In July 2019 I travelled across western Kenya, following a field instructor from the Agrochemical Association Kenya who was training farmers in the region on ‘responsible use of pesticides.’ As I learnt during this time, much of the training and training materials were sponsored by CropLife International, and organization that promotes agricultural technologies.
In a recent investigation by Greenpeace’s journalism platform Unearthed, CropLife is described as an influential lobby group, consisting of six member companies that together control about two-thirds of the global pesticide market. Analysis of sales data shows that a third of their income comes from ‘highly hazardous pesticides,’ often banned in the EU, mostly in low- and middle-income countries.
In the information provided by CropLife, the use of (genuine) pesticides is linked to ‘making a healthy nation.’ Through material like this farmers come to understand pesticides as ambiguous substances, that may be inherently dangerous, but that also link agricultural technologies to the nation-building project of modernization and food security.
In July 2019 I travelled across western Kenya, following a field instructor from the Agrochemical Association Kenya who was training farmers in the region on ‘responsible use of pesticides.’ As I learnt during this time, much of the training and training materials were sponsored by CropLife International, and organization that promotes agricultural technologies.
In a recent investigation by Greenpeace’s journalism platform Unearthed, CropLife is described as an influential lobby group, consisting of six member companies that together control about two-thirds of the global pesticide market. Analysis of sales data shows that a third of their income comes from ‘highly hazardous pesticides,’ often banned in the EU, mostly in low- and middle-income countries.
In the information provided by CropLife, the use of (genuine) pesticides is linked to ‘making a healthy nation.’ Through material like this farmers come to understand pesticides as ambiguous substances, that may be inherently dangerous, but that also link agricultural technologies to the nation-building project of modernization and food security.