The upgrading of the cluster

6.3.2 The upgrading of the cluster

Lake Naivasha is the centre of the flower industry in Kenya. The emergence of the cluster can be attributed to: a the availability of fresh water resources; b existence of large-scale farms; c conducive soils and climates; d proximity to the country’s international airport in Nairobi; and e international trade agreements Bolo, 2006. Apart from these factors, the sector growth can be attributed to high skills, technical competence and strong links to overseas expertise. Emergence of collective actions: The cluster has shown a number of examples of cooperation and collaboration mainly in the field of policy support, environmental conservation and corporate social responsibility programmes. Social amenities for communities have increased through private investment. Infrastructure development has jointly been undertaken, such as the establishment and maintenance of roads, pre-cooling facilities and cold stores. Policy support is provided by key industrial associations that maintain standards, exchange information and facilitate market access. Other associations were created to address labour and environmental issues. Thus, the unsatisfactory working conditions for employees in the flower industry pushed the creation of the Horticultural Ethical Business Initiative in 2003. Its objective is to promote the social welfare of workers, improving social accountability in the industry. Two other associations watch over environmental conservation and the sustainable development of the lake, namely: the Lake Naivasha Growers Group organization formed by a small group of large commercial flower growers and the Lake Naivasha Riparian Association local voluntary association that manages the lands around the lake. Institutional support: Government support to the Kenyan flower cluster has been limited and has mainly been geared to facilitating infrastructure development, incentives and support services. Kenya’s horticultural export expansion has also been helped by the preferential duty- free access to European Union markets under the Lomé Agreement that ran until 2008 33 . Other supporting institutions: Compliance to GAPs is enforced through codes of practice and enforced by certification through industry associations, such as the Kenya Flower Council, the Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya, the Lake Naivasha Riparian Association and the Kenya Bureau of Standards Bolo, 2006. Several academic and research institutions offer training courses, such as Jomo Kenyatta University, which offers a degree in ornamental science, and Maseno University, which offers a degree in floriculture. However, the industry has not fully exploited the existing research capacity, but rather relies on foreigners for technical advice and assistance. The above information is briefly presented in Table 13 below. 33 www.epzakenya.com 6.4 SOUTH AFRICAN WINE CLUSTER 6.4.1 Some figures