Pyrethrum farmers have welcomed the draft Crops (Pyrethrum) Regulations, 2026 which seeks to revive the once top-dollar earning crop for Kenya.
Farmers from different counties on Wednesday met in Nakuru for the validation process of the draft regulations spearheaded by the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA).
Grace Kyalo, a director at AFA said that the regulations will involve registration of all stakeholders, licensing and mainstreaming of marketing and importing pyrethrum products.
"Lack of tight regulations have contributed to the slow pace uptake of the crop. With the current efforts we hope Kenya will reclaim its former share of the global pyrethrum market," said Kyalo.
She added that the government is committed to the revitalisation of the Pyrethrum Processing Company of Kenya (PPCK) which has since been moved to the National Treasury.
"With the recent government restructuring, PPCK is now under the National Treasury. This is aimed at repositioning the company to be commercially viable and a rescue for the farmers," said Kyalo.
Speaking at the forum, the farmers decried continued exploitation by those high in the pyrethrum value chain through poor pricing and non-adherence to farming contracts.
“The pyrethrum sector becomes unattractive when we compare cost of production and the returns,” said Joseph Mwangi, the Nakuru Pyrethrum Growers Union chairperson.
Lack of sufficient certified seeds in the market also poses a challenge to the farmers despite continued investments by county governments to distribute free seedlings to them.
"The seedlings are expected to maintain a certain level of yield for four consecutive years but we find the production dropping sharply after the second year which is a loss to the farmer," said Mwangi.
He added that the myriad of challenges has contributed to some of the farmers who had embraced the sector to uproot the crop.
"Many recently uprooted pyrethrum when they saw unfavourable contracts, poor seeds and low prices. We are however confident that the proposed regulations have seen these gaps and will address our woes," said Mwangi.
The farmers noted that they had confidence in the crop under PPCK, a parastatal, but its non-payment had broken their trust.
“PPCK used to give us the best prices. However, when payments accrued for months, we shifted to private processors who are now a pain to us too,” said Susan Ndegwa, a farmer.
Mrs Ndegwa explained that there is little to no sensitization of farmers, majority who are old and semi-literate, on the contracts they sign with the private processors who joined the market after its recent liberalization.
"We were unknowingly stuck to exploitative contracts with the private processors. We agreed on a price of over Sh300 a kilo and they unilaterally dropped that to Sh200," said Mrs Ndegwa.
She noted that the proposed regulations should put in place price control mechanisms to protect the farmers.
"We don't dispute that prices of farm produce fluctuate but the range should not be punitive to us. A pricing committee should be put in place with the inclusion of the farmers' voice," she added.
The engagement forum also brought together County Executive Committee members from pyrethrum-growing counties who committed to ensure budget allocations towards revival of the crop.
