Kenya's Co-operative Development Minister Peter Njeru Ndwiga has protested a proposed European campaign against the airfreighted farm produce that poor countries export to the EU.

After UK supermarkets decided to cutback on such imports in response to environmentalists who say aircraft pollute the atmosphere, Mr Ndwiga asked consumers to reconsider, saying that more than 250,000 small scale farmers in Africa will suffer as a consequence.

"How do they expect us to bring fresh produce such as flowers and vegetables which are valued for their freshness without using air cargo," said Mr Ngwiga at a press conference at the Kenyan High Commission in London over the weekend.

"Such a decision can only mean a loss in income as we can never get the produce here on time," he said in a story in the Kenya London News, which added that the minister decried the international community taking decisions without considering the impact on developing countries.

"Even if there is no cargo on board, the same plane would still fly passengers and continue to pollute the atmosphere," said Mr Ngwiga.

According to environmentalist proposals, airborne produce will be marked with the sign of an aircraft, and be subject to popular consumer embargoes, Mr Ndwiga said.

The UK's top supermarket chain, Tesco, has decided to fly less than one per cent of its produce, down from the present two to three per cent, after the British Soil Association, an organic produce ratings group, said it was considering a refusal to certify airlifted imports, a move it hoped would lead to an outright ban.

Some 25 per cent Kenya's exports are destined for markets in the UK. "With the whole market valued at KES19 billion (US$269.7 million), that of course, is a sizable market," said Jane Ngige, CEO of the Kenya Flower Council, reported Nairobi's Nation newspaper.