Understanding farmers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices of pesticide use in Nepal: synthesis of a systematic literature review

Abstract

Literature suggests a deeper understanding of farmers’ knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of pesticide use in agriculture, especially in developing countries, to identify interventions to reduce pesticide use in agriculture. In this paper, we thus performed a systematic review of literature on KAP of farmers on chemical pesticide use in Nepal through a systematic literature search on Scopus web repository published between 2000 and 2021. We got 114 publications initially, and with a well-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, we finally reviewed 29 articles for data extraction. The results indicate (i) an inadequate KAP of farmers on pesticide use. For example, three in four farmers were found to wash their clothes after pesticide spray. One in four farmers wore boots and only one in ten farmers wore glasses during pesticide spray. Approximately 54% of farmers take a shower after pesticide spray and just one in four farmers bury empty pesticide containers in the soil. Prior studies identified that the lack of awareness and training on the handling practices is the major cause of pesticide misuse; and through formal education and introducing integrated pest management strategies for controlling pests could reduce pesticide misuse. Another notable finding is the lack of KAP theoretical understanding in the prior publications. Many studies in Nepal studied much less on ‘attitude” but much higher on “practice” of pesticide usage. We thus propose a new KAP study framework for future research to understand ground-level behavioral change and improve the effectiveness of the KAP-related programs and interventions.