" Kenya: Ban Use of Highly Hazardous Pesticides: Most Pesticides in Kenya are Harmful to Health, Environment, Study Finds" 13 September 2023

The study, published by The Route to Food Initiative (RTFI), a program advocating for the right to food in Kenya, says that in 2020 highly hazardous pesticides accounted for over 75 percent of the total pesticide volume in Kenya and nearly half were substances already banned in the EU due to their risks to health and the environment. The group called on the Kenyan government to urgently put in place regulations on highly hazardous pesticides, prioritizing a list of 40 ingredients identified due to their health and environmental risks and prevalence of use. [...] Data on Kenya’s pesticide use in 2020 obtained from a private market research company by the RTFI indicates that the Chinese-owned Swiss company Syngenta and German Bayer AG had the largest market share by volume for pesticides in Kenya, together making up 35 percent. The group also found that over 65 percent of the pesticides sold by Sygenta and nearly 85 percent of those sold by Bayer in Kenya are classified as “highly hazardous” by the Pesticide Action Network, meaning they “are acknowledged to present particularly high levels of acute or chronic hazards to health or environment” under international classification systems. Some of the pesticides sold by these companies in Kenya in 2020 had already been banned in the EU. The United Nations World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization developed the criteria for highly hazardous pesticides. However, because these organizations do not publish official lists of the chemicals meeting these criteria, the Pesticide Action Network regularly publishes an updated list of highly hazardous pesticides. To ensure strict application of the UN definition, the group uses more specific and stricter criteria. The danger of highly hazardous pesticides is exacerbated in Kenya, where strategies and resources to minimize the effects of exposure are limited or not feasible. The location and size of farms means buffer zones are impractical for limiting pesticide drift or runoff to nearby homes, schools, and waterways. An Agrochemicals Association of Kenya study found that only 15 percent of farmers in Kenya wear full protective equipment when using pesticides for reasons including cost, lack of availability, or climate.