In search of balance: Africa's quest to sustain perishable export
Kenya, a key player in the global horticultural market, faces an uphill battle this peak season. Limited air cargo capacity and disrupted sea freight routes have left tonnes of perishable flowers stranded, threatening the livelihoods of farmers and exporters alike. This crisis highlights the urgent need for innovative logistics solutions in Africa.
It's that time of year when the production of flowers in Kenya goes up. The high season starts in October and goes up until May. During these months, which will see Christmas, New Year's Eve, Valentine's Day, Mother’s Day, and International Women's Day, the newly cultivated flowers are exported, mostly through the air, to markets in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia.
However, 2024 is no ordinary year for the country's farm owners and exporters due to the limited air cargo capacity available out of Nairobi. As a result, a significant amount of flowers meant for export end up in the compost heap.
How big is the air cargo struggle and why is it happening
For instance, Willum van den Hoogen, Managing Director of Florius Flowers, who called it a very unfortunate reality, said, “It's not a strange thing to hear that the people are dumping one-third or 30 percent of their production that cannot find an export.”
He pointed out that there is not enough air cargo capacity at the right rate, which is a reason for that. “There can always be capacity if you pay a very high premium, but then the flowers won't yield that amount on the markets in Europe. So you end up throwing flowers away,” he said.
van den Hoogen is based in Dubai and coordinates flower exports from partner farms in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Colombia to markets in Europe, the Middle East, North America and Asia.
Expanding on the capacity issues, van den Hoogen emphasised the need for both inbound and outbound cargo to have a successful air freight route. “You need to have freight coming into and going out of Africa. If the inbound is not there, you end up with freighters flying empty and at a meagre yield,” he added.
“It's not a strange thing to hear that the people are dumping one-third or 30 percent of their production that cannot find an export.”
Willum Van den Hoogen, Florius Flowers
There are several reasons for the limited air cargo capacity out of Kenya including the disruptions in the sea freight and ongoing airfreight peak season. For instance, a senior official from Kenya Airport Authority, who thinks that the Gaza war is responsible for the crisis in his country, informed that there are not less than 700 tonnes of perishables in farms that they are not able to move. “And it will go on until there's something done,” he said.
He explained that the conflict has led to a reduction in aircraft supply, causing prices to rise. He noted that the reduction in flights to Nairobi has been ongoing for over a year, with a significant drop occurring in October. “The Gaza war and disruptions in the Red Sea are causing high demand and reducing the profitability of airlines operating traditional routes from Nairobi. The main issue is the high air freight rates due to demand and supply economics,” he said.
Confirming the freight crisis in Kenya, Stella Ndawiro, Operations Manager, Kenya Airfreight Handling (KAHL), reported that they have daily rollovers of about 15 pallets, which is equivalent to 45 tonnes. “On a normal day, we dispatch around 250 tonnes of cargo. Right now we are only doing around 100 tonnes because of the capacity challenges. The rollover within the cold rooms is around 45 to 80 tonnes,” she said.
“We are in a freight crisis as we speak. The capacity we had on different airlines has gone to other sides of the world, Europe and Asia, because of the rates and has resulted in cargo rollovers,” she added.
She took the example of airline Martinair whose cargo they handle in Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi. She reported that Martinair is currently flying only three to four flights per week to Amsterdam compared to the six flights earlier or even seven in good weeks resulting in rollovers. “So this means our storage capacity is quite constrained,” she said.
KAHL has also opted for the First In, First Out (FIFO) strategy to handle the situation. “We are prioritising the shipment that came yesterday to be flown today,” she said.
Ndawiro and KAHL have also advised the shippers not to bring in more cargo than required because of limited capacity. “The best life of flowers significantly reduces between day four and five. We can keep them cool, but cannot maintain the quality for more than five days,” she added.
Why don't just shift all perishables to sea?
The Kenyan horticultural and flower sector relies heavily on air freight for quick delivery, especially during peak seasons. However, rising disruptions, costs and environmental concerns are leading to the shift towards sea freight. The disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated this process. In fact, ocean freight is offering a better, sustainable, cost-effective, and competitive mode of transport for perishable exports.
Even though sea freight is not a viable option right now because of the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and the closure of the Suez Canal route, a significant amount of Kenyan flowers and East African perishables will move through sea freight in the long term. In fact, the Kenya Flower Council has set a target to have 50 percent of Kenya’s flower export be done by sea by 2030 from the current five percent.
This may seem quite ambitious considering the current challenges, however, an August 2024 research by Rabobank estimates that the share of Kenyan cut roses shipped by sea to the European Union will increase from the current 5 percent to about 19 percent by 2030.
Rabobank is a Dutch multinational company that specialises in food and agriculture financing, sustainability projects, and retail banking services.
“Large growers can easily fill up a container, but this is almost impossible for smallholder farmers. There is a need for consolidated shipment and this increases the complexity of quality control.”
