Counterfeiters conspire to decimate food production

The fraudsters package counterfeit seeds and wrap them using renowned seed producers’ packages and pass them as genuine. Some of them sell weed seeds to unsuspecting farmers, writes JOB WERUAs the Government and humanitarian agencies continue to raise alarm over the stinging famine that has claimed several lives, Kenyan farmers are nursing painful wounds inflicted by counterfeiters. Even with the good short rains, the farmers may not save the current food situation following an attack by counterfeiters.The farmers across the country have lost a substantive amount of money after purchasing counterfeit seeds and animal feeds. Mr Daniel Waweru shows a datura plant at his farm. He says he bought onion seeds and after sowing, only datura weed germinated. [PHOTO: JOB WERU/STANDARD]Some livestock farmers who invested in various farm feeds ended up burying their animals, or incurring huge amounts of money in drugs to treat the livestock after they were sold fake products, which turned out to be harmful to their animals.The Underworld has discovered that these conmen package their products using packages similar to those of leading companies complete with brand names and fake lot numbers, which make it hard for farmers to suspect the evil game.In one incident, Daniel Waweru, a small-scale onion farmer in Kieni West District was sold Datura seeds, which were packaged as onions. Waweru’s dreams of making a kill in onion production and sales ended up when his seeds germinated.He had bought 250 grammes of red creole seeds for Sh850 and sowed them. "I had done my timing well and I expected to fetch about Sh200,000 after maturity, but I realised something was not well the moment the seeds germinated," he told The Underworld in his farm, near Kiawara Shopping Centre on the Nyeri-Nyahururu Road. He was surprised to realise that he had sowed Datura seeds, a poisonous weed that has seeds almost resembling those of onions.Waweru’s complaints to the dealer who sold him the seeds, which he says had been packaged in Simlaw Seeds’ packaging, did not help, as the stockist just advised him to take the container to him. He did not get any refund or an exchange with the right seeds. By the time he realised he had sowed Datura, it was too late to plant again. Falling victimMany other onion farmers in the area, which is known for growing good quality onions, were affected and this would probably be a representation of how Kenyan farmers are being conned by counterfeiters. This was not the only area targeted by counterfeiters.About 40 kilometres north of Malindi town at Marereni area, Emmanuel Ngala’s hopes for good harvests from his six-kilogrammes of mwitemania bean crop he had planted flopped at an early stage last season.Despite the season starting well with good rains and after having invested huge sums of money Mr Wachanga Wangai, a farmer in Nyeri County shows his farm of wilted maize which he says has been affected by counterfeit seeds. His neighbour’s maize is lush green as his withers [PHOTO: JOB WERU/STANDARDthrough preliminary land preparation, purchase of the seeds and fertiliser among other expenses, Ngala was left astounded. He sowed his seeds in good time and waited for them to germinate for weeks. Usually it would take days for beans to germinate."But after overstaying, I checked my land and after exhuming the seeds, I discovered that they were rotten," he lamented. Ngala said he had purchased five packets of two kilogrammes each from a shop. The seeds were labelled Simlaw Seeds Company, a brand name that he has learnt to trust over the years. "I went back to the shop to complain, but the attendant claimed the problem was probably caused by poor soils. This was not right, since the previous season, I planted lesser amount of seeds, which I just purchased from the market for cooking and later planted. They produced generously," said Ngala. The farmer had to make attempts to reach Simlaw Seeds Company, through newspaper articles. His queries were published in The Standard’s Pointblank column. As much as farmers keep on incurring losses emanating from purchase of fake seeds many cases go unreported since most of them do not take the bold step to involve regulatory bodies.The Kenya Bureau of Standards, Association of Animal Feeds Manufacturers, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service and Kenya Agricultural Research Institute are some of the organisations that regulate sale of these products to farmers. But due to ignorance, farmers do not involve them.Mr Tobias Ololo, a Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) inspector based in Mt Kenya Region, says most stockists and manufacturers escape facing legal action since most complaints do not reach their office."We regularly stage raids and sometimes we net sub-standard products that are offered for sale," says Ololo.Ololo blamed some producers (manufacturers) whom he says compromise the quality of their products as they try to cut production costs.Dr James Onsando, the Kephis managing director noted that conmen use red oxide chemicals to treat counterfeit maize.Word of caution"We advise farmers to ensure that the reddish colour in the maize seeds they buy is uniform to avoid being dragged into the con game."They should also ensure the packages of the seeds they buy has a Kephis mark of quality, while they should also keep it and an official receipt from their stockists, so that it can help them lodge complaints with us (Kephis) in case they turn out to be fake," said Onsando.He said the packages should also have Lot Numbers, which helps Kephis and mother company follow up the products during investigation. Manufacturers blame greedy retailersEven as complaints abound over flooding of counterfeit seeds, manufacturers have distanced themselves from blame and instead blamed underground cartels.Ms Joan Kirui, a Public Relations Officer at Simlaw Seeds Company said there was high possibility that cons use the seed processor’s labels to sell sub-standard products to its customers.]However, Kirui is quick to note that the company has never received other complaints from their stockists or farmers in the country."I am surprised that farmers have these myriad complaints, but we advise them to directly contact us instead of trying to reach us through the media," said Kirui.The official said that Simlaw Seeds products have Lot Numbers inscribed in the packaging, which helps the company trace the origin of the product."Through the Lot Number, we are able to trace the products and identify whether they were truly adulterated, so that they can rectify the problem," she said."We also have a way of compensating the farmers, which sometimes entails replacing the seeds they purchased," said Kirui.She said the company takes a complaint as genuine only if the farmer makes a formal report and identifies the product through giving its Lot Number.She also warned farmers against buying seeds and other farm inputs from unregistered stockists, saying some retailers were being used by cons to sell fake products, which also bear genuine companies’ names.Control by CartelsMr Stanley Kiama, the Farm Feeds Company Mt Kenya Region Sales Manager said feeds manufacturers have fallen prey to cartels that adulterate their products illegally. "We receive complaints from farmers who claim we have sold them sub-standard feeds, but when we get to the ground to ascertain the truth, we discover that the feeds are produced by some cons," said Kiama.He also blamed some stockists whom he claimed open some products and scoop some feeds and add other materials to make more sales from the original consignments.Others blamed are manufacturers who try to cut costs of production by including substandard materials while making the products.Farm Feeds Company is an animal feeds processing company, which is also a member of Association of Kenya Feeds manufacturers.Kiama said the association is mandated with the role of monitoring quality of farm feeds on sale."But this is detrimental to their own sales, since farmers are able to detect the anomalies through dwindling livestock production," said Kiama.

Counterfeiters conspire to decimate food production

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