A fresh audit has raised concerns over the safety of food consumed by millions of Kenyans after exposing major weaknesses in the country's pesticide control system.
The Auditor General found that illegal and unauthorised pesticides continue to reach farmers because of weak enforcement, inadequate staffing and poor monitoring, raising fears over public health, the environment and agricultural exports.
The performance audit by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu says the Pest Control Products Board (PCPB), which regulates pesticides, has not effectively carried out its duty of ensuring laws on the supply, use and disposal of pest control products are followed.
According to the report, the board has not done enough to stop unsafe practices, allowing farmers to access pesticides that have not been approved for use.
"The board has not adequately monitored and enforced compliance with regulations on supply and use of pesticides to reduce unsafe practices and prevent environmental harm," Gathungu says in the report.
"Farmers are accessing and using non-authorised pest control products, negatively affecting food safety and the environment."
The findings add to growing concerns over food safety in Kenya, where pesticides are widely used by both commercial and small-scale farmers to protect crops.
The audit points to a serious shortage of staff at the regulator, saying the board has only 64 officers against an approved establishment of 267 positions. The gap has affected inspections, enforcement, scientific monitoring and public awareness activities.
According to the report, the staffing shortage continues to affect the board's ability to perform its work as required.
"In the circumstances, the understaffing may hinder effective delivery of services by the board," the report says.
The audit notes that inspections of premises dealing in pesticides increased during the period under review. The number of premises inspected rose from 6,322 in the 2021-22 financial year to 11,150 in the 2024-25 financial year.
Even with the increase in inspections, illegal pesticides continued finding their way into the market.
The report shows that the number of expired, counterfeit and unregistered pesticides seized also went up during the review period, with unregistered products accounting for the largest share of the seizures.
According to the Auditor General, the higher number of inspections has not discouraged those involved in the illegal pesticide trade.
"Data over the audit period indicates that increased inspections were not a deterrent to production and sale of such products," Gathungu says.
The audit further established that the board continued licensing businesses that had already been taken to court and convicted for selling illegal pesticides instead of withdrawing their operating certificates.
The report says the failure to revoke those licences leaves consumers exposed to repeat violations by traders who have already broken the law.
It also found weaknesses in follow-up inspections carried out after the first visits. More than half of the agro-dealers sampled said they had never received another inspection after the initial one.
In addition, regional offices lacked proper systems for recording corrective measures taken by agro-dealers or tracking whether they had complied with inspection recommendations, exposing more gaps in the country's pesticide control system.