In June 2025, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development announced the withdrawal of 77 harmful pesticide products from the market, 202 to non-food crops and another 151 to be reviewed by the Pest Control Products Board (PCPB). This landmark decision marked a significant step in safeguarding public health and the environment.

For years, Farmers, scientists, consumer-rights advocates, and civil society groups, including the Route to Food Initiative (RTFI), have raised alarms over the risks of highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) that have been proven to adverse effects on human health.

The announcement by the Cabinet Secretary was a long-awaited response to these calls.

The Route to Food Initiative (RTFI) analyzed the Ministry announcement alongside the PCPB records to understand what this announcement entails and clarify what the decision means in practice, where challenges remain, and what must happen next.

Progress worth applauding

The Ministry's action is supported by a powerful legal tool: the Business Laws (Amendment) Act, 2024, which now prohibits the import or use of pesticides  withdrawn or  restricted in their countries of origin. This law addresses the glaring double standard that allowed companies to export pesticides to Kenya that they cannot sell in their home countries.

Our analysis established that the 279 (77 withdrawn and 202 restricted) products named in the Ministry's announcement are based on 19 active ingredients, eight (8) fully withdrawn, eight (8) restricted, and three (3) currently under review. Encouragingly, 13 of these were flagged for withdrawal in the RTFI 2021 Scientific Report on Pesticides in the Kenyan Market. This alignment reflects a notable convergence between independent scientific evidence and regulatory action.

One standout decision is the withdrawal of POE tallow amine, a toxic co-formulant used in some herbicides. Though not an active ingredient, this chemical is more harmful than the pesticide itself. Its withdrawal signals a significant shift in Kenya’s regulation in beginning to scrutinize what’s more is killing pests and harming people and ecosystems.

Where the Gaps Are Glaring

But herein lies the challenge: announcements alone do not protect people and the environment. Enforcement and implementation do. A lot of work still needs to happen:

  • The 202 "restricted" products remain available at agrovet outlets nationwide. In the absence of farmer education and county-level enforcement to regulate access, these pesticides can still be freely purchased, often by farmers unaware that their use on food crops is no longer permitted.  This loophole undermines the entire reform.
  • No alternative support plan for farmers who have relied on these products for years. Without guidance or affordable, accessible alternatives, some will turn to black-market substitutes, potentially more harmful than the ones withdrawn or restricted.
  • No national disposal plan for existing stockpiles. What happens to the harmful products still sitting on shelves or in storage? They pollute our water, soil, and food systems if improperly discarded.
  • Manufacturers are still not required to disclose all the ingredients in their products. Many co-formulants, like POE tallow amine, remain unregulated despite their toxicity.
  • Public participation is glaringly absent. Of the three ingredients currently under review, Oxydemeton-methyl, Mancozeb, and Permethrin, there is no transparent process that involve scientists, farmer groups, or independent experts. The review process must not be left solely to regulators and industry players.

 

An Opportunity for Regional Leadership?

To its credit, Kenya is now one of the first countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond to announce such a broad pesticide reform after so many years, putting Kenya in a position to lead pesticide regulation.  Although the regulation has historically lagged behind and often driven more by international treaties than domestic policy, this announcement is greatly significant.  Between 1986 and 2011, 45 active ingredients were banned, but none, if any, due to a domestic policy decision on withdrawal. The pace picked up in 2022 when RTFI's 2021 Scientific Report recommended withdrawing 29 active ingredients. To date, 13 of those have been acted upon. The government must now expedite this process and ensure the remaining 16 hazardous substances are fully removed from our food systems. Safeguarding our health and environment should not be about playing catch up with global norms but about protecting lives, restoring public trust, and demonstrating leadership in pesticide regulation.

We must invest in real alternatives to the use of highly hazardous pesticides - grounded in agroecology, indigenous knowledge, integrated pest management (IPM), and farmer-led innovation. Fortunately, these efforts are already underway in various fonts.

In December 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture helped to launch the "Farmers' Resource Guide: Achieving Food Production without Toxic Pesticides," developed by the RTFI and partners, offering practical, Kenya-specific methods that farmers can use and adopt to grow food without relying on highly hazardous pesticides. The guide has been shared nationwide, and consultations are underway with the Ministry's Agroecology Desk to improve on its accessibility at the county level.

In parallel, the Inter-Sectoral Forum on Agroecology and Agrobiodiversity (ISFAA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, is developing the Kenya Agroecology Extension and Training Manual that will help implement the National Agroecology Strategy and Food Systems Transformation Framework (2024–2033). The RTFI is a supporting partner in this process, contributing to the development and implementation of the manual.

To truly lead the region, and the world, Kenya must now strengthen county-based agroecological extension systems, scale access to farmer-led training and innovation platforms, invest in localised production of biopesticides, and expand pyrethrum production for safe pesticide production. If not, this moment will be remembered not as a turning point towards safe food production but as a public relations victory that changed little in ordinary Kenyans' soil, markets, or food plates.

This article was first published by the Daily Nation on 19th August 2025.