US to support revival of Kenya's pyrethrum sector

Nakuru,

Friday, November 17, 2023

KNA by Anne Mwale

The US government has reiterated its commitment to revive the once vibrant pyrethrum sub-sector in Kenya, pledging to inject Sh1.6 billion (US Dollars 12 million) into the industry.

The Country’s envoy to Kenya Ms Margaret Whitman said construction of a modern pyrethrum processing facility in Naivasha Sub-County for Sh1.4 billion was ongoing adding that the Kentegra plant is projected to serve over 90,000 small-scale pyrethrum farmers.

Ms Whitman said her country is keen to help Kenya revive the sector which collapsed in the 1990s, due to massive corruption and mismanagement.

Speaking in Nakuru after being hosted by Governor Susan Kihika at an investment roundtable forum in Naivasha Sub-County that brought together investors and companies from the United States seeking to start businesses within the county, the Ambassador lauded the government's efforts towards supporting investors noting that Kenya would, in the coming years, achieve a new industrialized status.

“The United States through Kentegra Limited has invested heavily in pyrethrum and currently is engaging 9,000 farmers, with plans to expand the number to 90,000 countrywide. Nakuru's location is ideal for investors to pitch in their businesses. This forum, the first of its kind is aimed at improving trade and investments, creating job opportunities for Nakuru residents and the Kenyan population at large,” added the envoy.

Ms Kihika termed the processing plant as a game changer to hundreds of small-scale pyrethrum farmers.

She affirmed that her administration was committed to increasing land under pyrethrum farming, from 7,000 acres to 10,000 acres, in the next few years.

Ms Kihika singled out diseases, the rising cost of production, and inadequate seedlings as some of the challenges facing the sector, which her administration is doing all it can to address.

“In the 1990s, Kenya accounted for 80 percent of global pyrethrum exports. However, this has reduced to five percent, and we need to address this,” Kihika said.

The Governor pledged that her administration was keen to unlock the multi-billion-shilling potential in agriculture, health, water and sanitation, horticulture, and floriculture sectors adding that to facilitate ease of doing business, plans for a single business permit are underway to create an investor-friendly environment.

She said that her government was addressing the high demand for pyrethrum seedlings in the county.

“Pyrethrum is now the cheapest crop to grow, and it has transformed the lives of many people. We shall fully support its revival,” said Ms Kihika.

The Governor expressed optimism that once the Kentegra plant is complete, it will create employment for tens of people and offer a ready market for their produce.

“Kentegra becomes the first company to invest in the new Naivasha EPZ, and this will help in breaking the cycle of unemployment,” she said.

Kentegra Biotechnology is set to receive Sh2.1 billion (USD 15 million) in equity and loan financing from Finnish development financier Finnfund and the United States Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to expand the firm’s production of pyrethrum flowers and revive the sector.

Kentegra Biotechnology produces and sells pyrethrin extracted from dried pyrethrum flowers to global insecticide and pesticide manufacturers. Kenya’s pyrethrum business thrived in the 1990s but activity has dwindled due to competition from cheaper synthetic pesticides.

The loan proceeds will be used to expand the firm’s capabilities to produce pale refined pyrethrum extract, for working capital, and to access new international markets.

“The investments, totaling Sh2.1 billion (US$15 million) in aggregate, will enable Kentegra to process pyrethrum flowers from 90,000 small-scale farmers in Kenya,” said Finnfund in a statement.

Research conducted last year on the sector shows a growing demand for organic pesticides and ‘greener’ produced food. Pyrethrin is used especially in the production of pesticides used in agriculture and households.

Ms Kihika expressed confidence that with DFC’s support, Kentegra will increase the percentage of women farmers it works with, providing these farmers with greater and more predictable income, as well as training to implement best farming practices and financial planning tools.

The new facility would create 600 direct jobs before the end of the year. The firm is among privately owned firms that were granted a permit to extract, process, and sell pyrethrum products after the industry was liberalized seven years ago.

