Seeds of struggle : germplasm, biocapital, and the quest for viable agricultural futures in Kenya’s Pyrethrum revival

Introduced to Kenya in 1928 under British colonial rule, pyrethrum was cultivated for the production of insecticides and quickly became integral to the machinery of imperial capitalism and colonial extraction. By independence in 1963, pyrethrum had become a leading export crop, only to spiral into decline in the 1990s amid the rise of synthetic pyrethroids, state mismanagement, and volatile global markets. Today, efforts to revive the industry are framed as “home-grown” innovation and reposition pyrethrum as an eco-friendly alternative to synthetic pesticides, with pyrethrin now sought after in global organic markets. Drawing on ethnographic research and archival materials, this paper explores how the revival of pyrethrum has become a contested arena for competing visions of scientific and agricultural sovereignty. Parastatal bodies, private companies, and international actors vie for access to - and control over - genetic resources cultivated over decades within former colonial and postcolonial state institutions. I argue that the industry’s revival bears toxic promises: cloaked in the language of green futures and home-grown development, yet still deeply entangled in the extractive plantation logics underpinning global agribusiness. These seeds of struggle are both agronomic and deeply epistemic, raising critical questions about who defines agricultural viability, whose knowledge counts, and how sovereignty can be sustained amid the pressures of global capital. Can the very germplasm once celebrated as Kenya’s agrarian pride be reclaimed for ecological futures that are genuinely viable, just, and locally grounded?