The British and Kenyan governments weighed into the growing debate over "food miles" on Tuesday, insisting it was ethically and environmentally sound to buy flowers from Kenya on Valentine's Day.
There is increasing concern at the amount of carbon emitted by the fleets of aircraft that carry millions of flowers to Europe every day from the impoverished east African nation. People in Britain were expected to buy 10,000 tonnes of roses on Valentine's Day yesterday.
Joseph Muchemi, the Kenyan high commissioner to Britain, said: "`Food miles' is a valuable concept but it must be looked at in the whole. It is neither fair nor sustainable to stigmatize certain goods purely on the basis that they have been freighted by air. `Food miles,' or the distance food has traveled, is on its own not a reliable indicator of the environmental impact of food transport."
Hilary Benn, the UK international development secretary, said that while people wanted to buy ethically and do their bit for climate change, they often did not realize that they could support developing countries and reduce carbon emissions.
"Recent research shows that flowers flown from Africa can use less energy overall than those produced in Europe because they're not grown in heated greenhouses," Benn said.
Muchemi said Kenya provides about 30 percent of Europe's cut flowers, directly employing 500,000 people and another million through auxiliary services.
"European nations must look to reduce their emissions first before penalizing African producers. A boycott of Kenyan roses or green beans would be disastrous for many Kenyan farmers, especially smallholders, and would do little to mitigate climate change," he said.
Benn pointed to a recent study that showed emissions produced by growing flowers in Kenya, where it is warm and sunny, and flying them to the UK may be less than a fifth of those for flowers grown in heated and lighted greenhouses in the Netherlands.
"Climate change is hugely important to the future of developed and developing countries, but if we boycott goods flown from Africa, we deny the poor the chance to grow; their chance to educate their children and stay healthy," he said.
"We in the west can have more impact on our huge carbon footprint by turning off our TVs at night and using energy-saving light bulbs," he added.
Muchemi said he was concerned that plans by European retailers to introduce labels on their products more clearly identifying their origin could hit Kenyan farmers.
However, a report in the Society Guardian showed yesterday, the thousands of workers who have flocked to the shores of Lake Naivasha to work in the flower-growing areas are placing enormous strain on the local ecology.
The lake could soon be polluted beyond use and dry up in the next 10 to 15 years.
David Harper, a University of Leicester ecologist, says the flower trade is devastating the area.
"The lake is being destroyed at an alarming rate by the sheer pressure of people on it," Harper said.
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