Exploring the Benefits of Integrating Sustainability Standards in the Kenyan Flower Sector

Sharing preliminary research findings with government and industry actors in the flowers and grain sectors in Kenya

The Kenyan government has launched a mandatory food safety standard, known as the Kenya Standard 1758: 2016 (KS 1758), a code of practice to ensure that fresh produce and floriculture in Kenya are produced safely and sustainably. It operates alongside the Kenya Flower Council’s Flowers and Ornamental Sustainability Standard (F.O.S.S.), a voluntary standard focusing on the social and environmental sustainability of the flower sector.

IISD interviewed key actors in the Kenyan flower industry to understand the factors that have led to the successful alignment of these two types of standards in the sector. We are exploring how their experiences can support similar harmonization processes in other commodity sectors, such as rice or maize, and boost intra-regional trade in sustainable products in East Africa and exports more broadly.

We brought together study participants for an in-person meeting in Nairobi on June 12 to share and discuss the preliminary findings of our research, which will be published in the second half of the year. We focused on sharing information of potential interest to policy-makers advancing sustainability and trade goals in other agricultural sectors in East Africa, including rice and maize.