Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has called upon the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) to enforce a ban on hazardous pesticides across its member states.
Speaking on Friday, August 8, Kagwe warned that the continued circulation of chemicals banned in some member states but permitted in others is compromising food safety, public health, and the integrity of regional agricultural trade.
Kagwe, speaking at the 9th Joint COMESA Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Environment in Lusaka, proposed the immediate harmonisation of chemical safety standards and the enforcement of collective prohibitions on hazardous substances across all member states.
“The current situation where a pesticide banned in one country continues to be used next door completely undermines our collective SPS [Sanitary and Phytosanitary] efforts,” Kagwe noted.
“We are exposing our farmers, our consumers, and our markets to unnecessary and unacceptable risk,” he said.
The lack of consistency, Kagwe noted, allowed unscrupulous traders to exploit gaps in enforcement, contributing to widespread contamination and the erosion of consumer trust in local and regional food systems.
At the same time, Kenya emphasised that effective regional food safety cannot exist without a common regulatory approach.
“We must not let fragmented policies stand in the way of our people’s safety. Harmonising chemical standards is not optional, it is urgent,” he stated.
Other proposals from Kenya during the meeting included the sharing of agricultural technologies such as livestock vaccines, the development of protocols for cross-border trade in certified seeds, and digital innovations for agricultural planning.
Kagwe reaffirmed Kenya’s commitment to supporting regional reforms, calling for bold leadership to transform COMESA from a “talk shop” into a functional platform for economic development, agricultural resilience, and food independence.
In Kenya, the use of hazardous pesticides has had a significant financial impact, not only from export rejections but also due to the economic consequences of banning those pesticides without providing farmers with clear, affordable, and effective alternatives.
If Kagwe’s proposal is accepted, the ban would affect 21 countries, including Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
