aak-GROW, 65 years of excellence in championing responsible use of pest control products
BY STEVEN MULANDA
For the last 65 years, aak-GROW the umbrella organization for producers, manufacturers, importers, formulators, re-packers, distributors and users of pest control products has championed the interests of its members while shaping the industry’s policies, decisions and events.
The Association is the national representative of the international agro-chemical industry represented worldwide by CropLife International. This is a heartwarming story of 65 years journey that has firmly placed the aak-GROW at the pole position of championing responsible use of pest control products in Kenya.
On its 65 years’ anniversary, the Associations Stewardship Manager Benson Ngigi and Meryll Yongo the Communication and Public Relations Officer, spoke to Hortfresh Journal crew about the philosophy that drives the organization, the payoffs in pest control products and the future plans in a nutshell.
Congratulations for the 65 years’ achievement; it is quite a commendable milestone, how would you describe the six and a half decade journey since inception?
It has been a wonderful journey; our history began in 1958 and back then the organisation was known as the Pesticides Chemical Association of East Africa and the objectives back then was to champion responsible use of pest control products and now still remain relevant as it offers an opportunity for engagement with government and other agri-culture stakeholders. aak-GROW is for purposes of our members as well as users of the crop protection products that are distributed or manufactured by our members.
Within this history, the association has had to rename severally and transition on many occasions. For instance it was known as Pesticide Chemical Association of E.A, when the East Africa was still intact in the 70’s, unfortunately when the region disintegrated; we reverted to Pesticide Chemical Association of Kenya majorly concentrating our activities within the country.
In 1982, the Pest Control Product Act came into play and was operationalized in 1984. This ensured there was formal government oversight. In 1997, we became Agro-Chemical Association of Kenya (AAK) and in 2023 we have changed to aak-GROW in our latest re-branding.
In the 90’s we had a flagship project known as the ‘Safe Use Project’ where together with the Ministry of Agriculture we rolled out a national wide campaign to create awareness on the responsible use of pest control products. The project targeted extension officers, farmers and agro-dealers because they are the key players within the supply chain. The ‘Safe Use Project’ went on for almost 10 years being well supported by GIFAPwhich stands for the International Group of National Associations of Manufacturers of Agrochemical Products. The project was able to reach over 2 million farmers.
Crop protection products are inherently toxic thus why they are able to kill pests and also cure diseases that are affecting our plants. The chemicals have various toxicity levels and it is important that users follow the guidelines given on the products label which include: correct dosage rate, use of personal protective equipment, correct crop and product combination because not every product can be used on any plant.
As a self-regulating sector; aak- GROW members sign to a code of conduct that has guidelines as to how and where pest control products can be used. Kenya is a signatory to multi-lateral and environmental agreements that dictate how pesticides can move from one country to the other and which are acceptable products and which ones have been banned.
Over the years, the association organizes training sessions, workshops, field-days, seminars, exhibitions and any avenue that is widely acceptable to enable disseminate information to end users. This is cognizant to the fact that as per the last census, Kenya had a total of 8 Mil-lion farmers who rely on crop protection products to manage their pests and diseases.
In 2015, the association introduced a concept known as Spray Service Providers (SSP). This is a farmer who has received specialized training on how to properly apply pesticides and they in turn do the application on behalf of the farmers. Currently, aak-GROW has 2 distinct groups; the spray guns and SSP. Spray guns are the ones who have not received any formal training but they perform the task from their own understanding of the label and the product itself.
At the moment, the association boasts of 2300 SSP spread out across the country and their role is to provide these essential services to farmers. The concentration is on critical value chains; fruits, vegetables and maize.
One of the key areas of interest is in the disposing of empty pesticide containers and expired products. These have a direct impact on the environment. In 2014, we began a program dubbed ‘sustainable empty pesticide collection initiative’. This came in handy to put structures for the safeguarding and disposal of empty pesticide containers as well as obsolete products. aak-GROW has set up over 300 collection centers across farming regions while training farmers on how to do proper disposal through triple rinsing. This has over and above safeguarded over 400 tones of empty pesticide containers and 300 tones of expired products being safely disposed.
