Synthetic Pesticide Use In Africa

A UN report presented to the UN Human Rights Council in 2017 recognized that, “although pesticide use has been correlated with a rise in food production, it has had catastrophic impacts" on human health and the environment. The report acknowledged that “increased food production has not succeeded in eliminating hunger worldwide because of the many interacting factors involved. Reliance on hazardous pesticides is a short-term solution that undermines the rights to adequate food and health for present and future generations." It is hoped that the knowledge available in Synthetic Pesticide Use in Africa: Impact on People, Animals, and the Environment will both enlighten the reader to present serious concerns on the use of synthetic pesticides, and motivate society to make the changes necessary for the sustainable production of safe, nutritious, and affordable food for the anticipated 9.6 billion inhabitants of this Earth in 2050. Key Features: • Explains the relationship of synthetic pesticides to escalating noncommunicable human and animal diseases in Africa and developing countries. • Discusses the impact of the herbicide glyphosate on the health of humans, animals, and the environment. • Reviews the disease causing mode of action of glyphosate and other synthetic pesticides on nutrient density and human and animal bodies. • Warns of the special vulnerability of children to synthetic pesticide toxicity. • Recommends needed legal initiatives to use synthetic pesticides more judiciously. The book is divided into seven (7) sections: I. General Impact, explains the general impact of synthetic pesticides on the African people, their animals, and environment. II. Human Health, covers the impact of synthetic pesticides on the human body, while III, Children’s Health, focuses on the special vulnerability of children to synthetic pesticides. IV. Animal Health describes the synthetic pesticide threats to animal production and sustainability. V. Environmental Health presents the threat of synthetic pesticides to soil microbiota and sustainable remediations. VI. Control Strategies discusses biologically-based alternatives to synthetic pesticides. Finally, VII. Reglatory Control presents some legal initiatives to combat the misuse of synthetic pesticides.

The book, "Pesticides - Use and Misuse and their Impact in the Environment", contains relevant information on diverse pesticides encountered in both anthropogenic and natural environments. This book provides valuable information about the toxicity of several agrochemicals that can negatively influence the health of humans and ecosystems.

A UN report presented to the UN Human Rights Council in 2017 recognized that, “although pesticide use has been correlated with a rise in food production, it has had catastrophic impacts" on human health and the environment. The report acknowledged that “increased food production has not succeeded in eliminating hunger worldwide because of the many interacting factors involved. Reliance on hazardous pesticides is a short-term solution that undermines the rights to adequate food and health for present and future generations." It is hoped that the knowledge available in Synthetic Pesticide Use in Africa: Impact on People, Animals, and the Environment will both enlighten the reader to present serious concerns on the use of synthetic pesticides, and motivate society to make the changes necessary for the sustainable production of safe, nutritious, and affordable food for the anticipated 9.6 billion inhabitants of this Earth in 2050. Key Features: • Explains the relationship of synthetic pesticides to escalating noncommunicable human and animal diseases in Africa and developing countries. • Discusses the impact of the herbicide glyphosate on the health of humans, animals, and the environment. • Reviews the disease causing mode of action of glyphosate and other synthetic pesticides on nutrient density and human and animal bodies. • Warns of the special vulnerability of children to synthetic pesticide toxicity. • Recommends needed legal initiatives to use synthetic pesticides more judiciously. The book is divided into seven (7) sections: I. General Impact, explains the general impact of synthetic pesticides on the African people, their animals, and environment. II. Human Health, covers the impact of synthetic pesticides on the human body, while III, Children’s Health, focuses on the special vulnerability of children to synthetic pesticides. IV. Animal Health describes the synthetic pesticide threats to animal production and sustainability. V. Environmental Health presents the threat of synthetic pesticides to soil microbiota and sustainable remediations. VI. Control Strategies discusses biologically-based alternatives to synthetic pesticides. Finally, VII. Reglatory Control presents some legal initiatives to combat the misuse of synthetic pesticides.

The global biodiversity and climate emergencies demand transformative changes to human activities. For example, food production relies on synthetic, industrial and non-sustainable products for managing pests, weeds and diseases of crops. Sustainable farming requires approaches to managing these agricultural constraints that are more environmentally benign and work with rather than against nature. Increasing pressure on synthetic products has reinvigorated efforts to identify alternative pest management options, including plant-based solutions that are environmentally benign and can be tailored to different farmers’ needs, from commercial to small holder and subsistence farming. Botanical insecticides and pesticidal plants can offer a novel, effective and more sustainable alternative to synthetic products for controlling pests, diseases and weeds. This Special Issue reviews and reports the latest developments in plant-based pesticides from identification of bioactive plant chemicals, mechanisms of activity and validation of their use in horticulture and disease vector control. Other work reports applications in rice weeds, combination biopesticides and how chemistry varies spatially and influences the effectiveness of botanicals in different locations. Three reviews assess wider questions around the potential of plant-based pest management to address the global challenges of new, invasive and established crop pests and as-yet underexploited pesticidal plants.

