The unsafe use of pesticides is becoming a major concern, ranging from negative impacts on the environment, to health of the farmers and residue effects as a result of chemical residue from consumption by the consumers. The main concern is the rising health impact on the farmers, especially among the aging group. One of its effects is respiratory disease, which is observed among the older farmers. This is mainly caused by poor handling of plant protection products. Many of these farmers are not trained or properly informed by input suppliers, who are only interested in selling rather than educating.

The issue of chemical pesticides should be treated as a public health concern, especially in the rural communities where crop production is intensive
Also, this issue is complicated by agrochemical companies who only use labels in the English language (whereas the biggest users of their products are rural dwellers who only understand indigenous languages). Thus, there is a need for regulators to act or respond swiftly. It is vital that agrochemical companies provide extension services to farmers to educate them on good handling of crop protection products. Also, corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes should incorporate distribution of free personal protection equipment (PPE) to smallholder farmers in order to reduce the risk of inhalation and body contact. Furthermore, stakeholders must assess the impact of chemical pesticides, especially in developing countries, on the environment and ensure that measures are genuinely put in place to reduce them. These should be communicated to all relevant stakeholders in the sector.

The issue of chemical pesticides should be treated as a public health concern, especially in the rural communities where crop production is intensive. Food security can only be achieved when a farmers' health is secured and there are no threats to his or her livelihood. We need to be more proactive in ensuring that our ecosystem remains at equilibrium at all times.

Yours-in-service,

Babatunde

In his weekly column Letter to my Farmers, Babatunde Olarewaju writes about personal experiences and insights on farming, curated through working with smallholder farmers in Africa. Last week's letter is available here.


First aid training with Smallholder Farmers in Jigawa State.


A value chain study at Maiduguri, Borno State.