The Spate Of Pesticides Use Among Rural Farmers

I have nursed the intention of examining this issue some three years ago while I was visiting my mother in the village. This urge came to a head when I listened to a colleague a few weeks ago recount how he narrowly wrest himself from the jaws of death. According to him after a persistent inexplicable loss of weight he decided to seek Healthcare whereupon he was told after several examinations and referrals that he had ingested a poisonous substance. He was however assured that it had not reached the lethal dose yet hence his condition was still under control.

It was there and then after turning the Doctor's diagnosis in his head, revealed that he was a gardener and uses a great deal of pesticides on a regular basis.

This brings into sharp focus what Bernardino Ramazzini, the father of Occupational medicine said in the 14th Century thus: ".. You should be content as a doctor if you visit a working class home and you are given a three legged stool to sit on and which is not gilded. But remember among the important questions by Hippocrates to add; what is your Occupation?

Simply put a person's occupation influences the one's health in a great way.

The National estimates put the proportion of the population engaged in crop cultivation at 58.2% suggesting more than half of the nation's population is into crop cultivation. Of this proportion an overwhelming majority are rural dwellers with a high propensity to use pesticides.

The use of pesticides in agricultural production is not a new phenomenon. It dates back to the late 50s and early 60s. Benefits of pesticides use in respect of high yields, pest and vector control and increase availability and consumption of vegetables have been extensively documented.

That being said; ideally pesticides should only be harmful to target plants /vectors but regrettably this is not so.

The development and de-agrarianization nexus which led to the dispossession of land and loss of soil fertility has given greater impetus to the use of pesticides in our rural areas. The notion that if small is good then a lot more is better is what has occasioned the abuse of pesticides in rural Ghana today in a frantic effort to increase size of farms and yield.

Starting from the 1990s WHO estimated that the burden of hazards associated with pesticides use was disproportionately borne by developing countries and among high risk groups within such countries. These high risk groups were identified as; sprayers, mixers, production workers, loaders and AGRICULTURAL FARM WORKERS.

Other sources put the death toll and chronic diseases attributable to pesticide poisoning at 1 million per year globally.

Pesticides (Organo - Chlorines) pollute tissues of every life form so no segment of society is insulated from this. It has been reported that low dose exposure is increasingly linked to human health effects such as immune suppression, reproductive abnormalities and cancer.

Some of the common and frequently reported effects are; headache, nausea, fatigue and skin and eye irritations. Pesticides residues in food and food chains have the potential of causing harm.

A study conducted in Akumadan in Ghana in 2004 reported a higher rate of miscarriages amongst women helping out on tomato farms where pesticides were being used.

Without recourse to any scientific research, a greater chunk of our rural farmers today right from preparing the land to cropping it use pesticides.

It is a common sight to behold cartons and cartons of pesticides being carried away to the rural areas by these farmers to be used on their farmlands. An informed eye can only imagine these people gleefully embracing their death.

They use these pesticides year in year out without any protective gear and guidance. Out of complacency some do not even clean up properly before eating.

It is little wonder that research has shown that contrary to the widely held notion that urban dwellers are the ones prone to chronic non - communicable diseases because of their nutrition and lifestyle; there has been a rise in the prevalence of non - communicable conditions in our rural areas.

The big question that begs answer is: Whose duty is it to give education and protection to my cousin, your cousin and our cousins?

Unfortunately the international statute that comes close to offering them any protection; Convention 184 of the ILO, has abandoned them mid sea. It has as part of its preamble categorically excluded peasants who form the core of our farmers.

In my quest to find answers I have scavenge for some information about what is being done about this looming catastrophe to our brothers in the rural areas who are ignorantly killing themselves everyday like my colleague who was shocked to be told he had drunk poison literally.

To my dismay, I only came across papers that documented the effects. That is not to say they are not useful information but that sounds like basic and a long way away from saving the lives of these farmers who feed you and me.

The glimmer of hope for the ones who feed us is the yet to be constituted Occupational Health and Safety Authority which is bringing in its wake the Occupational health and safety Policy. In the said policy, so much emphasis is place on the informal sector /economy and it is my hope and prayer that in dying embers of time they do not also come with a clause in their preamble excluding our fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters who are bending backwards and over to feed us.

Let's keep where our mouths are safe. Praying for my cousins in the villages!!!

AUTHOR: ADAM SOALE
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