Kenya industry

The Africa/Middle-East Working Group represents Crop Protection Industry Associations in Cameroun, Cote d Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco and Syria. 

Renewable and unconventionaL eneigy sources are used more extensively in other parts of the world than in the United States. Tables 12 and 13 document the significance of hydroelectric power throughout industrialized and developing economies. Biofuels are also a significant contributor to certain economies, with proportional contributions as follows Kenya, 75% India, 50% China, 33% Brazil, 25% and Scandanavia, 10% (5,21). Peat is a significant source of eneigy for Russia, Finland, and Ireland. 

The need for products to wash our clothes is met by industry to the tune of around 22 million tonnes of chemicals per year. In some countries the use of laundry soap still outranks detergents, such as in Kenya and Nigeria, but in most countries detergents now dominate, exclusively so in most European countries and North America. Yet even in India almost a million tonnes of laundry soap are still manufactured, although even here the amount of detergent now exceeds 1.5 million tonnes a year. 

Manufacture. Sodium carbonate is an important product of the alkali industry. It is obtained naturally by the purification of sal soda which is found in the water of lakes Magadi of Kenya in East Africa, Owens of California in the USA etc. Industrially it is obtained by the Solvay process (ammonia-soda process) sodium chloride solution is saturated by ammonia which is forced into the solution. Carbon dioxide gas is then blown into the solution to form the bicarbonate (NaHCO 3) and ammonium chloride (NH<,.C1). When the bicarbonate is separated and heated, water and carbon dioxide are driven off and sodium carbonate is obtained. The ammonium chloride is mixed with milk of lime and distilled to form calcium chloride and ammonia solution. The recovered ammonia is used repeatedly. 

Eucalyptus citriodora Hook f (Lemon gum) The oil of the fresh leaves of E. citriodora (2.2-8.3%), a tree introduced into Kenya from Australia (68), has been well researched in Kenya. Results indicate that there are two chemical varieties that were introduced. The chief essential oil constituents of one variety are citronellal (65-88%), citronellol (2-25%) and isopulegol (2-19%). In constrast, the second variety has as its major essential oil consitutents citronellol (32-52%), citronellal (38-59%) and 1,8-cineole (2-19%) (68,69). The essential oil is regarded as a perfumery oil. This plant is the second most commercially important Eucalyptus species in the essential oil trade and is only second to E. smithii Baker (69). The aromatic oil is used in soaps, creams and lotions due to its desirable odor properties, and as with many other essential oils is also used extensively in many technical preparations to mask other industrial malodors. A highly active mosquito repellent compound, p-menthane 3,8-diol has been isolated from the waste water of distillation of E. citriodora. There are now many commercial mosquito repellents based on this waste water (70-73). 

Clausena anisata (Willd.) Benth. Semidried leaves of C. anisata from Kenya yielded an oil (1.5 %) which was rich in anethole (33). The plant is native to tropical Africa and has an anise-like odor. The oil from other conntries has a yield of 3.5 to 8% and contains anethole as the main component (75-90%) as well as anisaldehyde, anisketone, estragole and a-elemene. Extracts of the leaves and the essential oils are used in the bakery and confectionery industries (34)... 

Plectranthus marrubioides Kenya imports all the camphor used in the local industry. The camphor content in the essential oil of P. marrubioides would be a good source for use in the pharmacentical industry, especially for preparatiorrs such as local anesthetics, remedies for rheirmatic and mnscular pairts and for respiratory conditions. These potential nses justify cultivation of this plant on a commercial scale. The plant is easily propagated from cnttings. It can withstand adverse weather conditions and can also co-exist with other plants as an rmdergrowth in forests (66). 

Commiphora holtziana Engl. ssp. holtziana (Comiphora erythrea) (Opopanax, Sweet myrrh) E Gums are used as acaricides and insect repellants. Oleo-gum resins could be used in Kenya in the perfume, soap and cosmetic industry as well as food and beverage industry (51, 52)... 

Naftali Muriithi (Kenyatta University, Kenya) has recognised the potential value in municipal waste as a resource. With increasing population, waste is also increasing rapidly. However this waste is difficult to recycle because it tends to be very heterogeneous in nature. It may be a mix of domestic and industrial materials and can also contain medical waste. A specific opportunity is to make use of nutrients present in biomass ash from domestic waste. Key factors to make this work will include more proactive government policy and constructing the right infinstructure. 

There are research institutions which have the primary mandates to undertake research and development of traditional medicines. Examples of such institutions include the Institute of Traditional Medicine (Mali), Centre for Medicinal Plant Research (Ghana), National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD, Nigeria), Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kenya), and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (South Africa). 

Other challenges facing water quality in Kenya include climate change and variability, industrial and municipal wastes, agricultural practices and deforestation. These have been highlighted to give the magnitude of the problem. 

In Kenya, an onslaught of wildlife mortality has recently received media attention. Lions, hyenas, jackals, vultures and other birds of prey have perished by consuming carcasses baited with poison. Indiscriminate use of poisons and pestieides, particularly in response to human-wildlife conflict, are taking their toll on Kenya s charismatic wildlife, which also has serious repercussions for the tourist industry. The carbamate insecticide carboftiran is suspected in many of the poisonings." There is also coneem for human... 

My own experience of working in various chemical industries and consultancy organisations for the erection, commissioning, operation, modernisation, and diversification in India, Kenya, Thailand, and Indonesia, and visits to industrial exhibitions in India as well as discussions with various vendors of equipment during my professional career. 

Paul Wambua Department of Manufacturing, Industrial and Textile Engineering, Moi University, PO Box 3900, Eldoret 30100, Kenya... 

Collinson, C., 2001. The business Costs of Ethical Supply chain Management Kenya Flower Industry Case Study. Natural Resource Institute, Kent. 

Abila, R.O. and E.G. Jansen, 1997. From local to global markets. The fish exporting and fishmeal industries of Lake Victoria -Structure, strategies and socio-economic impact in Kenya. Socio-economics of the Lake Victoria... 

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