BY THE ARUSHA NEWS REPORTER
A study covering Arusha and four other regions in Tanzania has uncovered widespread gaps on pesticide safety training, with fewer than one in four surveyed farmers receiving formal instruction on reducing health risks.
Published in the professional, Discover Public Health recently, the researchers interviewed 528 farmers, 102 pesticide retailers and 64 healthcare providers across Arusha, Iringa, Morogoro, Mwanza and Shinyanga.
“The study reveals significant gaps in pesticide risk-reduction knowledge, training and practice,” the researchers wrote.
Lead author, Raphael Mwezi, affiliated with the Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority and the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, conducted the research with colleagues, including Jones Kapeleka and Rosevera Kombo.
Across the five regions, 58.3 per cent of farmers scored poorly on pesticide safety knowledge. Some 45.4 per cent reported leaving empty containers on-site while 30.9 per cent burned them.
The healthcare findings were equally concerning: 93.5 per cent of surveyed providers lacked formal training in managing pesticide poisoning.
The researchers recommended setting in place practical farmer training programmes, stronger enforcement and improved pesticide waste disposal regimens. The figures represent the combined sample, rather than Arusha alone.
