 Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Liz Wade. And I'm Bruce Gulland. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live. All over the world, people love fresh flowers. They smell good, and they look beautiful. In many countries, people give flowers to each other as gifts. People may give flowers to say, Happy birthday, thank you, or I love you. Some people who give flowers get them from their own land or fields. Other people buy flowers from a market or store. Sometimes these flowers come from the local area. But often they have travelled thousands of kilometres. They have come from another country. One listener from Kayambe, Ecuador told Spotlight that he works on a flower farm. The farm grows beautiful roses. Workers cut the roses, and they are sent around the world. But Ecuador is only one place that sells cut flowers like this. Today's Spotlight is on the global flower industry. Flowers are a form of natural beauty. But they are also big business. The cut flower industry is extremely successful. Experts estimate that this global trade is worth more than $100 billion every year. For many years, countries in Western Europe led the cut flower industry. The Netherlands was the centre of the industry. It was the major producer of cut flowers. It was the most important cut flower trading nation. Today, the Netherlands is still the largest exporter of cut flowers in the world. But there have been changes in the last 20 years. Developing countries have successfully entered the flower industry. They have even reduced the Netherlands' global share of exports. Countries such as Kenya, Colombia and Ecuador are new centres of production. So which countries buy all of these flowers? People in Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are the world's biggest buyers of cut flowers. Many of the flowers they buy are imported. For example, 82% of cut flowers sold in the United States have been imported. The United States gets most of its flowers from Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico. Europe imports many of its flowers from countries in Africa like Kenya. Developing countries like Ecuador, Colombia and Kenya are successful in the cut flower industry. These countries even have some advantages over countries in Western Europe. They have much better climates for producing flowers like roses. The temperature is warm all year. And labour costs less too. Flower farms use a lot of labour to grow flowers. So many people are able to work and earn money in the industry. Natalie Selly was the ambassador of Ecuador to the United States. In the Huffington Post she explained that the flower industry is very important. One out of every four roses bought in the United States comes from Ecuador. The rose industry in Ecuador provides good paying jobs for thousands of poor country women. Many of these women are heads of families. But countries like Ecuador, Colombia and Kenya are thousands of kilometers away from their European and North American markets. And cut flowers have a limited life. Workers must treat them with great care. They control the temperature and air quality around the flowers. The flowers must reach their market quickly. If this does not happen they will be ruined or die. So flower farmers use airplanes to fly their flowers to market. Jane Ngige is the chief executive of the Kenyan Flower Council. She told CNN that being able to fly flowers to their market is very important. A direct flight to the market is key. Owing to the fact that this is fresh produce and it needs to get to the end user quickly in order to promise quality. However, flying flowers around the world uses a lot of energy. This produces carbon. Some people may be concerned that this is not good for the environment and climate change. But others are not worried. Hillary Ben was the United Kingdom's International Development Secretary. In 2013 he told a conference that flying flowers around the world used less energy than growing flowers in Europe. People often do not understand that they can support developing countries and reduce the release of carbon. Recent research shows that flowers flown from Africa can use less energy overall than those produced in Europe. This is because they are not grown in heated glass houses. Some people have raised another concern about flowers produced in developing countries. In some places there were problems for flower workers. They worked in poor conditions. Sometimes they worked long hours with no rest periods. They were paid low wages. Farmers did not protect workers from chemicals used. However, in recent years working conditions have improved on flower farms in many countries. And hundreds of flower farms have become fair trade farms. Fair trade organizations decide if a farm meets the fair trade quality. On fair trade farms workers receive better wages. And they have safe working conditions. Fair trade flowers cost buyers about 10% more money. This extra money is called the social premium. It is controlled by groups of local workers. The workers use the social premium money to pay for community projects. Each local project is different. But all improve quality of life. Education projects provide equipment, classes and toilets for schools. Parents get help to pay the cost of sending their children to school and university. Carlotta Garcia works on a flower farm in Ecuador. She told the organization Fair Trade USA how she was helped. Thanks to this program I was able to keep my children in school. And give them everything they need to study. Clothes, joining costs and school supplies. Other social premium projects help workers buy their homes. Health projects prevent diseases such as malaria and cholera. Environmental projects include green energy and tree planting. Samuel Atieno lives near the Athee River in Kenya. He led one social premium workers group. He told the organization Fair Trade Foundation of his experience and big hopes for the future. Fair trade is a life changer. If this premium money can change the life of a worker in such a short time. If it can turn around the life of a family, of a community. Then can't this premium also change the structure of the country? In the long run we will affect Kenya and then even Africa. Do you buy flowers? Would you buy Fair Trade flowers? What do you think about flying flowers around the world? Tell us what you think on our website. The writer of this program was Katie Blake. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again and read it on the internet at www.radioenglish.net. This program is called The Big Business of Flowers. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.