Our flowers empty Kenya's rivers

A few months ago, Jem and I were discussing the Aral sea. It's been disappearing in the last few decades. And it is because the rivers that feed it have been extensively 'mined' to provide water for about the thirstiest crop there is, cotton. So that's the archetype of this report. Where has the Aral sea gone? We're wearing it. Where is Kenya's water going?

"The flower companies are exporting our water. A flower is 90% water. We are one of the driest countries in the world and we are exporting water to one of the wettest. The minute that the flower firms came they met resistance. It was very acrimonious, ... They are in direct competition with the peasant farmers for water and the biggest companies pay the same as the smallest peasant for water."

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | How your supermarket flowers empty Kenya's rivers: Filed in: water, resource, confiict, Kenya, UK, flowers, agriculture