- Counterfeit market accounts for 15 to 20 per cent of the agrochemicals sold in the country, according to statistics from the Agrochemicals Association of Kenya.
- Pest Control Products Board managing director Dr Esther Kimani told farmers to avoid misuse of pesticides and ensure they follow the recommended guidelines.
Regulators have raised concern over counterfeit pesticides being sold in the market.
Kenya is losing revenue worth Sh120 billion annually to counterfeit pesticides, the Agrochemicals Association of Kenya has said.
According to studies conducted by the association, the counterfeit market accounts for 15 to 20 per cent of the agrochemicals sold in the country. This, the association said, is a threat to farmers and the environment.
Anti-Counterfeit Authority chairperson Flora Mutahi said counterfeit agrochemicals and other farm inputs like fertiliser pose potential harm to farmers as it contaminates the soil and damages the environment.
“It is one of the emerging challenges associated with increased sale of counterfeit agricultural inputs like seeds and pesticides. This has seen farmers bear financial losses of lower crop yields,” she said.
Anne Maina, from the Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya, said some pesticides like furadan, which was banned in Kenya, is still finding its way into the country through illegal routes at the border points.
Pest Control Products Board managing director Dr Esther Kimani said just like everything else good and useful, there will always be counterfeits.
While speaking to the Star during an interview, she said PCPB regulates and inspect all the agro-vets to ensure they are selling the right products.
“Whenever we find any counterfeits in the market, we confiscate and destroy it. We work closely with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and we prosecute those found selling counterfeits,” she said.
Kimani added that PCPB has a unique registration number that is also in the website where people can check to verify that the chemicals are genuine or not.
She said the board is planning to have a special mark of quality that farmers can use to verify that the agrochemicals they have bought are genuine or not.
Kimani however said that this could have a cost implication but they will consult with all the stakeholders before any decision can be made.
“Right now you can only verify using the unique registration number but we want one where a farmer can verify and get immediate feedback," Kimani said.
She said before a pesticide is registered in Kenya, it goes through a vigorous evaluation by PCPB for toxicology, ecotoxicology, as well as environmental effect on human and animals.
This is before it is allowed to be registered, while counterfeits may not go through this so they risk the lives of both humans and animals.
She called on farmers to report back to the board whenever they suspect fake products are sold to them, adding that this is one way of ensuring that the counterfeits are removed from the market.
Kimani further urged farmers to avoid misusing pesticides and ensure they follow the recommended guidelines.
She said this is an area that different stakeholders in the government need to invest in to create awareness on the dangers of pesticides.
“Pesticides are poisonous. They are meant to kill pests and they can also harm human beings, and that is why we recommend on how the pesticides should be used, on what crop, what kind of protective clothing the person using them should use,” she added.
She advised farmers to first read the label before they use them and if they can’t read, they can get an agriculture officer to interpret the information for them.
“We have tried to simplify the label as much as possible and even put it in Swahili language. The label gives instructions even incase of accidental poisoning, " Kimani said.
"We need to teach farmers the benefit of complying with the registration requirement of the pesticides and also the importance of using protective clothes."
(edited by Amol Awuor)