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.
Agriculture CS Mutahi Kagwe, during a meeting with a European Union delegation to Kenya, led by Henriette Geiger, at Kilimo House in Nairobi on June 18, 2025.
