Government plans to effect ban on use of raw manure by farmers as a measure to ensure food safety standards, despite complaints about the proposed measure.
According to Agriculture Principal Secretary (PS) Hamadi Boga, the bacterial viral load in fresh animal waste compromises food safety standards that might hurt Kenya’s agricultural exports.
The proposal by government to ban the use of raw manure in farming activities had earlier on elicited an uproar from those in the farming value chain as well as environmentalists who were of the opinion that organic farming was good for the long term.
But the PS says the government will go ahead to implement the ban on use of manure in farming as a measure safeguard Kenya’s international market for farm produce.
He says the bacterial viral load in raw manure is harmful to human health and there is need for it to be passed through different procedures before being used.
Despite calls by farmers on the government to engage Chinese avocado importers to relax some rules such as ripening the produce, pealing it and freezing it before shipments, the government is adamant there will be no such engagements urging farmers to form cooperatives to conform to the standards.