Agricultural pests and diseases increased with the intensification of agricultural production resulting in a worldwide increase in pesticide use. The rate of increase was greatest in the developing countries, although the bulk of pesticides is still used in the developed countries. The heavy reliance on chemical pesticides is mainly due to the fact that, in the post-World War II era, synthetic pesticides seemed to provide a quick and easy solution to pests and diseases. Little was known then about their adverce, even dangeorus, sid-effects and externalities on human welfare and the environment. When problems associated with pesticide use became obvious and critical, research on alternative methods of pest management was speeded up and has yielded a new approach to pest control, the integrated pest management (IPM) concept which combines several pest control techniques, including adapted crop management practices, and biological, mechanical and chemical pest control measures. By using non-chemical as well as chemical control measures. IPM reduces the extent of use of pesticides. However, although IPM has proved to be successful in several instances and in different areas of the world, it has not been widely adopted by farmers in developing countries. It is suggested here that an important reason why IPM is not widely in practice in developing countries (the focus of this report), is that the current economic environment and government policies related to pesticides, and to pest management in general, induce an excessive (above the socially optimal level) chemical pesticide use. It is argued here that, the excessive and non-judicious use of pesticides being always associated with negative externalities, governments' interventions through taxation and regulations are needed to minimize these adverse effects. The paper analyzes the pesticide-related policies of a large number of developing countries (pesticides in crop protection and public health uses) using a conceptual framework which distinguishes between price and non-price factors that encourage the execessive and non-judicious use of pesticides. The price factors include all forms of subsidies provided for pesticide imports, local manufacture and use, e.g. preferential foreign exhange rates for imports, reduced or exempted taxes on imports, sales and domestic manufacture, provision of free pesticides, etc.; while the non-price factors include excessive investments in pesticide research and farmers' training in pesticide use while neglecting alternatives, extension focusing on pesticides, lack of information to officials at the policy level and to farmers on alternative pest management technology, etc. On the findings of this report is that the majority of the developing countries are providing financial incentives to farmers to use pesticides and are directly and indirectly subsidizing pesticide imports, domestic manufacture, sales ans use with a combination of mechanisms. Similarly, a number of non-price policies encourage pesticide use in some developing countries where relatively little emphasis is placed on research, extension and farmers' training in IPM as against the pronounced emphasis on chemical pesticides.

Although chemical pesticides safeguard crops and improve farm productivity, they are increasingly feared for their potentially dangerous residues and their effects on ecosystems. The Future Role of Pesticides explores the role of chemical pesticides in the decade ahead and identifies the most promising opportunities for increasing the benefits and reducing the risks of pesticide use. The committee recommends R&D, program, and policy initiatives for federal agriculture authorities and other stakeholders in the public and private sectors. This book presents clear overviews of key factors in chemical pesticide use, including: Advances in genetic engineering not only of pest-resistant crops but also of pests themselves. Problems in pesticide useâ€"concerns about the health of agricultural workers, the ability of pests to develop resistance, issues of public perception, and more. Impending shifts in agricultureâ€"globalization of the economy, biological "invasions" of organisms, rising sensitivity toward cross-border environmental issues, and other trends. With a model and working examples, this book offers guidance on how to assess various pest control strategies available to today's agriculturist.

Now recognized as one of the most influential books of the twentieth century, Silent Spring exposed the destruction of wildlife through the widespread use of pesticides Rachel Carson's Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. Despite condemnation in the press and heavy-handed attempts by the chemical industry to ban the book, Carson succeeded in creating a new public awareness of the environment which led to changes in government and inspired the ecological movement. It is thanks to this book, and the help of many environmentalists, that harmful pesticides such as DDT were banned from use in the US and countries around the world. This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Lord Shackleton, a preface by World Wildlife Fund founder Julian Huxley, and an afterword by Carson's biographer Linda Lear.

The objective of this guidance on fulfilling the reporting requirements of Article 12 of the Code of Conduct is to obtain a regular flow of information on its observance to strengthen implementation of the Code, to provide data for its future revisions and improvement, and, most importantly, to improve the protection of human health and the environment related to pesticide use and management in agriculture and public health. The guidance was prepared in compliance with the FAO/WHO International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management, which sets out a framework and voluntary standards of conduct for stakeholders in pesticide management, in particular governments and the pesticide industry. Endorsed by FAO, WHO, governments, pesticide producers, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders, the Code outlines their shared responsibility to promote best practice and risk reduction throughout the pesticide life cycle. The Code of Conduct thereby establishes the commitment and moral obligation of stakeholders to comply with the agreed standards of conduct and to assume their respective responsibilities. These include governments’ responsibility to promote pesticide risk reduction and the industry’s responsibility to produce products that are adapted to the context of their use and to provide stewardship of those products throughout their life cycle. This guidance was prepared with the support of the FAO/WHO Joint Meeting on Pesticide Management (JMPM) to provide further guidance on the provisions of the Code of Conduct related to its observance and implementation. It reflects the joint FAO/WHO approach to pesticide management, thus addressing the topic in both agricultural and public health settings.