Other private pyrethrum processors who have been issued permits are Africhem Botanicals, Pypro, and HighChem.

Ms Kihika announced that Nakuru will allocate Shs.27 million in the next financial year towards revamping the Pyrethrum sub-sector.

She said her government had entered into a public-private partnership to revamp the production of pyrethrum in the region.

The partnership, the governor explained, will involve recruitment of new farmers who will be provided with seedlings in a strategy expected to take the county back to its former glory as a leading producer of pyrethrum.

Ms Kihika said the County was collaborating with the state-owned Pyrethrum Processing Company of Kenya (PPCK) and private entities to put up nurseries that will provide farmers with quality seedlings to increase acreage under the crop.

She added that the County was planning to cultivate 30,000 acres of pyrethrum in Nakuru, by supporting local farmers through the provision of high-quality planting materials that lead to increased yields and improved returns.

“Success of this project will also boost this region’s economic wellbeing,” added the governor.

Ms. Kihika said her administration will also avail sufficient land in pyrethrum growing zones of Molo, Kuresoi South, Kuresoi North, and Njoro Sub-Counties to enable PPCK and other private sector actors to set up crop nurseries in a plan aimed at lessening the burden of sourcing for seedlings from other regions.

The nurseries, she added, will grow the developed Nakuru Region Pyrethrum Clone that is disease-resistant and has higher pyrethrin content. Ms. Kihika asked farmers to embrace pyrethrum farming as it will earn them good returns since it is harvested every three months.

She said the pyrethrin content per kilo in the Nakuru variety ranges from 1.4 to 1.8 percent which is likely to increase as farmers grow better-quality seedlings.

Ms Kihika further explained that other than targeting the revival of the crop in traditional pyrethrum growing areas of Molo, Njoro, Kuresoi South, and Kuresoi North, the County was also keen to break new grounds that have the potential.

Venturing into new areas, the governor said will help the county to achieve the envisaged County Agricultural and Economic Development Revolution.

Governor Kihika’s administration has made the revival of pyrethrum a flagship project to create employment and wealth under the national government’s Vision 2030.

At least 10,000 farmers are growing pyrethrum on 2,148 acres across the 11 sub-counties but the governor said the county has the potential to put 30,000 acres under the crop.

The county is banking on the building of the pyrethrum processing factory in Naivasha and the planned construction of the County Aggregation and Industrial Park at Egerton Agro-City to upscale value-addition.

The Governor said her government was committed to boosting pyrethrum growing by ensuring that at least an additional 1,500 acres of land were put under the cash crop in the next two years.

She added that her administration was working with the Ministry of Agriculture, the PPCK, research institutions, and other stakeholders as part of the strategies to fully revive pyrethrum growing.

She further said the strategy was to facilitate the provision and distribution of enough quality seedlings to farmers to increase the capacity of the pyrethrum processing plant.

Kihika said her government was also working to ensure the full revival of pyrethrum production by providing the necessary resources and incentives and by training more extension workers through a collaboration with Egerton University.

She added that her government will work closely with the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service to ensure the seeds supplied to farmers are certified and suitable for planting in specific areas and called on investors in the lucrative industry to rethink their business model by ensuring they set aside enough money to pay farmers on time to enable them to improve on their production.

Kenya was once the world’s leading producer of pyrethrum but due to poor management of the defunct Pyrethrum Board of Kenya, the industry regulator, the business grappled with hard times for many years.

Records at the County agriculture department indicate that production of pyrethrum in the country has since declined from a high of 18,000 tons in 1992 to the current national production of about 500 tons per year.

Pyrethrum is grown in 18 counties with Nakuru, Nyandarua, and West Pokot emerging as the main producers of the cash crop that was once christened ‘White gold of Kenya.

The crop is also grown in Uasin Gishu, Kericho, Kisii, Kiambu, Narok, Nyamira, Nyeri, Baringo, Nandi, Meru, Embu, and Murang’a, among other counties.

Courtesy; KNA