Horticultural News January - February issue
Horticultural News January - February issue
Horticultural News January - February issue
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Issue No. 15 JAN - MAR 2011<br />
E D I TO R I A L BOA R D<br />
arim Ogolla - HCDa<br />
Catherine riungu -Hortinews<br />
jane ngige - KFC<br />
Lusike Wasilwa - KarI<br />
Stephen Mbithi - FPEaK<br />
M A N AG I N G EDITO R<br />
Catherine riungu<br />
M A R K E T I N G<br />
julius Gitau<br />
Elijah Karu<br />
CO N T R I B U TO R S<br />
Gatu Mbaria<br />
ngobilo nakitare<br />
jeremy Cordingley<br />
P H OTO G R A P Hy<br />
allan Muturi<br />
D E S I G N AND L AyO U T<br />
Samuel Irungu<br />
<strong>Horticultural</strong> <strong>News</strong><br />
is published six times a year<br />
by Karuri Ventures Ltd and<br />
circulated to personnel in the<br />
horticultural industry, foreign<br />
missions and Kenya embassies<br />
abroad, extension officers in the<br />
Ministry of agriculture, research<br />
officers and suppliers of<br />
agricultural inputs and services.<br />
Karuri Ventures Ltd<br />
nature Hse 3rd Fl (522) Tom Mboya St<br />
P O Box 1066 - 00518 nairobi<br />
Tel: 020 35566911 / 254-722 848970<br />
horticulturalnews@gmail.com<br />
news@hortinews.co.ke<br />
www:hortinews.co.ke<br />
6<br />
KSH 300, USD $5<br />
KSH 250, USD $3<br />
Editorial<br />
Considering that once again, the upcoming<br />
election is another high stakes contest<br />
under the new Constitution, nothing can be<br />
left to chance<br />
Make peace your resolution for 2012<br />
The dreaded 2012 is finally here. We use the word dreaded deliberately. Whether or<br />
not the year is an election year is yet to be fully decided. But the one thing that is for<br />
sure is the year brings back the unpleasant memories of the Post Election Violence of<br />
2007/8, which plunged Kenya into its darkest period in our collective memory, and<br />
one that ushered in a most difficult and uncertain period for the horticulture industry<br />
from which it is yet to fully recover, five years down the line. The eagerly awaited<br />
verdicts of the ICC early in the year to commit 4 Kenyan’s to trial.<br />
The fresh produce industry bore the brunt of the violence as death and mayhem<br />
visited most of the growing regions. For a highly perishable sector, tones of flowers,<br />
fruits and vegetables went into the recycle bin. naivasha, the country’s main flower<br />
producing zone was a bedrock of the violence from where gory images as shown<br />
by the media and witnessed live by those near the scenes of chaos will never forget.<br />
These are the images we wish could just go away but unfortunately, the harsh reality<br />
is that we have to deal with them.<br />
Farms around the lake, aware of just how bad the situation was then have tried to<br />
promote coexistence between communities, but given the nature of our politics<br />
especially as we near casting the ballot, anything can go wrong. Considering that once<br />
again, the upcoming election is another high stakes contest coming under the new<br />
Constitution, nothing can be left to chance. already, there are fears among workers<br />
and residents particularly in naivasha where we have the highest mix of communities<br />
from all regions that violence could flare up again.<br />
These fears cannot be dismissed as baseless and must be confronted with every<br />
practical means. People need to be reminded time and again about the importance<br />
of upholding peace at all costs, security must be beefed up, intelligence must be<br />
gathered on the hotspots while the people at the bottom of the pyramid must desist<br />
attempts to divide and incite them against one another. They must be fully aware that<br />
when the dust finally settles and life goes back to normal, it is them who are left to<br />
pick up the pieces of their shattered lives while those who incite them into violence<br />
recline to their usual luxurious lives, after losing close to nothing. Let us all become<br />
our brother’s keeper as we step into a difficult year and protect what we hold dear –<br />
peace and stability.<br />
Communications<br />
Brochures<br />
H O R T I C U LT U R A L N E W S I j a n u a r y - F E B r u a r y 2 0 1 2<br />
Catherine riungu<br />
catherine@hortinews.co.ke<br />
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