NAIROBI: Kenyan experts on Sunday expressed concern over a sharp increase in chemical residual in fresh produce consumed in the country. The experts also called for the training of farmers, stiffer penalties and regulations to deal with the emerging cases, with quacks playing a key role in the crisis.
According to Gideon Aliero from the East Africa Growers Association (EAGA), the number of quacks in the sector was worrying. “Some farmers with the help of quacks are buying the wrong types of chemicals and applying them at the wrong time leading medical complication for consumers,” he said in Naivasha, about 90 kms northwest of Nairobi.
Aliero was speaking during a sanitary and phytosanitary workshop for Agronomists and Fresh Produce Exporters organized by UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK).
He noted that some were misleading farmers to use chemicals irregularly and with poor instructions, with residual ending up with the consumers.
Aliero said there was need for agronomist to form an umbrella body to address their challenges and deal with the rising number of quacks. Ignorance from farmers has also contributed to the problem, which has left dozens of Kenyans seeking treatment for incurable diseases.
The sentiments were echoed by Solomon June, an agronomist from Kisumu, who blamed the issue of high maximum residual levels in fresh produce to the quacks. June revisited the recent tomato disease identified as Tuta absoluta, which wreaked havoc in parts of the country.
“Many farmers opted to use all manner of pesticides and insecticides following the advice of quacks to try and address the problem, but this did not work,” he said. Earlier, FPEAK Technical Manager Francis Wario said Kenya’s fresh produce was facing a resistant in the EU market due to technical reasons like food safety and pests.
He noted that there was need to urgently train farmers on how to deal with emerging pests and which chemicals to use.”The market is concerned about the maximum residual levels in fresh produce and there is need to engage farmers on these standards,” he said.
Already Kenya’s capsicum produce to the European Union faces ban following the emergence of a new and deadly pest that has wrecked havoc in parts of the country. Farmers in pepper growing areas of central and southern Kenya have been placed on high alert following the outbreak of the pest called False Codling Moth (FCM).
Scientists said no pesticide has been identified to deal with the new threat, which has already seen capsicum produce from Uganda banned from the EU market. The moth, whose scientific name is Thaumatotibia, has shifted from citrus to capsicum produce, and there are fears that it could spread to roses.
