Use of chemical pesticides in fields: well water is undrinkable and dams heavily contaminated

2023-11-14 09:23:40

• According to a study conducted by the CNRST and the IRSAT1

• Carried out in market gardening and cotton areas

• Serious threats to healthy and sustainable food

L’Extensive use of chemical pesticides in fields poses serious threats to healthy and sustainable diets. This is the conclusion of a study dealing with the need to reduce or even abandon the use of synthetic chemical pesticides in agriculture for more viable and sustainable farming practices. The study was conducted by a multidisciplinary team (agro-pedologist, agronomist specializing in cotton, sociologist, technician specializing in quality control) coordinated by the National Center for Scientific and Technological Research and the Institute for Research in Applied Sciences and Technologies. (CNRST/IRSAT1).

She was sponsored by the African Institute for Economic and Social Development-Agri Service-African Training Center/Burkina Faso (Inades-Formation Burkina). This study was initiated as part of the “Alimenterre Conscience Campaign for advocacy in favor of reducing the use of synthetic chemical pesticides in agriculture” and carried out with the financial support of the following structures: MISEREOR, Broederlijk Delen, Cnabio, campaign partners.

It focuses on areas with high market gardening and cotton production in Burkina Faso, notably the North, the Central Plateau, the Boucle du Mouhoun, the Hauts-Bassins, the Centre-North and the Centre. The study combined documentary research, documentation of the facts and mechanisms that maintain the systems observed, questionnaire surveys, interviews with resource people and analyzes of soil, water and crop samples, in August 2022, during the rainy season.

In total, 210 producers in both cotton and market gardening areas were surveyed at a rate of 30 producers per locality. 14 non-formal sellers of chemical pesticides and 4 large formal companies existing in Bobo-Dioulasso and Ouagadougou (SAPHYTO, PROPHYMA, SENEFURA and Faso plante) were selected for interviews. Other formal companies have not responded favorably. 70 consumers (as many women as men) were surveyed by questionnaire according to a random choice.

It appears that Burkina Faso does not have a phytosanitary production industry. Rather, there is a formulation and packaging industry. The country imports enormous quantities of pesticides which result in the outflow of several currencies. This is how from 2015 to 2021, official annual imports of 4,000 to 7,000 tonnes of pesticides (in the form of commercial formulation) per year were recorded, with an annual value of 9 to 30 billion FCFA.

Growers not only use doses that are too high to treat their crops, but the vast majority do so without adequate personal protection. In the cotton growing area, most producers use a muffler (often reused) and gloves during treatments, but 10 to 20% of cotton producers work without any personal protection. The situation is much worse in market gardening areas, where, depending on the area, between 35% and 80% of producers do not wear any personal protective equipment during phytosanitary treatments.

Market garden products contaminated by several pesticides

During the rainy season, few vegetables are grown. However, samples from different market gardening areas show that the level of pesticide residues on most vegetables far exceeded the MRL. On pepper, residues of 5 different pesticides, which are not approved for use in Europe, were found, and this, in concentrations much higher than the MRL.

Well water is unsafe to drink and dams are heavily contaminated. Without exception, well water was contaminated with a cocktail of pesticides. The samples revealed residues of 3 to 6 pesticides banned in the EU per well, leading to accumulated concentrations between 8 and 30 μg/L in well water. The limits for drinking water are therefore exceeded between 16 and 60 times! Dam water is also contaminated by several pesticides. Substances found have acute and long-term toxicity to the aquatic environment. Mevinphos and Terbuphos are substances that are also very dangerous for human health, bees and birds.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult for health services to establish the link between diseases and pesticide use. This makes it difficult to effectively raise awareness of the dangers posed by these chemical pesticides. However, the high presence of certain pesticides likely to be carcinogenic such as diuron, glyphosate and propargite in water and food can really threaten the health of producers and more broadly Burkinabe citizens.

Most consumers are aware of the danger of chemical pesticides. However, their perception of the level of danger of these pesticides differs from one locality to another. Although some consumers buy organic produce, most believe that washing vegetables with soap or even bleach is sufficient to remove pesticides.

Moumouni SIMPORE

Boxed

What do you give pesticides?

La FAO (2003) defines pesticides as “any substance or combination of substances which is intended to repel, destroy or combat pests, including vectors of human or animal diseases, undesirable species of plants or animals causing damage or otherwise being harmful during production, the processing, storage, transportation or marketing of food, agricultural products, wood and wood products, animal feed, or which may be administered to animals to combat insects, arachnids and other endo or ectoparasites “.