Sale of illegal pesticides persists despite crackdown, Auditor General says

An insecticide is mixed to be sprayed.[Getty Images]

The continued production and sale of expired, counterfeit and unregistered pesticides remains a major challenge in Kenya despite intensified enforcement by the Pest Control Products Board (PCPB), a new performance audit by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has revealed.

The 2026 specialised audit on the regulations of pesticides found that while inspections of pesticide dealers increased significantly over the last four years, illegal pest control products continued to flood the market, exposing farmers, consumers and the environment to serious health and safety risks.

The audit was commissioned following persistent concerns raised by the media and Parliament over the widespread use of hazardous and banned pesticides in the country. Legislators have repeatedly questioned the Ministry of Agriculture on measures to withdraw  banned pesticide products from the market and strengthen enforcement.

According to the report, inspections of premises handling pesticides rose by 76 percent, from 6,322 in the 2021/22 financial year to 11,150 in 2024/25. During the same period, the quantity of expired, counterfeit and unregistered pesticides seized increased dramatically from 902 kilograms to 28,617 kilograms.

The report further faults the PCPB for failing to revoke licenses of businesses convicted of selling illegal pesticides, allowing them to continue operating and increasing the risk of repeat offences.

“Over the audit period, the number of expired, counterfeit and unregistered pest control products impounded by the Board increased from 902 Kilograms in the financial year 2021/2022 to 28,617 Kilograms in the financial year 2024/2025. This was as a result of increased inspections. However, this also indicated that increased inspections were not a deterrent to production and sale of such products. Further, despite the Board impounding the products and securing convictions, the Board did not revoke the premises' certificates, thereby sustaining the risk of repeat offences and the continued sale of illegal products,” read the report in part.

The audit also found weak follow-up enforcement after inspections, revealing that nearly half of the agro-dealers surveyed had not received any follow-up inspections during the 2024/25 financial year, while many inspections that did occur exceeded the regulatory deadline of 60 days. The Board was also found to lack a structured follow-up inspection framework.

Limited public awareness emerged as another major concern. Only 29 percent of farmers interviewed said they had received training from the Board on the safe use of pesticides, compared to 65 percent of agro-dealers. The audit attributes the gap to inadequate agricultural extension services and a shortage of county extension officers.

The report further criticizes the Board for failing to carry out routine reviews of registered pesticides. Instead of conducting periodic scientific reassessments, reviews were only undertaken when prompted by emerging concerns such as international trade issues or new scientific evidence.

The report indicated that during the audit period, the Board did not test pesticide residues in water or soil and carried out residue analysis on only four crops: kales, onions, tomatoes and potatoes, in just 12 of Kenya's 47 counties. The limited monitoring as per the report weakens the country's ability to detect harmful pesticide residues and respond to emerging public health and environmental risks.

The audit also highlights weak border surveillance, revealing that PCPB technical officers were stationed at only 13 of Kenya's 30 gazetted border points.

“There were therefore no physical inspections of pesticides in the seventeen (17) border points that lacked PCPB technical officers to verify the consignments on transit. This increased the risk of illegal entry of pesticides into the Country,” read the report.

In addition, efforts to collect and safely dispose of pesticide waste have largely stalled. A nationwide initiative that established about 400 pesticide container collection centres across 16 counties became unsustainable, with about 60 percent becoming inactive shortly after launch and none operational by March 2026.

The Auditor-General concludes that the Board has not effectively monitored compliance with pesticide regulations, exposing farmers to unsafe products and increasing risks to food safety, biodiversity, soil and water quality. The report also warns that inadequate residue monitoring means authorities may be failing to detect food containing pesticide residues above acceptable limits.

The audit links effective pesticide regulation to the government's Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, noting that poor regulation could undermine agricultural productivity and export growth.

It also cites the Economic Survey 2025, which shows Kenya's fresh vegetable exports fell by 54.7 percent from 164,100 tonnes in 2023 to 74,300 tonnes in 2024. The decline has been partly attributed to stricter European Union pesticide regulations, resulting in significant losses for farmers.

Among its recommendations, the Auditor-General calls on the PCPB to establish structured follow-up inspections, strengthen farmer awareness through county extension services, introduce regular scientific reviews of registered pesticides, expand pesticide residue monitoring to food, water and soil, and deploy officers to all border points.