Demand for organic food rises on health fears, high returns
Andrea Bye harvesting vegetables. PHOTO | SARAH OOKO
Neat rows of green leafy vegetables—lying atop black humid soils—welcome visitors to Anthony Munene’s farm located a few kilometres from Juja town.
Mr Munene and his wife Andrea Bye are harvesting organic vegetables, tomatoes and purple beans to be delivered to Nairobi restaurants, retail outlets and customers’ homes.
The crops are grown on their less than an acre of land. Mr Munene is one of the growing number of urban farmers practicing organic farming.
This mode of farming prohibits the use of synthetic (chemical) fertilisers and pesticides in crop production.
Farmers rely on natural processes, compost manure and biological pest control methods to boost soil fertility or manage pests and diseases. Such eco-friendly farming techniques became less popular following the Green Revolution in the 1950s.
During this period, global agricultural productivity increased drastically following the development of chemical fertilisers and pesticides that boosted yields. The reliance on these agricultural inputs is a hall mark of the currently practised conventional farming.
Despite their benefits to agricultural productivity, use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides degrade the environment and contaminate food. This problem is now a global public health concern.
Demand for organic foods in the West is growing as more consumers shun crops laden with pesticides and the trend is slowly picking up in Kenya.
Kenya lacks mechanisms to control pesticide use in farms despite concerns of the risks they pose.
“Public institutions lack the capacity and another scenario is that they may have done the tests (pesticide levels), found the results to be really bad and decided to hold the information in confidence to avoid alarming the public,’’ said Wanjiru Kamau, the director of the Kenya Organic Agriculture Network (Koan).
Health experts note that many Kenyans may be consuming unsafe foods with above the required levels of chemical pesticides.
A 2014 study by researchers from the University of Nairobi and Strathmore University revealed the presence of high pesticide residue levels in tomatoes, kale (sukumawiki), amaranth (mchicha) and mangoes sold in major Kenyan towns.
Another previous study conducted by Koan found that food sold in common Nairobi markets was laced with excess chemicals above World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended safety levels.
Some of the pesticides detected– such as Heptachlor and Parathion methyl— are banned.
Fruits and vegetable exports to the European Union (EU) market have in the past also been rejected due to high levels of a chemical known as dimethoate— considered as cancer-causing and a public health hazard.
To safeguard this lucrative horticultural market, bringing Kenya close to Sh100 billion yearly, the government in 2014 halted the use of dimethoate and its related substrates on fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables.
But concerns have been raised over the effective enforcement of the ban to ensure unscrupulous farmers avoid using it on locally consumed food. Some sell sprayed crops before their safe consumption period.
These farmers easily get away with such malpractices because unlike exports that are thoroughly inspected to meet EU standards, surveillance is weak for food crops consumed locally.
The organisations charged with the responsibility of ensuring food safety are the Horticultural Crops Development Authority, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (Kephis), Pest Control and Produce Board and the Kenya Bureau of Standards.
“We would like them to be serious about the food we eat just as they are about crops exported to Europe,” said Celine Awuor, who handles food quality matters at the Consumer Information Network.
As cancer cases soar in the country, health experts are worried that food and environmental contamination by harmful chemicals used in crop production could be a major contributor to this growing challenge.
As more Kenyans gradually wake up to this reality, the demand for organic products is gradually rising, providing investment opportunities for entrepreneurs like Mr Munene.
Koan, which links organic farmers to markets says there is growing demand for organic products locally and for the export market.
“Many supermarkets are interested in stocking organic produce but we don’t have enough farmers to take up these opportunities,” Ms Wanjiru said.
Mr Munene, who has practiced organic farming for over a decade now— locally and abroad— said it is more profitable than conventional agriculture.
“Organic vegetables alone on an acre of land can give a farmer a monthly profit of over Sh100,000,’’ he said. With domestic animals and greenhouses integrated in that piece of land, the figure more than doubles.
Health concerns aside, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is now also keen on promoting organic agriculture in developing nations to address some of the failures of the Green Revolution (conventional agriculture) which despite benefitting richer nations, has not been successful in making Africa food secure.
Since organic agriculture enables farmers to boost yields using locally available environment resources or additional low-cost biological inputs, it offers a sustainable farming approach to most small scale farmers, said Mr Glen Tyler, Agricultural Expert at Greenpeace Africa.
“It gives the power of food security to the farmers. They can boost yields without being under the mercy of commercial outlets selling fertilisers or pesticides that they can’t afford,” said Anne Maina, the director of the Kenya Biodiversity Coalition (KBioC).
Soil preparation is an integral part in organic agriculture. Before planting, farmers are advised to boost land fertility using compost manure.
“This can easily be made using dung from farm animals and plant remains, thus relieving the farmer of synthetic fertiliser costs,” said John Njoroge, lecturer and founder of the Kenya Institute of Organic Farming (KIOF).
As the manure breaks down, it nourishes the plant and improves soil structure hence increasing its ability to hold water and nutrients.
“Synthetic fertilisers tend to benefit plants only while neglecting the soil. This makes the farmer to be dependent on them. With time they eventually cause the land to lose productivity,” he warns.
A 2014 report by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KARLO) found that the extensive use of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilisers had depleted soils in Trans-Nzoia and Uasin-Gishu, Kenya’s grain basket, by increasing soil acidity thus compromising its productivity.
In organic farming, notes Mr Njoroge, deadly pests and diseases are managed through good agricultural practises like crop rotation and intercropping.
Some of the organic markets in Nairobi include Bridges Organic restaurant in the city centre, Zucchini in Muthaiga, Kalimoni Greens and Purdy Arms in Karen as well as the United States Embassy in Gigiri.
Farmers interested in organic farming can get trained at KIOF, KOAN or Jomo-Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). They also need to be certified as organic farmers by bodies such as Nesvax and Encert.
The Ministry of Livestock and Agriculture is working on a National Organic Agriculture Policy that is expected to boost the growth of organic agriculture.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
