The status of Effluent treatment and safe waste disposal of toxic and obsolete pestcides under the Stolkholm convention

Abstract

Kenya strives to move along the path of sustainable development to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the resource base to meet those of future generations. However, the development process in the country is at a stage at which land use interests such as agriculture, tourism, ranching, wildlife management, forestry, water conservation, mining, manufacture development are often conflicting. This is excercabated by the mismatch between population and economic growth together with inadequate policies governing land use. Additionally, existing policies and programmes are either poorly implemented or lack harmonization and coordination. These inadequacies especially those governing management of the resource base have resulted in widespread environmental degradation and subsequent threat to ecosystem health. Some of the threats to ecosystem health can be attributed to poor effluent treatment and disposal of toxic waste and obsolete pesticides (commonly referred to as persistant organic pollutants, POPs) in the environment. These pollutants include polychlorinated piphyeyls (PCBs), aldrin diedrin, DOT, endrin, chlordane, hexachlorobenzene, minex, toxaphene, heptachlor, dioxins and furans.