6 - Case Study

Summary

This case study aims to investigate whether and in what ways the EU and its Member States can support Kenya to strengthen opportunities to appropriately regulate and remedy human rights violations in the floriculture industry. This industry is almost exclusively occupied by corporations with Kenyan, European and Indian owners. Most of the flowers grown on Kenyan farms are sold in Europe. After discussing the Kenyan floriculture industrys history, this chapter considers the relevant legal commitments in the post-Cotonou agreement and the Economic Partnership Agreement between the East African Community and the EU. According to the constructivist literature, these agreements could serve as a platform through which Kenyan and transnational civil society can help to contribute to the creation of a ‘thick’ stakeholder consensus regarding human rights. Finally, this case study analyses whether people in Kenya can use justice institutions when their rights are violated by flower farms. All relevant mechanisms are evaluated, but it is concluded that capacity development of civil judicial remediation has the most potential. Fourteen Kenyan experts have been interviewed to write this case study.