Kenya: Amid Stifled Export Market, Flower Growers Offer Hope to the Sick

While recipients of the bouquets appreciate the gesture, the salient call at every hospital is basic supplies like masks, gloves, uniforms and material support to caregivers, who are having to worry about attending to patients, contracting the virus, and taking care of their families and the general community.

Just like flower blossoms, the underlying message of the ‘Flowers of Hope’ initiative is “we shall overcome Covid-19”.

The first bouquets were distributed at Kenyatta National Hospital and Mbagathi Hospital in Nairobi on Thursday last week as the project kicked off.

Meanwhile, the Kepsa National Agriculture Sector Network, chaired by Elgon Kenya managing director Bimal Kantaria, has lauded government support in according farm produce and inputs free movement to avoid disruption of farming and produce distribution as measures are implemented to contain the spread of the virus.

Kantaria said the importance of agriculture cannot be overemphasised. “As people stay indoors, at the isolation centres, in the quarantine facilities or hospitals, they must be fed and therefore food must be available. This means farmers must be assisted to plant and take care of crops while ensuring at every stage handlers must be protected and protect themselves not to spread the virus,” he said.

He urged the government to include imports of farm products like fertilisers and agriculture chemicals among essentials to avoid disrupting food production, which could aggravate the Covid-19 crisis.