Problems persist in Central America

A recent report from the Danish Agency for International Development (DANIDA) concludes that pesticide related health, environmental and economic problems remain serious in both Nicaragua and Guatemala. Douglas Murray reports.

A DANIDA study has found that while pesticide imports to Nicaragua and Guatemala declined in the 1980s, due largely to the collapse of Central American cotton production and a decade long political and economic crisis, they began to increase again by the mid 1990s as both countries expanded agricultural exports to solve their economic problems. A particularly disturbing finding in the analysis of the import data was the relatively unchanging pattern of reliance on pesticides classified by the World Health Organisation as highly toxic, or Category 1A and 1B products. These pesticides are among the most dangerous products available. In both countries, import of these products as a percentage of total pesticide imports has not changed significantly from preceding decades.
    A related finding was that while precise data on health effects remains illusive, ever more reliable estimates place the annual acute illness rate due to pesticides at somewhere in the range of 11,000-30,000 cases in Guatemala. In Nicaragua, where pesticide illness surveillance has been the focus of Danish development assistance for several years, 1,363 cases were reported in 1996 through the official health system. Using under reporting estimates from Nicaragua, a more complete estimate of annual poisonings would be roughly 10,000 (Nicaragua's population is about 4 million, and Guatemala's is nearly 10 million, making illness rates roughly comparable between the two countries).
    The study found that very little reliable data exists in either country on the long term health effects of pesticides on the Central American population. Drawing on studies done elsewhere, when combined with exposure data from Central America, the authors concluded that the long term effects of pesticides may yet become a serious health concern in the region.
    Similarly, reliable data on the environmental impact of pesticides is lacking. Several studies of pesticide residues in water and food were reviewed and the authors concluded that the environmental impact on Central America is continued heavy reliance on pesticides. This may become the source of serious problems in the future.
    The report concluded with a series of recommendations to the Danish government focused on future development assistance to these Central American countries. While good standards have been established in legislation, progress has been countered by the declining role of the state in these countries. This has resulted in personnel cuts and an increasing emphasis on export led economic growth which, in the case of agriculture, meant a potentially greater dependence on pesticides.
    On a more optimistic note, a central focus of the recommendations was on the emerging role of non governmental organisations and other groups in the region which the authors argue represent new opportunities for development assistance to future initiatives to reduce pesticide problems. Popular sector efforts in Nicaragua have become significant in relation to the pesticide problem. In Guatemala the popular sector remains quite weak after over a decade of violence and military repression, but the recent signing of the Peace Accords appears to have set the stage for a new era in which labour, environmental and other groups may yet be able to influence the development process.
    Among the specific recommendations of the report was the need to direct Danish development assistance in the agricultural sector toward greater reliance on alternative pest control strategies such as integrated pest management, and toward altering agricultural credit supports to reduce the present near exclusive reliance by Central American government and private lending institutions on pesticide based pest control methods. Support for organic production and marketing initiatives was recommended.
    The study concluded with a recognition that pesticide problem solving must be understood as occurring outside these countries as well as within if significant long term changes are to be achieved. Methods to achieve this included: international pressure to curb the production, sale and use of highly toxic, Category 1A and 1B products; pressure to alter multilateral lending institutions' policies favouring chemical intensive agricultural development strategies; support for alternative and fair trade initiatives; and support for global research and dissemination.
    DANIDA is currently funding a seven country project called PLAGSALUD, designed to address the health problems caused by pesticides in Central America. The agency is also in the process of developing a major agriculture sector support programme with Nicaragua in which the findings of this report are playing a role. DANIDA continues to pursue pesticide problem solving measures through existing development initiatives in the environmental and agricultural sectors in Central America and elsewhere.

Pesticide Problems in Nicaragua and Guatemala, and Opportunities for their Reduction, written under contract for the Danish government by Development and Equity (D&E), a Colorado based consulting cooperative specialising in technical assistance to sustainable development initiatives.

Douglas Murray works at the Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, US.

 [This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 41, September 1998, page 11]