Pest Control Products Board (PCPB) has warned Kenyans against buying pesticides from street vendors citing serious risks to health, crops, and the environment.

Speaking in Kakamega town, the PCPB Compliance and Enforcement Officer for Western and Nyanza regions Nicholas Muendo said pesticides should only be sold by licensed agrovets, noting that hawkers are not licensed to do such business.

“Some supermarkets can sell household pest control products like those for bedbugs or rodents after being licensed but crop protection products must only be sold through registered agrovet outlets,” Muendo said.

Muendo asked hawkers to sell other products and not pest control products urging those willing to deal with the business to reach out to the board, undergo training, open an agrovet and be licensed.

“Having a product that kills the target pest is not enough, the pest control products board looks at other aspects. The reason we are fighting illegal pesticides is because they have adverse effects on the human, the environment and also to an extent they also affect the crops,” Muendo explained.

He called on Kenyans to always look if a pest control product is registered before buying them noting that a registered product is given a registration number which begins with PCPB (CR) followed by a four-digit numerical number like PCPB (CR) 9999.

“Another thing that is given to a registered pest control product is a label that has to be in both English and Kiswahili. One of the addresses of the company that has been listed in the labelling has to Kenyan,” he noted.

Muendo noted that the board has intensified raids and sensitisation forums across the country in a bid to fight illegal trade of pest control products. He said they also train Spray Service Providers (SSPs) and Pest Control Operators (PCOs) to ensure proper use of the products.

The board has also stationed inspectors at the border points across the country like the port of Mombasa to control the entry and exit of illegal products.

“The fight is yielding results because when you go to the formal setups like the agrovets, you will not see counterfeit products being sold, it rarely happens, but along the streets you will find hawkers selling them,” he added.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Moses Wekesa