Coffee, maize and wheat farmers could suffer up to 90 per cent in yield losses if the government bans popular pesticide ingredients as demanded by activists.

An independent study by Egerton University’s Tegemeo Institute shows, for instance, that farmers will have almost nothing to control the coffee berry borer.

The pest can cause between 50 and 90 per cent harvest losses if uncontrolled.

“The proposed ban on agrochemical has adverse effects on food security, incomes and the economy. It does not guarantee food safety,” said Timothy Njagi, a senior researcher at the  Egerton-based Tegemeo Institute of Research and Policy.

The ban of at least 200 chemicals used locally is recommended in a bill sponsored by Uasin Gishu Woman Representative Gladys Boss Shollei.

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In total, Njagi said the country could lose more than Sh150 billion [~1.33 billion USD] if the ban is put in place.

He said the country would lose an equivalent of 16 percent of the gross domestic product.

The regulator, Pest Control Products Board, said it has stringent ways of vetting pesticides used in Kenya.

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