Maize drying within a day: How farmers' shortcuts are risking ugali lovers lives
Some hoteliers have suspended the ‘ugali saucer’ tradition as part of cost-cutting measures aimed at keeping their businesses afloat.
What you need to know:
- “Sometimes we are forced to use insecticides to hasten the grains’ drying process… Maize dries within a day,” said Mark Wasike*, a farmer from Trans Nzoia County.
Health and agriculture experts have expressed concern over the safety of food in many households due to the abuse or improper use of chemical substances. This follows an increase in the counterfeit pesticides by maize farmers and traders. The pesticides are used to hasten the drying process of maize, yet some of the chemicals pose a serious health risk to consumers.
Nation’s investigations have caught out some farmers and traders in the North Rift region, which is considered the country’s food basket, using certain insecticides to instantly reduce the moisture content in maize in order to meet the legally required level of 13.5 per cent.
The insecticides also whiten rotten grains, making them appear clean and attractive to purchase.
However, the hurried drying process of the grains could be deadly to consumers, and has caught the attention of health practitioners.
Maize farming is common in the North Rift and towns bordering Tanzania and Uganda. However, the lack of proper drying and storage facilities and high costs involved pose a significant challenge for most farmers. Safe drying of maize after harvesting is essential to ensure the produce is safe for consumption. However, some farmers opt for unsafe drying processes that could expose consumers to health hazards.
While most farmers sell their maize to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), a sizeable number store their harvest in order to fetch better prices at a later sale during lean months.
The maize sold to NCPB must meet a set of quality standards in terms of moisture content, aflatoxin level, rotten grain and foreign matter.
However, some farmers term the impositions of standards as harsh and employ certain pesticides to shorten the drying time and also whiten the maize.
Workers spread maize to dry in Elburgon, Nakuru County in November last year. Farmers are set to access dryers to help them dry cereals during the El Nino rains.
“It is time we prepare for planting and (so), we are selling our maize to buy fertiliser. The NCPB is offering Sh4,000 per bag, but strict requirements have forced many farmers to sell the produce directly to millers,” said Thomas Boen, a commercial maize farmer from Uasin Gishu County.
Unlike NCPB, some millers and private traders have more relaxed conditions and buy the maize at farm gate, and pay immediately.
“Millers are not as choosy as NCPB, which scrutinises maize for broken matter, rotten percentage, and other conditions farmers are unwilling to meet,” said Kimutai Arap Kolum, a farmer.
Due to inadequate storage facilities, Simon Cherogony, a large-scale farmer from Moiben, Uasin Gishu County, could not harvest his crop on time.
“Most farmers lack storage facilities and have to leave much of the maize in the farm for too long to dry in the sun. This exposes them to massive post-harvest losses,” said Mr Cherogony.
To prevent loss, some farmers use chemicals like Nova Super Blue Cross dust to dry the grain, despite the obvious health risk to consumers. Nova is a registered pesticide in the country whose job is to control weevils and not to dry grain.
“Sometimes we are forced to use insecticides to hasten the grains’ drying process,” said Mark Wasike*, a farmer from Trans Nzoia County.
Workers dry maize in Eldoret town, Uasin Gishu County. File | Nation Media Group
“Half a kilo of Nova powder can dry over 20 bags of maize. But we only use it only if the maize is for commercial purposes rather than domestic consumption,” Wasike explained.
According to those that use such pesticide, it saves time and costs, unlike the lengthy sun-drying.
“We dry our grains for a day only and then apply Nova powder to fast-track the process, thus saving two additional days of drying the grain,” adds the farmer.
“This substance is of great help to us; instead of wasting time drying maize for three or four days, we just apply it and proceed to sell the same day (and ostensibly, free space for more grain from the field),” David Kemboi*, another farmer from Uasin Gishu County.
“Nova Blue Cross is approved as a post-harvest grain storage dust for controlling pests that usually damage maize after harvesting. Using it to dry maize is flagrant misuse of the product registered for separate application,” said Fredrick Muchiri, the Chief Executive Officer of the Pest Control Products Board (PCPB).
