Roses under armed escort out of Kenya for Valentine's Day

In a country strangled by anger and fear, it is taking armed escorts and emergency airlifts to transport Kenya’s most warm-hearted export – the rose - abroad for Valentine’s Day.

Kenyan flowers – mostly roses – account for a quarter of Europe’s cut flower imports, and Kenyan growers have been pushing to keep exports up for the holiday despite ethnic violence that has paralysed the East African country.

They have chartered planes to embattled western cities, enlisted police to protect flower-truck convoys and made desperate cell phone calls begging frightened workers to return.

It seems to be working – European buyers saying they haven’t seen a shortage of Kenyan roses.

However, flower exports require predictability, and if unrest continues, Kenya’s flower industry could quickly follow tourism as the next shattered pillar of the economy.