominated by Netherlands which accounts for about 54 per cent of all exports. Other top exporters are Colombia (16 per cent), Ecuador and Kenya, six per cent each.

The main import destinations are the 27 EU member countries, with Germany (18 per cent) as the largest country destination.

It is followed by UK: 17 per cent and the USA, 16 per cent. Until the food miles threats surfaced, Kenya has remained the number one exporter of cut flowers into the main in the EU and currently commands 36 per cent of market share.

Over the last four years growing from Sh8.5 billion in 2000 to Sh32 billion in 2006. The major current production is based on about 2,500 ha, 70 per cent of which is grown in Naivasha.

Other areas are Thika, Mt Kenya, Athi Plains, North Rift Valley and Kericho. The SA report confirms recent studies by UK’s Cranfield University on Kenya’s level of CO2 emissions. The studies say carbon emissions are 200 kg per head, while in the UK they are almost 50 times that.

Previously, UK scientists have proved to carbon miles crusaders that the subject had not been scientifically focused. Growers, trade associations and scientists conducted studies whose findings discounted the retailers’ theory that banning imports would reduce global warming.

Apart from SA, growers, trade associations and scientists conducted parallel studies whose findings discounted the retailers’ theory that banning imports would reduce global warming.

All past studies have confirmed that air freighting vegetables from Africa is a small contributor to Britain’s carbon emissions.

Kenya’s contribution is too low to be significant. In their findings, they noted that although less than 1 per cent of imported food is air freighted, it contributes 11 per cent of the carbon emissions from UK food distribution by roads.

While aircraft emissions produce far more greenhouse gases per ‘food mile’ than any other form of transport, food transport has an environmental and social cost, most of this - about 85 per cent- comes from UK roads.

“The distance food has travelled is not a good way to judge whether the food we eat is sustainable. Driving 6.5 miles to buy your shopping emits more carbon than flying a pack of Kenyan green beans to the UK”.

Analysts say the food miles debate was defeated because Africa is yet to reach high pollution levels of the developed world.

The carbon miles debate is now fizzling out by the fact that its proponents would not scientifically justify their claims against the long haul products.

Since March 2007, Tesco and Marks & Spencer –two of the UK’s leading supermarkets have put plane symbols on Kenya’s fresh produce.

The supermarkets had rushed to impose sanctions on air-freighted goods without proper scientific findings.

Their move prompted urgent research into how much CO2 was released into the atmosphere by airlifting of goods from Africa.

With a growing concern that CO2 emitted when transporting food over long distances contributes significantly to global warming, Kenyan based flower fresh producers assisted by the government waged a counter campaign that the food miles debate was not about reducing carbon emissions, but maintaining protection for European producers.

High quality fresh produce is grown under the sun on farms and small holdings all over Kenya.


Source: bdafrica.com

Publication date: 1/30/2009