A Civil Society Organisation, has called on the Nigerian government to enact laws to caution against the importation of pesticides to avoid the increase in food insecurity.
The Lead Coordinator, Alliance for Action on Pesticide in Nigeria, AAPN/Programme Manager Heinrich Boell Stiftung Nigeria, Donald Ikenna made the call during a media parley on the CSO Review of the NAFDAC pesticide Registration Regulation, 2021 and Gaps in pesticide legislation in Nigeria.
Ikenna said “It is no longer news that pesticide is a major public health and environmental threat in Nigeria and the world at large.
“Every year, over 385 million people are killed as a result of pesticide food they eat; unfortunately most of these deaths are happening in Africa, Nigeria, and the global south. Nigeria does not have any data as regards the number of people that are infected or that die as a result of pesticide-related deaths. The only figures we report are what we get in the media. We know the most popular case is the case we have where about 270 people died in Benue state as a result of Endosulfan (classified as a Highly Hazardous pesticide active ingredient) in the community where they fish, get water for bathing and drinking and over 270 people died in the communities river.”
“more than 90% of Nigerian farmers do not know the chemical they apply on their farms, and consumers do not know the chemical in their food” Ikenna said
Ikenna explained that the vast majority of farming communities and villages across the counties do not have functional hospitals and pharmacies, but have several unregistered and untrained agrochemical stalls.
The President of the Yam Farmers Association of Nigeria, Professor Simon Irtwange said there should be a bill that should deal with issues of deregistered products, banned pesticides and the people that bring them into the country.
“We want a bill that allows individuals to take manufacturers of these pesticides to court and claim damages. If we use your pesticide and as a result of it, I get cancer I should get a legal remedy as they do in America and other countries,” he added.
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