OF PESTICIDES AND HERBICIDES

We cannot help but share the concerns recently expressed by officials of the Environmental Protection Agency in Sunyani, about the proliferation of pesticides and herbicides in the country.

As published in our issue of Tuesday, May 20, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Directorate of the EPA gave the warning at a seminar for pesticide inspectors of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

It also emerged that most of the chemicals are sold by unauthorised people operating under very dangerous conditions. Some of them hawk them from wheelbarrows and in vans that hop from one market to the other.

Furthermore, it was pointed out that some of the highly poisonous chemicals are sold alongside food items.

Another concern expressed was that in a bid to protect their crops, some farmers have resorted to using large quantities of agro-chemicals, more than the prescribed dosage, in the mistaken view that the more they use, the better the results.

Others are said to be using the chemicals indiscriminately, in the mistaken belief that any pesticide can be used for any crop.

But it is an old problem and it was pointed out at the seminar that in a bid to regulate usage, the government promulgated the Pesticides Control and Management Act in 1996, which has become part of the EPA Act.

In our view, what makes the situation even more worrying is that it is likely that many of the people who eventually end up handling the chemicals are not only as untrained as the sellers, but also illiterate or semi-literate.

Obviously this means that even where there are instructions on the packaging, it is meaningless to them.

Clearly the danger of abuse of agro-chemicals in wrong hands is very real. Indeed, this may be responsible for some of the inexplicable deaths in communities where these chemicals are sold by unauthorised people and used by untrained farmers.

We commend the organisers of the seminar, the Plant Protection and Regulatory Service of the Agriculture Ministry and the EPA.

However, we believe that going by the concerns expressed, a lot more needs to be done, and on a sustainable basis, in order to drive home the message that agro-chemicals should be handled or used only by trained people.

We see the urgent need for a sustained public education campaign. We also see the urgent need for the two agencies to rope in a third partner in their efforts: local FM stations and community radio stations. These have very wide audiences, notably in the farming areas.

We suggest that the EPA and the Ministry should collaborate with the broadcast media and create simple warning messages and jingles that radio stations can use regularly.

The radio stations should see it as part of their community service or social responsibility to play these warnings about the dangers of agro-chemicals in wrong hands.