Gov't dismisses report showing Kenyans are consuming toxic chemicals in foodstuffs

The government’s pesticides regulator has picked a new fight with scientists, terming as misleading a recent report with far-reaching implications on the use of Ksh.10.7 billion worth of carcinogenic pesticides by farmers in Kenya.

The Pest Control Products Board (PCPB) says the report released last month by Heinrich Boll Stiftung, which found farmers, horticultural workers, and open-source water users exposed to toxic pesticides, does not hold any water.

The board’s chief executive officer Fredrick Muchiri maintains that the recommended ban on pesticide importation, though still under discussion at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), threatens Kenya’s food security.

“Banning pesticide products would deny millions of Kenyans their right to food. PCPB therefore encourages the crop protection industry to continue innovating in plant science to develop new and improved crop protection solutions,” Mr Muchiri said.

Muchiri told journalists at a press conference that the government has been keen on allowing importations of agrochemicals in adherence to the set policy guidelines.

“Kenya adheres to international conventions and protocols, including the Rotterdam, Basel, and Stockholm conventions,” Mr Muchiri said dismissing the availability of traces of harmful chemicals on sukumawiki, tomatoes, potatoes, and other foodstuffs available on markets.

Last month, Heinrich Boll Stiftung, an environment and food security lobbyist, released data showing that Kenyans are consuming food containing residues of pesticides banned in Europe in 2007 but sold to Kenyan farmers.

Muchiri however, says farmers are harvesting crops that have freshly sprayed pesticides, insinuating that farmers are not well trained on the best practices on the agrochemicals use.

“We are harvesting crops even before the sprayed chemicals are properly broken down, hence the chances of having higher residue levels in our produce than the expected levels,” he said.

The September report dubbed Toxic Business: Highly Hazardous Pesticides in Kenya, revealed that in a batch of 310 pesticides investigated, 76 percent were found to be highly toxic while 44 percent were banned in other countries.

Substances such as chlorpyrifos, acetochlor, glyphosate, mancozeb and chlorothalonil have been found in the analysis, the report shows.

“Out of the 310 pesticide products used, only six are insect pest control biopesticides, and only one biopesticide commonly used to control fungal diseases. Sustainable biopesticides account for a mere two percent of the total pesticide volume used in Kenya, while hazardous pesticides account for 76 percent. 

“Highly Hazardous Pesticides are priced lower per hectare compared to the biopesticide which is majorly used on beans produced for export to the European market,” reads part of the report.  

Kenya in the recent past, has been dealing with other hazardous components, including, carbosulfan a substance known to damage critical human organs.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), human exposure to carbosulfan leads to liver and kidney failure. Additionally, humans also tend to have corroded omental fat layering and peripheral fat, which are key in protecting the inner intestinal linings. 

Glyphosate, despite WHO and the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) giving it a clean bill of health on water contamination, and its carcinogenic tendencies to humans according to a 2016 report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), was also found in traces in analyzed pesticides.

Citizen Digital has established that most of the faulted brand owners constitute makers of soluble concentrate non-selective foliar and systemic herbicides with a wetting agent that are used in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, industrial, recreational, and weed control practices. Over 73 multinational agrochemical companies have been cited in the toxicity importation saga.  

Another harmful chemical chlorpyrifos, for example, despite being banned in the US over glaring effects, is a pesticide used to control aphids in wheat-growing regions.  

This is despite being scientifically proven to negatively affect the nervous systems in children. It has also been linked to destructive effects on the structure of the brain, acute leukemia in children, damage to the heart and poisoning of human blood. Farmers using it without proper protective gear have been worst affected.  

Moreover, chlorpyrifos is also extremely toxic to fish yet a study conducted by researchers in Lake Naivasha found chlorpyrifos levels to be way above the recommended one in the water. 

Coincidentally, chlorpyrifos is still approved for controlling aphids on flowers, mostly grown around the Lake Naivasha region. The continued use of chlorpyrifos endangers the lives of Kenyans who depend on the lake for water and fish needs. 

Today, farmers in Kenya are continuously using thousands of tons of toxic pesticides in their maize, wheat, coffee, potatoes, and tomato plantation fields, especially in the Rift Valley, Central, Western and Nyanza regions.

Most of the pesticides easily available over agrovet counters, have been proven to cause cancer or genetic defects, impair fertility, or harm unborn children, and the report recommends a more stringent approach to ending this.

Kenyan farmers are spending up to USD 72.7 million annually (approx. Ksh.10.7 billion) to sustain the booming import business of killer chemicals, as regulators fall short of cracking the whip. Imported pesticides and fungicides, the report shows, are used on over 20 percent of agricultural land.