Pesticides, Fertilizers, and Seeds

Inside the Iten Agro-Vet business is good.  Notice the computers on the counter, a rarity here.

While on runs through the countryside I have passed several people using backpack sprayers.  Today I visited the Iten Agro-Vet store and talked with the owner, Lillian Kiptanui, about her business and farming in Kenya.  There are several Agro-Vet stores in town.  They seem to carry a similar array of products related to farming and animals.  These products include pesticides, fertilizers, seeds, food supplements for cows and goats, and rat poison.

Several authors have stated that Kenyans benefit from an organic diet.  Although Kenyans do eat fresh unprocessed foods, they are not “organic” in sense of being free from fertilizers and pesticides.  We have a small sukuma wiki (Kale) plant outside our house that is covered with aphids.  A small farmer could lose his entire crop to aphids without some method of control.  When the crop is the farmer’s personal food supply, he will not hesitate to purchase a pesticide.

Pesticides are sold for a variety of insects, including aphids, leaf miners, boleworms, and spider mites.  A variety of chemicals are available, including dimethoate, cyermethrin, chorophyriphos, and beta-cyfluthrin.  2-4-D is available for weed control.

Agrovet stores offer a variety of fertilizers, containing various quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.  Lillian said that almost all farmers use fertilizers.  I told her we had a problem in the United States with excess fertilizer polluting waterways and asked if they had that problem here.  She said that many people fertilize as a “tradition” rather than assessing if the soil needs supplementation.  Testing soils is expensive (5000 shillings, about $60) and must be done about 60km away in Kitale.  Therefore few farmers test their soil.  She wished the ministry of agriculture would assist farmers in testing their soil.  A further problem is that many farmers are poorly educated or illiterate.

Seeds for crops including tomatoes, onions, eggplant, collard greens, cabbage, cucumber, leeks, carrots, maize, and beans are available.  I was told that “almost all Kenyans” buy seeds rather than save their own seeds because of the dependability of the purchased seeds.

The major difference between agriculture in Kenya and the United States is the size of the farms.  Lillian told me that in Kenya, “every homestead has a farm.”  People grow most of their basic supplies and have very little money to spend on other foods.  I have seen fields of up to about 5 acres, but most are significantly smaller than that.  Many are the size of a tennis court or even smaller.

Another major difference is the amount of work done by muscle power.  There are tractors on many of the larger farms, but I have seen a lot of work done by hand on the small farms and even some larger plots.

So, farming in Kenya is quite different from the United States.   Most farms are family sized.  Food is fresh and eaten close to the source.  But the food is not “organic” in the western sense of the word.