Over the years, the association has established a poison and vigilance center to assist victims who have been exposed to pesticides with first aid information and also to direct them to a medical facility that is nearest to them.
For the 65 years, the association has been advocating a lot for personal protective equipment (PPE’S). One of the handicaps the association has with the usage of chemicals is that farmers are complaining for lacking access to PPE’s and the ones available are expensive and not comfortable when put on, due to the hot climatic conditions.
You recently re-branded to aak-GROW, what informed this choice and why?
Initially our brand was for lack of better word ‘inward looking’ in the sense that we focused majorly on our members, ensuring that they have a good operating environment together with the products they bring into the market.
However, we decided that we need to be more outward looking to the users of these pest control products, that is, if they are using them properly in getting good yields and if the products are also enhancing their health and nutrition while guaranteeing them proper innovations that helps them farm in a better way. By embracing a broader perspective beyond agrochemical products, we champion responsible use of pest control products (PCPs), environmental conservation and sustainable farming practices. This shift is evident in our commitment to “Better Farming, Better Food, and Better Health,” reflecting an outward-looking strategic approach.
Our new brand focuses on ensuring farming is better. This in turn will help aak-GROW avail new technologies, new innovations that will help manage pest control products sustainably and the safety of food in terms of Maximum Residue Limits, transportation of the harvested food and observing the pre-harvest intervals among other Good agricultural Practices.
There has been an outcry of proliferation of pesticides in the country due to the porous borders. What initiatives has aak-GROW put in place to stop this vice?
One of the risks that we have is that due to different taxation regimes within the East Africa region some of the commonly used products in the region have a significant price difference between Kenya and our neighbors. Unscrupulous businessmen import products illegally to take advantage of price differentiations. Any product coming into Kenya and has not been registered and approved by the Pest Control Products Board (PCPB) is considered illegal.
In 2010, aak-GROW set up the anti-counterfeit steering committee and its mandate is to look into ways of reducing the impact and availability of the counterfeits. One of our activities we are sensitizing farmers is on the illegal products, how to detect them and how to report those particular products.
At the policy level, aak-GROW has been engaging the East African Community to establish harmonization of registration of products so that there is no huge disparity between products registered in the region.
What is the place of innovation and technology in Kenya’s agro-chemical sector?
Innovation is the driving force. As an industry we advocate for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) because that is the scientific foundation for the use of crop protection products. If we advocate for chemicals alone then there is a big gap that is being left because it is recom-mended that pesticides be used as the last resort after trying out other options of pest control to no success. This is also meant to reduce the over-reliance on pesticides.
Within IPM, there are other technologies that are coming in which our members are providing, for instance, nutrition solutions because nutrition is part of prevention of pests and we encourage the use of biological products that are managing the pests.
It is also important to note that as part of the innovations, there has been an upgrade in the mode of applying pesticides through drones and motorized pumps among others so as to reduce exposure to the applicants
What would you attribute the success of aak-GROW to?
Our success has majorly come out from us being self-regulatory. As an organization, we are open to working with stakeholders, the national government and county governments to en-sure that pest control products are used responsibly for maximum yield, safe food production and economic growth.
What are the future plans for aak-GROW?
We have embraced the sustainable Pesticide Management Framework(SPMF) which is a 5 year plan to look into ways which we can seal some of the gaps that have been identified in; increasing innovation, increasing adoption of safer pest management options, increasing access to PPE’s among other ways of promoting responsible use of pest control products.
We are also looking into enhancing mass awareness about the responsible use of crop protection products. This a self-driven initiative so that we can be able to bring the farmer up to the level where we are living our tag line; better farming, better food, better health.
As a closing remark, it has been 65 years of putting our best feet forward to ensure that the pest control products introduced in the market are used safely for production of safe food, environmental sustainability and productive farming
