Valentine's Day Roses Bloom amid Kenyan Poverty
Date: 13-Feb-06
Country: KENYA
Author: Andrew Cawthorne and Jack Kimball
The 26-year-old flower worker spends her days in a nearby field, surrounded by tens of thousands of roses blossoming just in time for the global Valentine's Day market.
Masete points to black spots on her feet and says the pesticides and fertilisers used at the flower farm she works on give her rashes two or three times a month.
She speaks demurely about the frequent sexual abuse women face on the farms, sometimes by their supervisors.
"A friend of mine was abused," she whispered, lowering her eyes and avoiding eye contact. "Normally, people don't report it to the supervisor, because maybe you'll lose your job."
Masete is one of 50,000 flower farm workers in Kenya, one of the world's largest exporters of fresh-cut blooms.
Shipping out more than 88 million tonnes of cut flowers worth $264 million annually, the east African country is the biggest supplier to the lucrative European market.
The industry's success rings hollow for many workers, some of whom make only a dollar a day.
"The flowers we produce bring a lot of money, but only to some people," said Jacob Odhiambo, 26. "While people celebrate Valentine's Day, we are doing the opposite by mourning."
He and Masete work for European-owned firms which they did not want to name for fear of reprisals.
The industry is in overdrive in the run-up to Valentine's Day on Tuesday, turning out millions of blooms each day.
Reggae music thumping in the background breaks the monotony as workers sort, cut and wrap myriad colours and varieties of roses.
Lorries roar away before dawn carrying sealed and cooled containers to Nairobi airport. Then the roses are flown to Western florists and supermarkets.
For years, human rights groups have lambasted the mainly foreign-owned companies over low pay, chemical hazards, and the plight of casual workers sometimes hired by the day.
SEXUAL ABUSE
Workers interviewed by Reuters said there had been improvements, but still complained they were underpaid for long hours, and repeatedly mentioned sexual abuse as rife on farms.
"People here are suffering. The conditions are terrible," Edward Indimuli, of Workers Rights Watch, said in a cafe in Naivasha.
"As we approach Valentine's Day, and people enjoy roses from Kenya, we want consumers to force ethical production." Industry bosses - or at least those prepared to speak to the media - recognise the problems, but say they are cleaning up their act.
Kenya's largest firm, Dutch-owned Sher Agencies, is also the world's biggest flower producer. It turns out 2.5 million flowers daily from lakeside greenhouses and fields in Naivasha and is considered one of the most progressive firms.
Its gates are flanked by new schools, a hospital and houses built for workers.
Sher employees wear gleaming safety gear, a building is provided for the local union, the managers talk enthusiastically of "corporate social responsibility" policies, and signs warn staff to keep away from spraying areas to avoid health risks.
"The flower industry had a very bad image, but for the last five years and back it is getting a new face," human resources director Martine Ole Kamwaro said.
"We have invested heavily in our workforce and new policies ... so many managers have found their way out of employment because of sexual harassment."
While workers and non-governmental organisations acknowledge that Sher and other big firms have made strides, they say conditions remain deplorable and abuses rampant on small farms.
Union representatives give Sher credit, but say wages remain impossibly low, and company doctors are reluctant to acknowledge links between workers' ailments and the chemicals being used.
Sher worker Daniel Sagwe, who earns 4,700 Kenyan shillings ($65) a month plus a 1,000 shilling housing allowance, said he could barely afford to buy water for his three children and wife.
The irony is not lost on him as ev
