Editorial - Pesticides News 62

Over the past 20 years, PAN participants worldwide have drawn attention to the serious problems in developing countries related to pesticide hazards. The plight of poor farmers could not be better illustrated than by those of the cotton growing area of northern Ghana described in the first article in this issue. They are stuck not only on a pesticides treadmill but on a poverty treadmill: the latter a direct cause and consequence of the former. The costs are enormous, not only in cash terms for farmers themselves, but also in the depletion of human, social and environmental capital of the region and the country at large. Perhaps the most telling point is the lethargy and hopelessness of the farmers caught in the cycle of debt and ill-health with no hope for their future or that of their children. 

Organic cotton initiatives in Africa are reviewed in this issue and the need for expansion of this type of project is given added weight by the Ghana story. These initiatives, some of which PAN UK has been involved in for almost ten years, can bring improved income, health and environment for those participating and benefits can also extend much more broadly, as the latest news from Koussanar in Senegal illustrates. There, the organic cotton project has expanded into small-scale processing and many other income generating projects. Staying in Senegal, the Farmer Field School approach to Integrated Pest Management is proving to be of great interest to farmers in the cotton growing area in the south-east of the country who have benefited in several ways from the training undertaken by PAN Africa.

Legal challenges to agro-chemical companies are reported on, from DuPont in the United States and Monsanto in Canada. In Florida, a claim for damages against DuPont for exposure to Benlate during pregnancy was successful. The baby was born with no eyes. Further claims are pending and the results are awaited with interest. However, a new interpretation of the law under the Bush administration will make it much more difficult for farmers to sue manufacturers when their products fail to perform as promised.

The EU review process is proceeding apace: 320 pesticides were withdrawn under the process in July and a further 90 will be withdrawn at the end of this year. It is disappointing that some very toxic pesticides have not been totally withdrawn. The process makes the need for alternatives all the more pressing and the Advisory Committee on Pesticides, the government pesticides advisory body in the UK, has produced a draft report on the issue and examples of benign approaches to insect and weed control are described in this issue.

Unfortunately, it is sometimes the case that dangerous pesticides must be used in the absence of other control methods for reasons of cost and convenience. Having been banned worldwide for agricultural uses, DDT is still in use in Ethiopia for malaria control which protects millions of people from the deadly disease each year. Many people are concerned about its use but are unable to move to alternative methods of control which are often more expensive. 

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 62, December 2003, page 2]