The regulatory agency is concerned about the proliferation of counterfeit pesticides, some of which are highly toxic.
Agriculture Principal Secretary, Kiprono Rono, has warned farmers and traders over the misuse of chemicals to hasten the drying process of maize. He emphasised that such practices pose a serious health risk to consumers. Further investigations at the microbiology section of the biotechnology lab at the University of Eldoret revealed more information regarding this issue.
“We tested the substance some farmers use ostensibly to reduce moisture and recorded the moisture readings before and found out is that the substance reduces the amount of moisture by roughly 1.5 to 2 per cent instantly,” said Kipkogei Chemitei, Research Assistant, University of Eldoret.
Other scientists, however, say that Nova/Nora does not actually dry the maize, but cheats the system to make it look like the maize is dry.
“It doesn’t reduce moisture content because it’s not meant for that purpose,” Prof Julius Ochuodho, a plant pathologist, at the University of Eldoret.
“If you have maize that is somewhat dry but not at its optimum level for storage, it will go bad because it was not at the right moisture content. Using this chemical during tests, the grains show moisture at 13 or 13.5 per cent. But once stored and tested later, one will find that the moisture content is higher. This is because fungi that produce mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin, thrive in grains above 13.5 per cent, moisture content,” explained Prof Ochuodho.
This means that consumers are at risk of suffering aflatoxin poisoning by consuming this maize.
According to Uasin Gishu Chief Officer for Agriculture, Elphas Kiprop, Nova is a good chemical for eliminating weevils/insects in grains.
“We realise is that many handlers along the maize value chain use chemicals to dry and change the maize’s colour, which is contrary to safety standards. Malathion, for instance, is an organophosphate, which if consumed in large quantities, has serious consequences on our health,” Mr Kiprop told the Nation.
In Sirare town, on the Kenya-Tanzania border, traders claimed maize from Kenya was notorious for containing chemical substances.
“We survive by the grace of God because we eat food that is not safe. Maize from Kenya has a lot of chemical substances. If you visit stores with maize from Kenya, the smell is so strong, you start sneezing. You can visit their stores and pretend you want to buy some maize. Even if they buy maize from Tanzania, they must apply that chemical because most of it will still be moist.” said one Tanzanian trader.
It is a similar situation in Busia town, on the Kenya-Uganda border.
“We have challenges because of the gateway to East and Central Africa where goods can freely leave or enter the country. We have inspectors who ensure goods come through official routes but there are also the porous and informal routes,” said Dr George Mukok, CECM for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Climate Change, Busia County.
In 2021, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) recalled some popular brands from the market due to high levels of aflatoxin. Some consumers were worried that the maize flour sold in supermarkets had developed mould, which could be linked to these deadly shortcuts taken during drying of the grains.
At the Moiben maize buying center in Uasin Gishu, middlemen are equipped with moisture metres to help minimise incidences of buying grains that do not meet the required moisture content threshold.
“It is not advisable to shell maize then use chemical powder to dry it. You will be risking lives because the same maize will end up as flour in supermarkets and consumed in your house.” said Ian Kemboi, a maize trader.
Some farmers are calling for sensitisation by relevant government agencies on the proper use of various agrovet products to avoid misuse of pest control products.
“All pesticides have directions for use and manufacturers make them quite easy to understand,” said Antonio David, Agrovet, in Eldoret town.
Those interviewed confirmed that food safety is an important component that requires collective responsibility, to eradicate misuse of chemicals.
“We are establishing the co-relation between health and agriculture. We have purposed to interrelate our programmes so that we are able to establish the causes of diseases all the way from our farming methods up to the point at which food lands on the table,” Dr Paul Wangwe Ongeti, Chief Officer, Health, Preventive and Promotive, Uasin Gishu said.
The PCPB says it has received complaints regarding misuse of insecticides to dry maize and other grains.
“We have received reports from Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu. We have two active cases and made some arrests in Trans Nzoia and Kitale of sellers of deadly counterfeits,” said Mr Muchiri.
