By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Kenyan farming community is divided over efforts by lawmakers to bring their regulations on pesticides in line with the EU’s green deal.
Industry groups warn that a ban could wipe out over €1 billion of production.
Kenya’s agriculture sector could lose more than Sh150 billion (€1.2 billion) if the ban on the use of agricultural chemicals comes into force, argues the Tegemeo Institute of Research and Policy, based at Egerton University, an agriculture specialist institute in Central Kenya.
“If the ban is effected, then Kenya will have no alternative but to become a net importer of food to meet the needs of its people as a substantial amount of food will be lost,” said Egerton’s Timothy Njagi at an event organised by Science Kenya Africa.
Aligning with EU pesticide rules would help farmers and growers wanting to export to the EU, but could cause problems for subsistence farmers and smallholders who do not.
The biggest share of Kenya’s exports to the EU is represented by agriculture commodities such as cut flowers, fruits and vegetables, accounting for more than 90% of the total export value.
In recent years, crop production across East Africa has been plagued by locust invasions, prompting heavy use of pesticides.
Up to 90% of Kenyan fresh product output relies on smallholders owning land of between half an acre and five acres in size.
The European Green New Deal, “should be seen as a foreign policy tool for the EU, because it is going to affect every country in the world that the EU trades with”, says Olumide Abimbola, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
That is now evident in Kenya, where the National Assembly is considering whether to impose a total ban on agrochemicals that have been banned in the EU. This move came after Gladys Shollei, a lawmaker in the devolved Uasin Gishu County assembly, tabled a public petition in Parliament arguing that the volume of imported pest control products (PCPs) had more than doubled in four years, posing a risk to health and the environment. The proposed ban would cover around 200 chemicals.
On instructions from the National Assembly’s health committee, the country’s Pest Control Products Board is currently midway through conducting a risk analysis of products sold in Kenya. Of the assessed pesticides, 24 products are carcinogenic, 24 are mutagenic, 35 are endocrine disrupters, and 140 are neurotoxins.
The East African Community, a six-country bloc with its own single market for goods and a common external tariff, also considers whether to harmonise pesticide regulations.
However, environmental campaigners argue that non–toxic products can be used to protect crops.
The impact of the EU’s sustainable goals on African food producers will be a key topic ahead of the sixth meeting between the EU the African Union (AU) next year.
The summit between the African Union (AU) and the EU will be held on 17-18 February 2022 to relaunch the trade partnership between the two neighbouring continents.
“It aims to establish an ambitious future-oriented alliance with Africa which can build an area of prosperity and stability underpinned by a transformational investment package,” the conclusions of the December’s EU summit reads.
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