Sustainable development can not be meaningfully discussed today without considering the effects of economic globalisation, for which there is an increasing call to be regulated by a stronger ethical framework. Many sub-Saharan African countries face enormous challenges to make globalisation work for them and to achieve sustainable development. One recent success story in African agriculture is the Kenyan cut flower industry, which in many ways is representative for economic globalisation. Kenyan flower farms have also been at the forefront of embracing ethical trade. These characteristics make the Kenyan cut flower industry an ideal case study to explore the relationship between economic globalisation, ethical trade and the prospects for sustainable development. This paper discusses the Kenyan cut flower industry along the lines of social, environmental and economic aspects and considers the effects of ethical trading on sustainability. Overall, the discussion suggests that the industry makes a considerable contribution towards sustainable development in Kenya and that ethical trading has played a positive role in this favourable assessment. However, some important systemic features of the global cut flower value chain limit the potential of the cut flower industry and of ethical trading initiatives to instigate a more inclusive virtuous circle of sustainable development in Kenya.

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