Kenya faces disaster as government officials banned eight key bug-killing chemicals last year. Farmers across the country will lose massive amounts of money and food crops because of this decision. The Agrochemical Association of Kenya released a scary report about what happens next. Officials made the ban without giving farmers other ways to protect their plants. The country could lose one trillion shillings over the next ten years.
Crops will fail at alarming rates as pests destroy fields everywhere. Temperature increases make bugs multiply faster and cause more damage to farms. Coffee berry borers have grown 2.5 million times more since 1984. Tomato leafminers and fall armyworms attack crops daily across the nation. Most farmers say they lose money every single year because bugs eat their plants.
The chemical ban leaves 13 different crop pests with no way to stop them. Another 20 pests have just one remaining treatment option available. Many of these treatments will stop working within a few years. Wheat farmers have only one fungicide left to fight leaf rust disease. This disease typically becomes resistant to treatments within three growing seasons.
Farmers will earn 17.6 percent less money next year alone. Poor families who grow food will suffer the most from these changes. People will spend 183 billion shillings replacing food they cannot grow anymore. Kenya exports tea, coffee, flowers and fruits that will all decrease production. The country might face serious hunger problems if nothing changes soon.
Crops will fail at alarming rates as pests destroy fields everywhere. Temperature increases make bugs multiply faster and cause more damage to farms. Coffee berry borers have grown 2.5 million times more since 1984. Tomato leafminers and fall armyworms attack crops daily across the nation. Most farmers say they lose money every single year because bugs eat their plants.
The chemical ban leaves 13 different crop pests with no way to stop them. Another 20 pests have just one remaining treatment option available. Many of these treatments will stop working within a few years. Wheat farmers have only one fungicide left to fight leaf rust disease. This disease typically becomes resistant to treatments within three growing seasons.
Farmers will earn 17.6 percent less money next year alone. Poor families who grow food will suffer the most from these changes. People will spend 183 billion shillings replacing food they cannot grow anymore. Kenya exports tea, coffee, flowers and fruits that will all decrease production. The country might face serious hunger problems if nothing changes soon.
