Business sustainability isthe increase in productivity and/or reduction of consumed resources withoutcompromising product or service quality, competitiveness, or profitability while helping to save the environment . Food industry is confronted with issuesranging from migrant worker abuses, product safety and animal handling practicesto the environmental impacts of soil erosion, habitat destruction, fertilizerrun-offs and use of herbicides and pesticides .The concept of Triple Bottom Line was coined by John Elkington in 1998.TBL focuses on three dimensions of an organization’s operations. Due to theincrease of global awareness of environmental challenges, consumers have becomemore concerned about promotion of green designs. Thus, consumershave become more aware of the consequences of their consumption decisionsand their choices are increasingly affecting the product offerings .
In Sustainable Supply Chain Management literature, the inclusion ofsustainability into the theory of Supply Chain Management is most oftenbased on the TBL approach flood and drain tray. SSCM refers to the management of material, informationand capital flows as well as cooperation among companies along thesupply chain while considering the three dimensions of sustainability.Issues of sustainabilityespecially in the flower farming have remained a big concern to thepolicy makers, stakeholders and the Horticultural Crops Development Authority. According to HCDA, work environment, water usage, environmentalissues i.e. chemicals used on the flower farms, and employee wages are key concerns.All these issues can be well addressed if organizations adopt the environmental,social and economic aspects of TBL into their supply chains .A number of studies have been carried out on sustainability and Triple BottomLine approach in organizational supply chains. Situational variables andsustainability in multi-attribute decision making established that the environmentaldimension of sustainability is the most influential followed by economicand social .
A study on crippled bottom line-measuring and managing sustainabilityconcluded that the relative indicators with focus on people utilitycompared to planet and people harm seem to be relevant for measuring the levelof sustainability .It was evident from the above studies that there was lack of research on thetopic of sustainability of horticulture sector supply chains in Kenya. The authorsaimed to narrow the research gap by focusing on the horticulture sector andspecifically studying sustainability and TBL performance from a supply chainperspective. The study questions included: To what extent are the TBL dimensionsadopted in horticulture sector in Kenya? What are the triggers or drivers ofsustainability in the horticulture sector in Kenya? What is the relationship betweenSSCM and TBL performance in horticulture sector in Kenya?This study is will be useful to policy makers in specific to the government,government agencies and various stakeholders in the agricultural sector as theyuse the findings and recommendations of the study to improve food security inthe country by applying sustainability and Triple Bottom-Line concept in farmingpractices as well as managing efficient and effective food supply chain.
Professionals and academicians are also in a position to clearly understand majorpractical challenges which need to be addressed. Organizations operate within a wider environment that is composed of a numberof variables that include political, economic, nft hydroponic socio-cultural, technological,ecological and legal. Any change in any one of these variables is expected to havefar reaching implications in the way organizations operate. This compels organizationsto adopt SSCM practices in addressing any change that may occur inany of the variables. The goals of businesses are achieved through the applicationof change management approaches including SSCM .Companies’ interest in SCM hasincreased in recent decades because of growing global competition, outsourcingof companies’ non-core activities and the shortening of product life cycles .Companies have become more deeply committed to corporate social responsibility and sustainability by refusing to implement a reductionist corporatemanagement model focused only on shareholders’ interests . Under thisscenario, sustainable management of supply chains has become a core strategicfactor for companies worldwide.