LAGOS, Nigeria (Voice of Naija) A landmark study published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health has found that nearly half of the world’s 934 million farmers and farmworkers are unintentionally poisoned by pesticides every year.
According to The Guardian, the research commissioned by the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) draws on data from 139 countries collected between 2006 and 2023 and estimates between 402 and 433 million cases of acute pesticide poisoning annually.
That figure excludes the estimated 84 million children working in agriculture who are considered even more vulnerable to toxic chemicals than adults.
The burden, according to the study, falls most heavily on the Global South.
According to The Eastleigh Voice, the highest rates of poisoning are in Southern Asia, followed by Southeast Asia and then East Africa.
Burkina Faso recorded the worst national figures of any country on Earth, with nearly 84% of its farmers and farmworkers experiencing acute poisoning each year.
Deaths from pesticide poisoning are estimated at approximately 11,000 globally each year and nearly 60% of those fatalities, according to PAN’s data, occur in India alone.
Dr Sheila Willis, Head of International Programmes at Pesticide Action Network UK, said the findings demand an urgent response.
“Meticulous new research has revealed that nearly 50% of the world’s farmers and farm workers suffer from acute pesticide poisoning each year.
Systemic failures in data collection have masked this global public health crisis.
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Underreporting remains widespread, driven by limited access to healthcare and a lack of clinical training or systems to recognise or record pesticide poisoning,” she said, as quoted by PAN UK.
According to Natural News, which also reported on the study, Jayakumar Chelaton, executive director of PAN India, added: “Behind these staggering numbers are farmers, workers and families paying a terrible human price for pesticide exposure.”
PAN UK says pesticide use has continued to grow despite decades of awareness about the dangers, with 3.8 million tonnes used globally in 2023, a doubling since 1990.
Farmers and farmworkers are mainly exposed during preparation and application of pesticides, as well as through contact with treated crops, contaminated equipment, and clothing.
Commonly observed symptoms include headaches, nausea, vomiting, and skin rashes.
Nigeria’s farming population is one of the largest in Africa, and pesticide use has grown significantly with the expansion of commercial agriculture.
Nigeria’s rural health infrastructure- the clinics, diagnostic capacity, and trained personnel needed to identify and record pesticide poisoning remains critically underfunded.
This means Nigerian farmers may be suffering acute poisoning at rates the data never captures.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) must treat this global study as a call to urgently audit pesticide use and enforce existing regulations.
