Kenya flower earnings fall 19 pct in Q1 2009

By Duncan Miriri

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's vital flower exports fell 19.5 percent to 10.7 billion shillings in the first quarter of this year from 13.3 billion in the year ago period, the Kenya Flower Council chief said on Friday.

Along with fruit and vegetables, flowers were the top foreign exchange earner last year for east Africa's biggest economy, bringing in 73.7 billion shillings, with flowers accounting for 40 billion shillings.

"We are down by 3 billion Kenya shillings," Jane Ngige, chief executive of the Kenya Flower Council told Reuters.

She said demand for Kenyan flowers in the main European markets had fallen 25 percent since November to date, hit by the global economic downturn and bad winter weather.

"We also had a very bad winter in Europe and in North America, which means that people didn't go out shopping as they should do," said Ngige.

"We started feeling the impact from November last year and it has been getting worse and worse."

The first quarter is usually one of the busiest times for Kenyan flower exporters, with St Valentine's Day in February the most important sales day in the cut flower calendar.

Producers in neighbouring countries are also feeling the pinch in a key sector for hard currency earnings.