ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the water footprint of horticulture within the Lake Naivasha Basin, with a focuses on the flower farms. It assesses the potential for mitigating the footprint by involving cut-flower traders, retailers and consumers overseas. The chapter explores the idea of a voluntary sustainable-flower agreement between major agents along the flower supply chain, involving a water sustainability premium to be paid by the consumers in the countries importing flowers from Kenya. The Lake Naivasha Basin can be schematized into two parts: the upper catchment with smallholder farms and the area around Lake Naivasha with big farms producing for export. In addition to the irrigated farms that are found around Lake Naivasha, the basin is used mainly for cattle and game rangeland. The rainfall regime within the Lake Naivasha Basin is influenced by the rain shadow from the surrounding highlands of the Aberdare range to the east and the Mau Escarpment to the west.
