WORKERS AND ECOSYSTEMS PAY THE PRICE FOR EUROPE’S TOXIC TRADE
A new Swedwatch report highlights how pesticides banned in the EU continue to be exported to countries outside the Union, where their use harms farm workers and ecosystems. Focusing on Kenya as a case study, the report exposes a global pattern of toxic double standards — and calls on European policymakers, as well as food and pesticide companies, to take responsibility.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of pesticides leave the EU for markets abroad. Many of these substances are prohibited for use within the EU due to their proven risks to people and nature. Yet, EU law still permits their manufacture and export – a striking example of Europe’s double standards in environmental and human rights protection.
The report, Poison for Profit – The Cost of EU Double Standards on Biodiversity, Human Health and Livelihoods, documents the widespread effects of these pesticides on Kenyan farmers and the local environment. Workers interviewed describe how the pesticides cause severe eye and skin irritation and breathing problems. Some recount cases of workers collapsing in the fields and, in some instances, dying. Health professionals report increasing cancer rates in agricultural regions, while farmers note the environmental impacts like the disappearance of bees and contamination of water sources.
Download the report
This report was produced by Swedwatch in collaboration with the Kenya Organic Agriculture Network and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation. It draws on field research carried out in 2023–2024 in the counties of Kajiado, Nakuru, Nyandarua, and Kirinyaga, including in-depth interviews and focus group discussions.
The influx of pesticides banned in the EU directly undermines the health of Kenyans, damages the environment, and exposes a critical failure in regulatory bodies that should be protecting public safety.
/Eustace Gacanja, Chief Executive Officer at Koan
On smaller farms pesticides are mixed with water by hand and then applied to the field using tanks carried on the back. The workers often lack protective equipment and many have received no formal training on pesticide use, exposing them to considerable risk.
Kenya’s case reveals a wider global pesticide problem
The risks identified in Kenya are mirrored in other countries, often low- and middle-income ones, where fruits and vegetables are grown using pesticides manufactured in Europe but banned for use there. This includes a wide range of crops destined for export to European markets.
EU border controls regularly stop shipments containing excessive levels of these banned substances. When intercepted products are destroyed, the costs typically fall on local farmers – those already most economically vulnerable. For example, in 2022, Kenyan agricultural exports to the EU faced 31 interceptions, resulting in losses of over 118,000 tonnes of vegetables, up from 79,000 tonnes in 2016. Around 20 of these cases are believed to be linked to pesticide-related issues, including banned substances and excessive residue levels.
Flawed due diligence upstream and downstream
Despite growing awareness and voluntary Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) efforts, the report finds that neither pesticide producers nor food retailers have effectively addressed these impacts in practice. The result is a persistent accountability gap where local farmers bear the costs of unsafe exports, while companies upstream and downstream in the global food value chain continue to profit.
That European companies push the costs of their failure to address human rights risks on to the very people that are exposed to the pesticides can never be part of a sustainable business model. Such an arrangement is both unjust and flawed, particularly when more sustainable alternatives are entirely achievable, says Olof Björnsson, Programme Officer at Swedwatch and author of the report.
Swedwatch calls on companies and EU policymakers to take decisive action: ban the export of pesticides prohibited within the EU, strengthen HREDD frameworks to cover entire value chains, and accelerate investment in agroecological farming.
Key recommendations to main duty bearers
European policymakers should:
✔️Ban the export of pesticides that are prohibited for use within the EU.
✔️Introduce binding HREDD legislation to cover entire value chains, both upstream and downstream.
✔️Strengthen and fund research into areas like agroecology, organic farming and sustainable pest management. Support initiatives to develop the use of these techniques – especially in low- and middle-income countries.
European pesticide producers should:
✔️Stop offloading the responsibility for failed HREDD onto farmers and urgently phase out the production and sale of harmful pesticides.
European food companies should:
✔️Conduct risk-based HREDD by prioritizing the most severe impacts connected to pesticides – across the supply chain.
✔️Implement responsible contracting practices to ensure the cost of failed HREDD measures is not passed on to farmers.
Full recommendations in the report.
Importing countries taking actions
In June 2025, the Kenyan government took bold action by banning 77 highly hazardous pesticides and restricting more than 200 others – a significant milestone in protecting people and ecosystems. Yet Swedwatch warns that responsibility must not fall solely on importing countries.
Kenya’s decision shows real leadership, but it also highlights a failure on the part of European companies and the states in which they are based. It should never be up to affected countries to clean up the consequences of Europe’s harmful exports. EU-based companies and policymakers must ensure that no banned pesticides are produced or exported — anywhere, says Alice Blondel, Director at Swedwatch.
People will pick up a tomato and eat it without washing it (…). Cancer is a major risk related to these chemicals.
Everyone is blaming each other. But the problem is not the farmers, the problem is the companies.
If someone would refuse to do the spraying he would lose his job immediately. There are many others who would be willing to do the job instead.
You mix the chemicals and see what happens. You spray and then you trust in god.
We have never had an incident with the chemicals, but one of my workers were tested and was found to have traces of pesticides in his blood.
We know about the cancers. But we have no choice.