Why Kenya pyrethrum sector collapsed after dominating global market

A version of this article appeared on Nation.Africa.

Up until the late 1990s, pyrethrum was a highly valued fresh farm produce that was regarded across agricultural zones as Kenya’s white gold. The cash crop supported household economies and rural livelihoods in 19 counties across the country.

Today, the sector is a mere shell of its former self, following repeated failed attempts by state agencies and local stakeholders to revive commercial production.

During its peak in the 1990s, the country produced around 70 per cent of the global pyrethrum market. The sector generated an average of Sh10 billion annually in foreign exchange earnings for the national economy.

Pyrethrum extract, refined into natural insecticides, was exported globally to industrial markets in Europe, Asia, and North America.

The downfall of the industry began in earnest during the late 1990s and early 2000s, driven by mismanagement, prolonged payment delays to growers, and stiff competition from synthetic chemical alternatives.

As processing plants under the Pyrethrum Processing Company of Kenya (PPCK) fell idle due to operational inefficiencies, thousands of smallholder farmers uprooted their crops in favour of short-cycle food crops like potatoes and maize.

Efforts to rehabilitate processing infrastructure in Nakuru County and reintroduce clean planting material to smallholders have yielded minimal progress over the past decade.

Liberalisation of the sector, intended to attract private investors and end state monopolies, was slowed by regulatory hurdles and a lack of certified high-yield seeds.

Synthetic pyrethroids, produced at lower costs by multinational chemical companies, steadily captured the market share once dominated by organic Kenyan extract.

Restoring the supply chain requires capital investment in modern extraction facilities, reliable payment mechanisms for growers, and sustained research into disease-resistant crop varieties.

Without structural reforms and guaranteed market prices, former pyrethrum growing zones remain underutilized for industrial cash crops. The sector stands as an example of lost agricultural dominance in the region.