Griffin Kaiga, COLEAD
On the same line, Griffin Kaiga, Project Officer - Market Insights, COLEAD, pointed out that 19 percent of Europe-destined Kenyan cut roses by 2030 would mean 30 to 35 40-foot reefer containers moving from Kenya each week. He was speaking in an October 2024 webinar organised by COLEAD titled ‘The Cut Flower Business in Kenya, Roses and Summer Flowers’.
He also noted the need to maintain a hybrid approach of combining both air and sea in flower logistics citing the fragility of sea freight exposed by Red Sea disruptions. “Sea freight reduces transportation cost by 50 percent, has a greater capacity for high volumes and is environment friendly,” he said.
“However,” he added, “First, large growers can easily fill up a container, but this is almost impossible for smallholder farmers. There is a need for consolidated shipment and this increases the complexity of quality control. Second, sea freight takes between 28 to 35 days to reach Europe. This can increase the risk of quality degradation, especially during peak seasons.”
Another big challenge with sea freight, very similar to air freight, is the availability of reefer containers. For instance, Sjoerd H. Visser, who is a former Country Director of Djibouti and Director of Infrastructure of the Great Lakes Region for TradeMark Africa, pointed out the requirement for the shipping lines to bring in empty reefer containers to carry perishables from African countries because there are not enough temperature controlled imports. “Available reefer containers are often not sufficient through the natural inflow of the shipping lines. That means the shipping lines have to specifically order empty containers to fill these goods,” he said.
The capacity imbalances in both air cargo and shipping are not exclusive for Kenya. They also apply to other countries in Africa. For instance, Visser took the example of the West African countries Ivory Coast and Benin. “Ivory Coast has a relatively well-developed fresh export industry. They are able to even export fresh coconuts by sea freight. But the smaller countries like Benin, that are exporting pineapples and vegetables, do not get enough reefer containers to ship it out by sea, and have very little capacity on air freight as well.”
“People are fighting for the available volume on every single aircraft that comes to the country,” he added.
While unavailability of reefer containers is a big challenge in many countries, Ethiopia-Djibouti corridor faces a challenge that is exactly the opposite. Visser pointed out that for every seven reefer containers that come in full to the Port of Djibouti only one goes out full.
“A significant number of reefer containers are emptied in Djibouti and Addis Ababa for local consumption. However, many of those containers cannot find the matching with Ethiopian perishable produce before travelling back to the Port of Djibouti for onward shipping,” he said.
While challenges differ for countries, Visser urges countries to focus on building consolidation centres, rail infrastructure and cross-docking stations.
While laying out the ideal logistics plan for African perishables, he said, “The farms want the reefer to be loaded at the farm gate, which is not a cheap solution from a logistics perspective. Because they normally need to be trucked in and trucked out. If there is a railway, there should be a consolidation centre where all the fruits and vegetables from the region can be refrigerated until loaded on the reefer container, which will then be put on the train to the port. But some countries don't have railways. Some countries have production centres of different types of goods in different areas, which means that you have to multiply the number of consolidation centres.”
Some countries do have consolidation centres and railroads but don't have the receiving capacity at the end of the railroad at the port. And that's the case with Djibouti, according to Visser.
“Port congestion, outdated systems, bureaucracy, all lead to delays, inefficiencies and waste in the movement of produce to export markets.”
Osam Iyahen, Africa Finance Corporation
Where to focus next
Logistics infrastructure plays a crucial role in enabling the exports of African perishables and experts point out the need to fill in the gaps and upgrade the infra to move forward.
For instance, Osam Iyahen, Senior Director and Head of Transport and Logistics, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), points out key gaps such as roads, cold chain infrastructure, disjointed/fragmented value chains and absence of an organised marketplace for perishables.
Africa Finance Corporation is a pan-African multilateral development finance institution dedicated to accelerating infrastructure development and economic growth across the continent.
Iyahen thinks that all modes of transport in Africa have considerable capacity shortages that hinder export ambitions. He notes rails as an important mode of transport for bulk, low-cost movement of produce and fertiliser, especially connecting produce to seaports.
“This is even more critical for landlocked countries that use rail to connect to seaports in neighbouring countries. Current rail shortages reduce competitiveness,” he said.
He also noted the need to upgrade sea, and air freight infrastructure. “Port congestion, outdated systems, and bureaucracy, all lead to delays, inefficiencies and waste in the movement of produce to export markets. Airports need to be configured to capture more agricultural produce movement, with additional cold rooms, agricultural aggregation points, etc, on-site,” he added.
He also pointed out that the absence of adequate storage is one of the leading causes of post-harvest losses. “Existing storage capacity is not up to required standards, causing moisture content issues, aflatoxin issues, pest infestation and theft,” he said.
As Kenya strives to meet global demand for its flowers, the current logistics challenges underscore the fragility of its export infrastructure. Experts emphasise the need for capacity building, infrastructure upgrades, and hybrid logistics models to ensure sustainability. With sea freight emerging as a long-term alternative, stakeholders must act now to transform this crisis into an opportunity for resilience and growth in the African perishables sector.
This feature was originally published in the November - December 2024 issue of Logistics Update Africa.