Flor Verde

7/27/2019 Flor Verde

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byMAURICIO MATHIAS

THE year 2006 turned out to be very eventful for the Colombian flower sector.

Florverde, its social and environmental program, reached its 10th anniversary at thesame time that both Colombia and the United States signed Colombias entry into the

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The treaty will guarantee the per-manent tax-free sales of goods among all member countries.

With an estimated US $907 million in flower exports in 2006, Colombia isthe worlds second largest flower exporter,

only behind the Netherlands. Such busi-

ness volume also places Colombia in the

first position of rose exports and second

SUSTAINABILITY

FLORVERDE

What A Difference

ADecade MakesThe floriculture market in Colombia has benefitted from

Florverdes social and environmental standards.

In this series on sustainability,

Greenhouse Growerlooks at

the trends in biodegradables,

organic plants and products and

the growers who use them.


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in carnations. Whats more, this ad-

mirable position has been achieved in

only 35 years.Flower production in Colombia can

be characterized by assortment. More

than 50 species are exported, even

though roses and carnations have themain share. Most production takes

place in the Bogota plateau (85 percentin acreage). The country has a diver-

sity of producers, with 300 companiesand 700 farms. The flower market in

Colombia is export-geared. About 98

percent of it is exported to 76 coun-

tries. Its high entrepreneurial levelhas helped to organize the industry at

home and to represent it overseas.

Marketwise, the United States

emerged as the natural destinationto Colombian flowers through the

years. It is by far Colombias main

client, purchasing 80 percent of all

flower exports. Trade agreements thatallow the tax-free entry of goods from

Andean countries into the American

market been renewed periodically

since the early 90s. On the other hand,neighboring Ecuador, another major

flower producer, has chosen not to join

NAFTA. Its flowers may have to face 7

percent import duties.

Image OverhaulThe picture has not always been

so rosy. A big part of the success that

the Colombian flower sector enjoys

today is due to a change in the visionof what flower production entails and

the image it projects. At the origin

of Florverde were complaints in the

European media in 1990 regarding the

sectors poor care for its workers and

the environment. However, intensivefloricultural production done right

next to the countrys main city (popu-

lation 7 million) does put an extraburden on the environment. There is

competition for water, fertilizer and

Suasuque usesbiological control with

insect predators.


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pesticide use to be dealt with, plastics

to be recycled, and so on.

Fearing the negative impact of such

news and sighting an opportunity formarket boosting, the complaints led a

group of growers to create their own

quality program. Following its suc-cess, Asocolflores (the Colombian

Association of Flower Exporters)

adopted the idea, introducing the

voluntary Florverde program to allits members in 1996.

As an internationally-recognized

program, Florverde is based on a

code of conduct set by an internalcommittee within Asocolflores,

which establishes rules and pro-

cedures that have to be followed

in order for farms to participate. In

2003, Florverde became a label, certi-fied by the Swiss company SGS, upon

periodical farm audits. As of Jan. 1,

137 flower-producing companies werepart of Florverde, corresponding to 167

farms. These farms represent 48 percent

of the countrys flower-planted area,

or 7,492 acres, employing 45,977 work-ers. Within this group of companies, 86

have already received official Florverde

certification, while the remaining 51 are

undergoing the certification process. Acomplete list of participating compa-

nies, as well as detailed information on

the programs standards can be seen

at the organizations new Web site,

www.florverde.org .

On one hand, Florverdes standardsare always more stringent than the reg-

ular legislation, but on another it doesnt

tell growers how to do it. Different

companies have met or surpassed theprograms goals by adopting strategies

that are best suited to their workforce,

operation size and crops grown.

Florverde In Practice

Ernesto Velez, president of theboard of directors at Asocolflores and

a grower himself, is a frequently in-

vited guest at American colleges andfloricultural associations to talk about

the Colombian flower sector status,

its achievements and challenges. At

the family farm, Suasuque, he putsinto practice what he preaches. The

35-acre operation is run together with

his wife Lucie de Monchaux, who is

closely tied to the start of one of themain Florverdes social programs.

Originally a dairy family farm with

SUSTA I NAB I L I T Y

FLORVERDE

Social Programs WithinThe Flower Sector

Programs Attendance

Peace in the family 26,000 participants

Housing Program 21,000 families

School of Floriculture Over 1,000 students

Kindergarten and tutoring Over 17,000 children


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hobby roses, Suasuque became a com-

mercial carnation operation in 1980,

diversifying to the present eight cutflower crops in the mid-90s. The com-

pany was part of the first group to joinFlorverde at its inception in 1996, and

in 2004 it also obtained an ISO 14001certification, the international environ-

mental standard.

Integrated Pest Management practic-

es have been in place at Suasuque since

1997, complete with its own lab forreproducing fungi and bacteria that

control insect pests; biological control

with insect predators is also used. As

a result of both, the measured chemi-cal pesticide use has gone down from

45 to 3 lb. ai/acre/year in 2006, overa 10-year period. As far as fertilizing

goes, the increased use of manures,humus, composting and other organic

concepts has cut back chemical fertil-

ization costs to one fifth, measured in

current dollar costs/acre.

However, it is the average farmworker that has noticed the main

improvements. The pay rate among

Suasuques 130 employees (91 women)

is based on a piece-rate system thattakes into consideration individual

performance and group quality tar-gets. As a result, the companys wages

have been in the top 10 percent amongAsocolflores annual salary survey on

a 10-year average, or 35 percent higher

than minimum wage in Colombia on

average. Most importantly, workerturnover has been around 1 percent.

One of Suasuques most innovative

social actions, Cultivating Peace in the

Family, actually became a develop-ment program within the Asocolflores

framework. The inspiration for it came

after de Monchaux attended a course

at Asocolflores in which HarvardBusiness School negotiation tech-

niques were taught to the association

directors. Drawing from her psycholo-

gy background, de Monchaux adaptedits methodology to farm workers. Set

up as a workshop to train workers to

diffuse potentially conflicting situ-

ations before they escalate, at homeor work, the course has been refined

since it started in 1998, and more than

20,000 employees already have attend-

ed it in the flower sector.

Using therapy-like tools and rely-ing on the trickle-down effect attitude

change has in ones family and commu-

nity, the programs concept has inspiredother industries, and even town officials,

as instrumental to the peace-keeping

efforts. As Asocolflores coordinator

for the Social Development ProgramCommittee, de Monchaux is always

willing to share her learning experience

with anyone interested, anywhere.

I believe with actions like these weare leaving the world a little better than

we found it, she says. In the end, thatswhat Florverde has made for its sector,

as well. Naturally, not all the worldsproblems have been solved, but es-

sential ones have been addressed, and

with this and several other programs,

Asocolflores members have investedin their own future, guaranteeing the

sectors sustainability. GG

About the author:Mauricio Mathias is aninternational freelance writer. You can con-tact him at [email protected].

SUSTA I NAB I L I T Y

FLORVERDE

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Flor Verde