Supply chain management practices adopted by the Kenya-Dutch flower trade
Abstract
The Kenya cut flower industry dates back to the late 1960s but it was not until the 1990s that
investment transformed it into a major player in the international market. With an annual growth
rate of 20 percent the cut flower industry is among the fastest growing sectors of the Kenyan
economy. With revenues of more than USA Dollar (USD) 250 million a year, it is Kenya’s
second largest agricultural foreign exchange earner after tea (Fairtrade, 2012). Kenya is now the
fifth largest flower exporter in the world. Ninety per cent of all Kenyan flowers are exported to
Europe and Kenya also supplies 25 percent of cut flowers sold in the European Union (EU).
The study investigates the adoption of supply chain management practices in the Kenya-Dutch
flower trade. The study used descriptive research design and drew its population from 50
registered members of the Kenya Flower Council (KFC) exporting to the Dutch market as
at August 21, 2013, 4 flower handling freight companies and 1 distributor. Primary data
gathered with the help of a structured questionnaire was analyzed using percentages, mean
scores and standard deviations to enable comparison.
The results show that the strong growth in export volumes in the Kenya-Dutch flower trade has
put pressure on the supply chain, creating bottlenecks that hamper efficiency and adoption of
supply chain management practices. Other opportunities for further improvement in the
efficiency of the supply chain are directly linked with changing market conditions and the
different requirements of supplying the mass-market as opposed to supplying the traditional
market
Citation
Anumo Tom Risley (2013). Supply Chain Management Practices Adopted By The Kenya-dutch Flower Trade. A management research project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of master of business administration (MBA), school of business, university of Nairobi.Publisher
University of Nairobi School of Business