Pyrethrum’s rich history in Kenya and old good days

Pyrethrum is a naturally occurring mixture of chemicals found in certain chrysanthemum flowers. It was first recognised to have insecticidal properties around 1800AD in Asia and was used to kill ticks and various insects such as fleas and mosquitoes.

Six individual chemicals have active insecticidal ingredients in the pyrethrum extract and these compounds are called pyrethrins. Pyrethrins are often used in household insecticides and products to control insects on pets or livestock.

Pyrethrum, a broad-spectrum insecticide, affects a wide range of insects in gardens or farms. It disrupts the central nervous system of all types of flying and crawling insects, causing their nerve impulses to fail, eventually leading to their death.

Natural pyrethrins break down quickly in the environment, especially when exposed to natural light and are less toxic than pyrethroids, which are synthetically engineered and last longer in the environment making them toxic to insects and mammals.

Experimental planting of pyrethrum in Kenya started in 1926 and the first few tonnes were exported six years later. Pyrethrum thrives in areas 6,000 and 8,000ft above sea level with well-distributed rainfall and Kenya’s volcanic loam soils are ideal.

By 1938, the Belgian Congo had developed this plant on the shores of Lake Kivu and was exporting its first few tonnes.

Kenya became the most important supplier to the American market in 1940, shipping the flower in its dry form for processing in America to make a liquid which was, and still is the basis of the best household insecticide. In 1945, the East Africa Extract Corporation (the subsidiary of Mitchell Cotts, a British trading conglomerate) built its factory in Nairobi’s Industrial Area which, in 1956, managed to achieve a 93 percent extraction rate, the highest theoretical rate possible.

Kenya was harvesting more than 10,000 metric tonnes of dried pyrethrum flowers and supplying more than 70 percent of the world production by 1961.

At independence in 1963, pyrethrum was one of four major cash crops after coffee, tea and maize and this was reflected in our national coat of arms.

I remember driving along the Limuru-Uplands road in the 1970s in Bibirioni and all you could see on the hilly terrain was a white mass that resembled snow.

This was pyrethrum in full bloom and you could tell that the farmers were deriving a good livelihood as each plot was neatly fenced off containing a permanent house, piped water, electricity and often a vehicle parked in the compound.

Pyrethrum production reached its peak in Kenya at 18,000 tonnes in 1993 from more than 200,000 farmers providing a livelihood to more than two million people.

However, in the mid-1990s, the growing use of synthetic insecticides in America (Kenya’s largest market), which were cheaper, had led to declining demand for this commodity.

Nevertheless, growing environmental concern in developed countries over the use of synthetic insecticides contributed to a modest upturn in Kenya’s output in the late 1990s.

In the drought year of 2000, output declined by 14.7 percent but an 8.6 percent recovery was achieved in 2001 when Kenya produced 8,000 tons of dried pyrethrum flower.

While the weather and competition from synthetic insecticides were playing havoc on the pyrethrum industry in Kenya, there was a far more insidious enemy at work. The now-familiar elements of corruption, mismanagement and outright theft bedevilled the pyrethrum industry from the early 1990s.

As a result, the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya began to take as long as four years to pay farmers, processing factories were not maintained and became outdated, laboratories and nurseries were abandoned making it difficult for farmers to obtain certified seeds. The industry was brought to its knees and farmers lost hope and money.

Production dropped from 11,000 tonnes in 2003 to a mere 250 tons in 2013.

The government is making concerted efforts to revive the pyrethrum industry, which was liberalised six years ago, unlocking the monopoly held by the board. This has encouraged the entry of entrepreneurs.

One of these private sector companies is the American firm Kentegra Biotechnology.

The firm started operations in Kenya after signing an investment deal worth more than $4 million with President Uhuru Kenyatta during his tour of the US in August 2017.

The company has set up a seed nursery, laboratory and processing factory in Nakuru.

More than 3,000 farmers have been contracted by the company in Molo, Eburru, Nyahururu and Kisii.

Instead of opting for a flower variety that grows once a year, favoured by industrially farmed nations, Kentegra has chosen a variety that produces a flower every two weeks for 10 months of the year. This affords farmers regular cashflow (they are paid a week after delivery) and simultaneously protects their crop with a shorter growth cycle.

I had the privilege of visiting the Eburru operation west of Naivasha where Kentegra has contracted 1,000 farmers. Most farmers have planted ¼ acre holdings and are being paid Sh200 per kilo of dried flower. The feeling of hope and restoration of dignity is visible on their faces.

They told me that they are now able to afford a decent living, pay school fees for their children and some have even built permanent houses for their families. Payments are sent to their M-Pesa accounts seamlessly and transparently.

Kenya’s return to the world market will not be easy because while we were away, Tasmania, Rwanda, Tanzania and China came to fill the gap in world supply.

I believe that if we continue to demonstrate political goodwill backed by action, as in the case of Kentegra, we can put Kenya back on the world market for pyrethrum and create livelihoods for thousands of farmers.