Assessment of safety practices and farmers behaviors adopted when handling pesticides in rural Kano state, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: With the global population expected to reach 9billion people by 2050, current agro economy practices are expected to exacerbate human health threat, environmental and land pressures.Feeding the majority of the world population is challenging and the potential presence of using agrochemicals must be investigated to guarantee consumer chemical safety.To overcome this challenge, there is an urgent need to invest in innovative solutions for food production. Objective: This study assesses safety practices and farmer’s behaviors adopted when handling pesticides in Kano State, Nigeria. Methods: A structure questionnaire was developed focusing on sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge and experience of adverse health effects related to pesticide use, details of work practices and an inventory of pesticides used on the farm.Of the 400 copies of questionnaire administered 392 copies representing 98% of the administered questionnaires were retrieved and found useable. Findings: The result showed that less than half of these farmers who make use of pesticides protect themselves by wearing mask, boot or impermeable clothes, 72.6% of the respondents use stock in mixing pesticides, 17.7% made use of their bare hands while 9.7% use other methods, In terms of what they do after applying pesticides 70.4% wash their hands with soap and water, 25.4% claimed that they wash their hands with waters only, 29.1% store pesticide in their rooms, 38.5% stored it outside house while 32.5% of the respondents stored pesticides inside house, 47.0% of the respondents dispose pesticides containers by throwing it in open field, 38.7% throw it in dustbin while 14.2% returns the containers to the seller. Interpretation: There is need to provide cautionary tales for researchers, various stakeholders, and decision-makers to agree on the data needed to build confidence in using new methods for specific purposes.Confidence building measures can have the potential to play an increasing role in screening for hazardous properties, prioritizing chemicals for further testing, identifying safer alternatives, assessing environmental media, improving emergency response, and, overall, providing greater protection of public health and the environment.Also, pesticide regulations on farmers should be enforced in a way that will protect public health and those who are being exposed outside of regulations.