Urgent Call to Phase Out Toxic Pesticides and Promote Sustainable Farming
Experts from East Africa have urged immediate action to eliminate the use of toxic pesticides and accelerate the shift toward safer and more sustainable farming methods. Scientists, farmers, and environmental advocates have raised concerns about the long-term health and environmental impacts of synthetic pesticides.
In June, Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture took a significant step by removing 77 pesticide products from the market and restricting the use of 202 others while reviewing an additional 151. This move was widely praised as a milestone in the effort to address pesticide-related risks. However, experts emphasize that enforcement and public awareness remain major challenges in ensuring effective implementation.
Elizabeth Achieng from Greenpeace Africa highlighted that environmental damage caused by pesticides is often overlooked because it occurs gradually. “Environmental impacts are slow and less visible, but they’re slowly killing the planet,” she said. She stressed the importance of protecting the environment to ensure food security, noting that without a healthy ecosystem, food production cannot be sustained.
Greenpeace Africa is set to release a report in December that will assess policy gaps in pesticide regulation across Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. The report will focus on weak monitoring systems and the continued use of banned chemicals in greenhouses and pest control. Achieng emphasized the need to move beyond mere announcements of bans and ensure full implementation. “Even when bans are announced, many of these products are still available in agro-shops, just hidden from the shelves,” she said.
This discussion took place during a two-day International Symposium on Pesticides, Environment and Health in East Africa, hosted in Kisumu by Maseno University in collaboration with the University of Oslo.
Maseno University deputy vice chancellor Eric Nyambedha explained that the symposium is part of a six-year collaborative project initiated in 2021 between universities and research institutions in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Funded by the Norwegian government through Norad, the project aims to strengthen training and research in medical and environmental anthropology.
The initiative brings together several institutions, including the University of Oslo, Maseno University, University of Nairobi, Kemri, University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania’s National Medical Research Institute, and Makerere University. “Our goal is to build capacity in environmental and medical anthropology for the 21st century in East Africa,” Nyambedha said.
Across the region, communities are increasingly concerned about the continued use of highly hazardous pesticides, some of which are banned elsewhere. Exposure to these chemicals occurs through handling food, water, and air, posing serious risks to human health and ecosystems.
Participants at the symposium emphasized the need for viable and affordable alternatives to chemical pesticides to protect both farmers’ livelihoods and public health. A representative from the Participatory Ecological Land Use Management Kenya network highlighted the benefits of agroecology. “We advocate for organic, conservation, and intensive sustainable farming. Farmers want healthy food, but we can’t achieve that if our soil and water remain poisoned,” the representative said.
Agroecology promotes natural pest management, soil conservation, and biodiversity methods that have been proven to boost productivity while reducing reliance on chemical inputs. Harun Warui, who leads the agroecology program at the Heinrich Böll Foundation and coordinates the Route to Food Initiative, stressed the importance of shifting from policy announcements to actual implementation.
“Agriculture is a devolved function,” he said. Warui pointed out that counties must operationalize national decisions, such as the withdrawal of toxic pesticides, by developing their own regulations. He highlighted progressive counties like Murang’a, Makueni, Kajiado, and West Pokot, which have developed or are finalizing agroecology policies to guide safer farming practices.
“We need to see effective monitoring frameworks so that these policies don’t just exist on paper,” Warui said. He emphasized that farmers can only transition successfully if safer products are accessible and affordable. “When we rely less on expensive toxic inputs, we protect our health, save money, and sustain the environment.”