Farmers Review Africa Sept/Oct 2019 Farmers Review Africa September - October 2019 dig | Page 14

OPINION
Pesticide use
not sustainable
for Kenya
By Emmanuel Atamba
T
here are two routes for Kenya’s food and
farming system. One, the industrial model
of farming which commodifies food systems
and which has been fronted as the only way to
produce plenty of cheap and easily accessible
food. The implication of this approach is damage
to the same environment that feeds us and
negative impacts on our health, particularly
from the toxic agro-chemicals that industrial
agriculture thrives on.
The other route is a more sustainable form of
agriculture and people-centered food systems
that guarantee food production in harmony with
nature. This approach however, seems less
attractive to private sector players. So, which way
for Kenya’s food system?
The debate on the use of pesticides in Kenya is
one that clearly illustrates the dilemma. Under
the government’s watch, the industry has been
pushing for increased pesticide use, despite rising
user and consumer safety concerns. International
companies generate less than 6 percent of global
pesticides sales in Africa, making the continent
a key market for profitable trade. Consequently,
access to safe, nutritious food is increasingly
becoming doubtful. The recent revelations in
Kenya about the food we eat, depicts a broken
food system that requires urgent interventions to
repair and restore it.
Industrial agriculture proponents argue that
pesticide use is not a problem as long as farmers
follow the instructions on the label. This argument
is defective, particularly in our context. Labels are
written in technical language that many farmers
often cannot understand. An audit carried out by
the EU Commission Food and Veterinary Office
in 2013, found that growers have not always
followed the label instructions of plant protection
products. Label deficiencies were also identified.
This tells us that companies and local dealers
selling pesticide products don’t sufficiently
educate farmers on ‘safe’ pesticides use. It would
12 | September - October 2019
also appear that county government agricultural
officers and regulatory bodies such as the Pest
Control Products Board (PCPB), are not reaching
a wide enough audience with training. Insufficient
knowledge among farmers about the dangers
associated with pesticide use worsens their
exposure to harmful effects.
The use of pesticides comes with responsibilities
for the manufacturer, the user and the regulator.
The manufacturer is required to provide sufficient,
accurate information about their products,
including its potential effects and information
on “safe use”. The user must be in a position to
understand the manufacturer’s instructions and
apply them accordingly, including adhering to all
required safety precautions. The regulator (i.e.
the government) is in turn, supposed to develop
and implement regulations and policies that
ensure that both the user and the manufacturer
fulfil their responsibilities in ensuring safety.
Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service
(KEPHIS) reported in its 2018 annual report,
that there were pesticide residues in vegetable
samples collected from various outlets and
markets across the country. Some of the most
affected vegetables included kales (94% of 1139
samples), peas (76%) and capsicum (59%). Ten
percent of the sampled produce had residue
levels above the EU maximum allowable residue
levels. The many instances of pesticide residue
detections could be caused by excessive use,
failure to observe the withholding period by
farmers and high toxicity levels of the products.
The Kenyan farming context is not compatible
with pesticide use. The average land size is about
two acres, which leaves no room for buffer zones
which are important precautionary measures –
mandatory for all pesticides – starting from 5m
around the farm. This is clearly not practical
in our situation. Many farms for horticulture
production slope towards rivers, dams and other
water bodies, making it easy for run-off water to
wash chemicals into water that is often used for
domestic purposes.
The damage we bring to the environment through
the use of chemical pesticides is not explicitly
known. This is because there is no regular
monitoring done by the responsible government
bodies on the effect of these chemicals on the
environment. The justification that pesticides
are developed for specific target organisms
is overplayed to make us turn a blind eye on
the damage we are causing to other important
species.
In terms of the Pesticides Property Database
(FOOTPRINT) endorsed by the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
49 percent of the products registered in Kenya
are toxic or very toxic to fish species and 31
percent of all registered products are toxic or very
toxic to bees. If pesticides can harm us, there
is definitely impact on other species too, thus
affecting biodiversity.
Despite all these factors, our government and
private sector players continue to promote
chemical pesticides before sustainable and
safe ways to produce food. It’s surprising that
chemicals that have since been withdrawn from
the European market are readily available to our
farmers at local agro-vets. False promises that
these pesticides and other equally disastrous
fertilizers will increase production, should stop.
Globally, there are examples of countries taking
steps to move away from chemical agriculture
to more environmentally conscious and people-
focused methods of food production. Kenya
should borrow a leaf and turn to food systems
that are sustainable and people-centered. Our
situation is different and we need to think about
solutions that work for us.
In a country like ours, where farms are homes,
there can never be a safe way to use toxic
pesticides.