This archive report was first published on 20 August 2021.
On August 20, 2021, a petition was lodged with Parliament by farmers, led by industry associations, seeking the review and overturning of a recommendation from the Parliamentary Health Committee that they claim will be disastrous for Kenya.
The associations, including the Fresh Produce Consortium of Kenya, the National Potato Council of Kenya, and the Cereal Growers Association, argue that the proposed ban on agricultural inputs will cut the country's GDP by more than 20% and deliver waves of new hunger and poverty.
The health committee's recommendation to ban all agricultural inputs that have been banned in Europe was made without reviewing the European Union policies that led to the bans, taking it on the word of NGO witnesses that these were food safety issues.
However, the rest of the world, including Kenya, has disputed these policies as unscientific trade barriers. Kenya is one of 45 countries that have contested the EU's input policies and bans through the World Trade Organisation in a seven-year dispute.
According to Ojepat Okisegere, CEO of the Fresh Produce Consortium, Kenya, the health committee's actions are a constitutional oversight, as they have never sought the input of the agricultural committee or any agricultural policy makers.
He added that the committee's proposal to ban insecticides used to control malaria will lead to potentially tens of thousands of deaths, as well as crop protection in the middle of a locust invasion.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mr Peter Munya recently announced a new drive to address the rising pest levels, saying Kenya needed to boost overall farmer productivity and protect agriculture from external threats.
However, the health committee has simultaneously asked Parliament to ban the majority of the country's crop protection products, which the opponents say will lead to a near-immediate maize crisis, close the country's coffee estates, cut tomato production by 80%, and savage the production of potatoes, wheat, rice, onions, and most other crops.
