Flower farms in Naivasha might be forced to close down by the end of 2015 after the Government failed to sign an Economic Partnership Agreement.
The Managing Director of Maridadi Flowers Jack Kneppers has warned of massive job losses as most of the Kenyans Products which were zero rated by the pact in the past now facing an 8% tax in the European markets.
"The Kenya's products will be competing with much cheaper flowers from other countries and that will most likely be unsustainable", the MD told journalists in his office.
Mr. Knepper went ahead and said that quite a good number of farmers especially those dealing with vegetables are reconsidering the option of relocating to Ethiopia where the labour is much cheaper and their produce will not be taxed.
"Flower farms will be forced to search for better options elsewhere by the year 2015 including relocating to Ethiopia if the Government does not resolve the EPA issue with the European Union", Knepper added.
The European Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht was recently in Nairobi to garner support for the EU's Economic Partnership Agreement but analysts say Kenya would have drifted away from the objectives of East African integration if it signed the agreement.
The collapse of the deal has so far resulted in mixed reactions from varied industry players with experts warning that the total cost of the lapse could be upwards of 150,000 jobs.