THE USE OF PESTICIDES IN

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ESPECIALLY AFRICA
 CROP PROTECTION MARKET

Pesticide use in Africa accounts for only 2–4% of the global pesticide market of US$31 billion.

Average pesticide use per hectare in Africa is low, reported as only 1.23 kg/ha, compared with
7.17 and 3.12 kg for Latin America and Asia. Small-scale farming systems are often viewed as
low input, with low or zero use of pesticides
Pesticides tend to be used most intensively on cash crops, especially cotton, cocoa, oil palm,
coffee and vegetables
The most commonly encountered active ingredients across the 19 study villages were the
insecticides endosulfan, dimethoate, cypermethrin, chlorpyrifos, fenitrothion, malathion,
profenofos and deltamethrin and the herbicide glyphosate.
Currently, around two million tonnes are used per year on a
global basis, most of which are herbicides (50 %), followed by
insecticides (30 %), fungicides (18 %) and other types such as
rodenticides and Nematicides.

Growth in 2020 relative to 2019 was estimated at 6.6 % in

terms of pesticide volume (975.000 tonnes); 5.8 % in terms of
revenue; and 8.0 % in terms of application area (1.6 billion
ha), of which 2.0 % referred to new agricultural areas.
AFRICAN CROP PROTECTION

• African Crop Protection Chemicals Market is projected

to register a CAGR of 4.2% during the forecast period
(2020-2025).
• Growing population, a decrease in arable land, and a
rise in food security are some of the factors driving the
market growth for pesticides in the region.
• An increase in R&D expenditure, low awareness about
the benefits of using pesticides among the farming
communities are some of the factors restraining the
growth of the market.
HERBICIDES ARE DOMINATING THE MARKET

• There is an increase in the use of herbicides as there is a

shortage of workers for hand weeding crop fields as
thousands of Africans moving to urban from rural areas.
• Hence, the adoption of Herbicides has become a viable
option as Labour use for weed control is reduced by 54% to
96% when growers switch from hoe weeding to chemical
pesticides.
• The applications of herbicides in major crops can reduce yield
loss, thereby increasing crop productivity. For instance,
Cassava one of the major staple crops grown in the region,
Storage root yield reductions caused by uncontrolled weed
interference in cassava ranges between 40% and total loss.
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

The Africa crop protection market is fragmented

with the presence of many international and local
players.
• Adama Agricultural Solutions,
• Sumitomo Chemicals,
• UPL Limited,
• Bayer AgroScience

AG are some of the major players operating in

this market. These players are adopting product
innovation as the major strategy to strengthen
the position in the market.
 AFRICA CROP MARKET SEGMENTATION

The report focuses on overall market size, market segmentation by type of

pesticides (Herbicides, Insecticides, Fungicides, Biopesticides and others

Key Segments Covered

Type of Pesticides

Herbicides : Glyphosate, Methotrexate, Triazine, Others

Insecticides : Pyrethroids and Abamectin, Others
Fungicides : Triazole, Azoxystrobin and Carbendazim
Biopesticides
Rodenticides,
Plant Growth Regulators,
Adjuvants
 PESTICIDE USE AND AGRICULTURE IN KENYA
Since the active ingredients for pesticides are not produced on the African continent, and very
few countries have any pesticide formulation capacity, Kenya is reliant on importing pesticides
either from China (42 %) or from the EU (30 %)5. Demand for pesticides in Kenya is increasing
rapidly, with imports increasing from 6 400 tonnes to 15 600 tonnes between 2015-2018,
according to the Association of Agrochemicals of Kenya.

This demand helps explain why as much as 18 % of the pesticides used in Kenya may be
counterfeit. Significant volumes of pesticide come into Kenya from neighbouring Tanzania and
Uganda, which are hotspots of fake agrochemical production and where counterfeit pesticide
levels may be over 40 %, Kenya also has a serious problem of stocks of obsolete pesticides,
which are not stored safely and so could contaminate drinking water.
 BAYER : BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BY CROP SCIENCE

The decline in sales at Herbicides was due in particular to a loss of registrations in Europe / Middle East /
Africa and North America. Business in North America was also impacted by shifts in demand for selective
herbicides into the prior year. However, we expanded our business in Asia / Pacific and Latin America.
Sales in the region South America, Africa, Middle
East amounted to €1,777 million, €24 million
below the previous year.

This was primarily due to significantly negative

currency effects, mainly from the depreciation of
the Brazilian real.

Considerably higher volumes in all indications and

sectors, especially in Brazil, and higher price levels
were unable to fully offset the negative currency
developments.
TERIMA
KASIH
Kantor Perwakilan
Jl. Tanah Abang III No. 16 Jakarta 10160
Telp. (021) 3446459, 3446645
Fax. (021) 3841994
Email: perjaka@petrokimia-gresik.com