Flowers made the bulk of the earnings bringing in Sh113 billion with fruits emerging second by raking in Sh12 billion followed by vegetables at Sh27 billion.
The industry defied the challenges resulting from delays in supply of fertiliser to make one of the impressive performances.
Horticulture earnings hit Sh153 billion last year making it number three in its contribution of Kenya's income after diaspora remittance (Sh272 billion) and tourism (Sh157 billion) in 2018.
Flowers made the bulk of the earnings, bringing in Sh113 billion with fruits emerging second by raking in Sh12 billion followed by vegetables at Sh27 billion.
The industry defied the challenges resulting from delays in supply of fertiliser to make one of the impressive performances.
High demand
The earnings in the review period grew by 33 per cent from Sh115 billion on account of high demand and good international prices. Releasing the results on Tuesday, Kenya Flower Council (KFC) chief executive officer Clement Tulezi said the performance shows the potential that the country has if the government gives them the required support.
"The flower industry overcame the challenge of fertiliser shortage to record good performance," said Mr Tulezi.
Outstanding issues
He said there are a lot of challenges that still remain despite having discussed with the government to address the outstanding issues such as double taxation and high cost of doing business.
Trade Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo said government is doing all within its capacity to address the challenges.
"From the results that we have just seen it is evident that the horticulture industry is key to our economy and we need to give it all the required support," said Dr Kiptoo.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
