"Dangerous pesticide use: What must be done to protect the health of Kenyans"

There’s a long list of pesticides – about 1,345 products – that are registered for use in crop production in Kenya. From this list, 11 pesticides are classified as highly hazardous by the World Health Organisation and 237 as moderately hazardous. For instance, some are classified as cancer-causing (24), prone to causing mutations in DNA (24), creating development disorders (35), disrupting the nervous system (140) and showing clear effects on reproduction (262). Yet the amount of pesticides that Kenya uses is growing. For instance, the volume of imported insecticides, herbicides and fungicides has more than doubled within four years, from 6,400 tonnes in 2015 to 15,600 tonnes in 2018...

For instance, I did a study, published in 2015, where I investigated acute illness related to pesticide use among 363 farmers from seven major vegetable producing districts. Over three years, pesticide application increased by 47% and my findings showed that so did incidences of pesticide-related health impairments. The most frequently reported symptoms were sneezing, dizziness, headache and blurred vision, and skin irritations. Pesticide-related acute symptoms increase significantly with the number of pesticide products handled...

There should be a complete ban of pesticides that are classified as moderately or highly hazardous (Classes I, II, and O). Though there are no safe synthetic pesticides, pesticides that are of low threat should be promoted while making optimum use of integrated pest management. This is a system that incorporates preventive cultural, mechanical, physical, biological and chemical controls. Pesticide users, including agro-chemical shop operators, must have targeted training on which pesticides to select and how to handle them. This includes the safe disposal of unwanted pesticides and empty pesticide containers.