Shield people, animals from harmful pesticides

Last month, lobbyists called for the banning of more than 100 pest control products that they said contained harmful chemicals.

They warned that these products expose Kenyans to different chronic ailments, including cancer, whose surge in recent years has hurt the nation.

Although the products are manufactured abroad, they are banned in their countries of origin due to their harmful effects.

But chillingly, they are readily available in agrovet shops countrywide, and farmers are encouraged to buy and use them.

But even before the public digests the shocking story of the cancer-causing chemicals, The Standard last week published another story about how pesticides have been slowly driving some insect species to extinction.

The most affected insects are moths, butterflies, wasps, bees, ants, dung beetles, damselflies and lady birds. At least 40 per cent of these insects are at risk of extinction, thanks to pesticides.The population of butterflies, for instance, is said to have dropped by 58 per cent since 2000.

This should worry us greatly. While pesticides have played a big role in improving productivity and thus food security, this should never happen at the expense of human and animal lives.

It would be foolhardy to produce enough food and escape death by starvation only to court it through the diseases caused by pesticides.

In addition, humans have a responsibility to protect biodiversity, including insects.

This is why it is important for the Government to chart a new path regarding the use of pesticides.

We cannot continue using chemicals that are injurious to human and animal lives.