News Updated: 08 August 2025 16:37 EAT 362 Views | ~ 57 seconds

Kenya Calls on COMESA to Ban Hazardous Pesticides

Kenya is urging the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to impose a region-wide ban on hazardous pesticides. The country warns that a lack of consistent chemical regulations among member states is a serious threat to food safety, public health, and regional agricultural trade.

At the 9th Joint COMESA Ministerial Meeting in Lusaka, Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe called on the bloc to urgently harmonize chemical safety standards. He cautioned that the ongoing use of pesticides that are banned in some member states but permitted in others is undermining sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) safeguards across borders.

CS Kagwe stated, "The current situation where a pesticide banned in one country continues to be used next door completely undermines our collective SPS efforts. We are exposing our farmers, our consumers, and our markets to unnecessary and unacceptable risk."

Kenya asserts that without a unified regulatory approach, efforts to guarantee food safety and protect public health will remain ineffective. Kagwe noted that regulatory loopholes allow "unscrupulous traders" to exploit differences in national laws, leading to contaminated produce and eroding public trust in agricultural systems.

"We must not let fragmented policies stand in the way of our people’s safety. Harmonizing chemical standards is not optional — it is urgent," he emphasized.

Kagwe also urged COMESA to move from discussions to decisive policy action. He reaffirmed Kenya's readiness to support reforms aimed at making the 21-member bloc a functional engine for agricultural resilience and economic transformation.

Tags: Mutahi Kagwe

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