Fresh hope for pyrethrum farmers
What you need to know:
- The European Union has raised the red flag over the chemicals sprayed on horticulture products going to their market and this tells you that pyrethrum has a ready market as it is the only natural insecticide that the European market would trust and prefer.
- Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei has promised that by December, all the private players who had applied to be issued with licences to set up firms and commercial nurseries will get these documents, heralding a full liberalisation of the sector.
The sector is reeling under huge debts, with many growers suffering heavy losses. Pyrethrum Growers Association (PGA) national chairman Justus Monda is, however, optimistic that the sector will blossom again. He spoke to Francis Mureithi.
Is there money in pyrethrum?
Yes, there is plenty of money. Pyrethrum used to be the fourth foreign exchange earner after coffee, tea and tourism. Farmers in Kenya used to earn this country in excess of Sh4 billion annually, unfortunately not anymore.
What went wrong?
At the farm level, the farmers are struggling with late payments and lack of quality planting material. They are also battling with bad policies that have blocked the opening up of the sectors to other players. If these two issues could be addressed, the sector can regain its lost glory.
But the government has in the last two years pumped Sh600 million into the sub-sector.
The government must change its tack and open the sector without further delay. The defunct board owes the farmers and other creditors nearly Sh2 billion.
When you give Sh300 million a year to an industry that is not yet out of the intensive care unit, that is tantamount to trying to fill an ocean with a bucket.
The government must show its total commitment to reviving the industry, and the only way to prove this is by allocating enough funds. There is huge demand for Kenya’s pyrethrum.
The European Union has raised the red flag over the chemicals sprayed on horticulture products going to their market and this tells you that pyrethrum has a ready market as it is the only natural insecticide that the European market would trust and prefer.
As a country, we need to grab this golden opportunity. We have some of the best climatic conditions for the large-scale production of pyrethrum.
There is also renewed goodwill from farmers who are willing to troop back to the farms. All they need is pay on delivery.
Have farmers stopped uprooting pyrethrum?
We have encouraged the small-scale farmers not to uproot their crops despite the delay in payment.
We are also trying to mobilise the farmers into small cooperative societies to help them access other markets as they await full liberalisation of the sector.
We ensure farmers are not short-changed and that they get the right and quality materials to jumpstart the process. We have also organised the farmers into groups, some of which have graduated into small cooperative societies enabling them to access clean planting materials from private sector.
How else can the smallholder farmers benefit from PGA?
We train farmers and link them with private processors and on the strength of our recommendations, they are able to access affordable credit facilities. Before that, financial institutions used to dismiss pyrethrum farmers as unworthy.
Where is the glimmer of hope in all this?
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei has promised that by December, all the private players who had applied to be issued with licences to set up firms and commercial nurseries will get these documents, heralding a full liberalisation of the sector. I urge farmers to go back to their farms and plant pyrethrum in readiness for boom.
