Tambuzi Flower Farm in Kenya grows almost 8 million flowers a year across three sites totalling 22 hectares. Located in the rainy foothills of Mount Kenya, around 180km (111 miles) north of Nairobi, at 1,800m above sea level, it exports to 60 countries worldwide, including the UK, Holland, Russia, Australia, the US and China.
As demand for Kenyan flowers has grown, so has Tambuzi, says the farm’s owner, Maggie Hobbs, who took on the business two decades ago.
“We have grown from 20 people growing roses outdoors, to over 500 people on three sites, growing under plastic greenhouses,” says Hobbs.
The farm is the biggest employer within a 30km (18.5 mile) radius and the business supports more than 3,000 people. As a certified Fairtrade farm, 10% of the sale price goes back to the workers.
Tambuzi grows 80 flower varieties, but specialises in David Austin scented roses. It also grows summer flowers gypsophila and ammi, and “fillers” for bouquets, such as rosemary, mint and lavender.
“The packing house smells amazing and so do our greenhouses,” says Christine Shikuku, the farm’s HR and environment manager. “When I’m stressed in the office, I just walk into the greenhouses – it’s so therapeutic. I don’t have a favourite flower – they are all lovely.”
Roses are chosen from a breeder and trialled on the farm. “We look at whether they have the scent we love, the number of petals, their tolerance to pests and disease, their colour, and yield,” says Shikuku.
In the commercial greenhouses, workers monitor the soil pH and organic matter, drain the land, weed and feed the roses. Drip-irrigation transports water directly to each plant, minimising waste. To protect the plants from pests and disease, the flowers are sprayed and predatory mites are released to eat insects such as red spider mites and thrips, which feed on and damage the plants. Sticky traps are also set to catch pests such as whitefly.
After eight weeks, workers “bend” the rose stems so shoots start to sprout. The weaker stems are pinched off, leaving only the strongest. At 20 weeks they are harvested by hand, by 67 workers, all of whom are women. They cut the stems and put them into a solution of nutrients, tricking the flower into thinking it’s still attached, so it continues to grow.
The stems are quickly transferred to a cold store and cooled to 4C before being graded, sorted into bunches in the packing house, and returned to the cold store. Finally, they are transported in a refrigerated lorry to Nairobi’s airport.
Tambuzi harvests throughout the year, with one truckload of flowers leaving the site every day, although at peak times – Mothers’ Day, Valentine’s Day and International Women’s Day – this can double. From harvest to the end customer in the UK, the process takes three to four days, says Shikuku.
Despite Tambuzi’s careful management, the farm is facing growing challenges. Climate change is making it increasingly difficult to plan farming activities, says Shikuku. “Last year we had floods I have never seen in my lifetime. Then, when there is drought, it’s extreme – it is worsening every year.”
To help deal with this, the farm harvests rainwater, has installed solar panels, and moved some of its production indoors so it can better control the growing environment.
