The health of farmers and consumers and the sustainability of local agricultural enterprises are at risk from fake agro-chemicals which are being illegally imported into Botswana and sold to farmers across the country. The amount of fake agricultural chemicals on the market is increasing rapidly every other day. Now some farmers and local distributors are raising red flags over what they say are “crooked agro dealers taking advantage of the growing demand for agricultural-chemicals to cheat unsuspecting farmers.”
Studies have shown that fraudsters and counterfeiters are targeting the global agrochemical market estimated to net $266 billion in 2021 and $308.92 billion by 2025. Over 20% of that market share will be lost globally to the adulteration and counterfeiting industry.
The Managing Director of Orchid Agro Chemicals Ltd, Percy Mokibe, whose company provides farmers with both treatment for plant and soil application and scientific farming advice told this publication that a number of farmers in the various agricultural sub-sectors in Botswana are tricked by cheaper prices for agricultural products which may be produced under the same brand name, but which may be no more than a less expensive, ineffective and perhaps even highly lethal alternative.
“I cannot rule out the likelihood that some of the fake agro-chemicals may already have resulted in serious illnesses, possibly even deaths across the farming community,” says Mokibe.
He noted that importers of fake chemicals into Botswana target mostly farmers who do vegetable cultivation. It is believed that the chemicals being imported into Botswana and sold to farmers in the industry at significantly lower prices than those available through dependable distributors may even suggest that the exercise is a form of money-laundering.
While Botswana Customs has become more skilful at quashing the importation of fake chemicals through the country’s legal ports of entry, the battle against the practice is weakened by moderately uninhibited importation across the country’s borders.
Mokibe says that the illegal imports are entering Botswana through “our generally unprotected borders” but that the greatest danger may lie in the fact that the country does not have rigorous regulations related with the importation of agro chemicals.
He highlighted that the illegal importation of chemicals has in a way become an organized practice.
“Chemical counterfeiting in the agricultural industry is financially rewarding and this poses a risk to the plant science industry. It results in problems to the consumers health, can destroy the entire harvest and can also affect the industry as buyers might impose a crop ban,” he says.
While it is difficult to establish the origins of fake chemicals, it is alleged that the local dealers are part of a network of a larger counterfeit system which not only deals with counterfeit agro-chemicals but other products such as branded shoes, handbag, vehicle parts, to mention but a few.
In 2018, Botswana traders who were selling counterfeit goods were arrested in a global coordinated Interpol-backed operation which seized fake goods worth more than P250 million. Some of the goods targeted in the operation included pharmaceuticals, fake tobacco products, alcohol, food, vehicle parts, clothing, anti-malarial pills, pregnancy tests and pesticides.
At the time, Interpol Executive Director of Police Services Tim Morris said, “By attacking the distribution networks, and by disrupting production at the source, participating countries have contributed towards globally protecting people from potentially unsafe goods, and made them safer by dismantling illegal networks which are often connected to other forms of serious crime.”
Studies also indicate that counterfeits which are made discreetly and often times given names that sometimes look like the original, account for over 15 percent of the pesticide market in Botswana.
Kutlo Seboni who is a farmer says there is need for increased sensitisation of farmers on the dangers of fake agrochemicals and farmers must also patronise accredited dealers to stop the unscrupulous dealers.
“Poor and uneducated farmers are the ones who are most affected by this practise. The only way to stop these counterfeit chemicals is for farmers and local distributors to collaborate,” says Seboni adding that stockists and farmers should continuously be taught how to handle and use agricultural chemicals to get rid of counterfeit agro-chemicals.
A documentary which aired on Al Jazeera called Circle of Poison shows that harmful agricultural chemicals which were banned, restricted or unregistered in the developed world were still being sold and sent to developing countries causing damage to the populations and ecosystems.
A Botswana Police Officer (BPS) who spoke to this publication said “some agro chemicals find their way into Botswana and other developing countries because of legal loopholes which allow the manufacturer of these agro chemicals to export despite it being branded as unsafe.”
However, some small farmers are beginning to fight back by turning to sustainable forms of agriculture. According to Seboni some farmers are slowly turning to the organic farming industry.
Apart from counterfeit agro chemicals, Botswana is also struggling with rising cases of unmonitored chemicals passed off as herbal pesticides.
