Case study 7 Tanzania

Country: Tanzania Partner Organisation: TAPOHE Year conducted: 2010 Number of participants: 162 Location: Quang’dend, Mbuga Nyekundu, Mang’ola Barazani and Maleckchand; Karatu, Tanzania

Methodology:

This community monitoring project carried out by Tanzania Association of Public, Occupational and Environmental Health Experts (TAPOHE) used community self-surveillance templates developed by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in Asia in 2002, and followed the pesticide practices and health impacts of 162 farmers in four villages of Quang’dend, Mbuga Nyekundu, Mang’ola Barazani and Maleckchand. TAPOHE followed a slightly different approach to the other case studies in that after an initial baseline survey of 222 respondents, the team asked participating farmers to complete their own self-surveillance forms after each spray. Management teams of five community members and two school students (aged 14 – 18 years) provided support, and manually checked and compiled data from the farmers’ forms. Monthly meetings were held to synthesise results with communities and discuss results and spraying practices. Farmers were asked about their experience with the reporting and were questioned about signs and symptoms to ensure they understood their meaning. The study lasted four months and most farmers (73%) sprayed once or less per week, but a minority (18%) applied pesticides twice per week. Spraying lasted between two and ten hours at an average rate of 100 litres per hour. Since each respondent completed the questionnaire after each spraying, during the four-month surveillance period, the project analysed a total of 1,569 surveillance forms. Signs and symptoms reported by farmers reporting APP: Health symptoms were observed by all farmers. In order of frequency, symptoms included: exhaustion, dizziness, headache, muscle weakness, runny nose, itching, nausea, blurred vision, red eyes, skin rash, sore throat, muscle cramp, excessive salivation, cough, burning eyes, shortness of breath, burning nose, insomnia.

% pesticide users reporting APP:

The 162 farmers reported 848 poisoning incidents over the four months with farmers often displaying multiple symptoms. An astonishing 22 incidents involved a loss of consciousness and a further six seizures were reported during this one season. Only 5% of farmers sought medical attention. Farmers explained that they rarely reported poisoning incidents because they thought that it was normal to feel sick when handling pesticides. Pesticides reported by farmers: Pesticides used by participating farmers included endosulfan (since globally banned) and unregistered products with unknown active ingredients (e.g. ‘Alpha’ or ‘Mukpar’). Farmers often mixed different pesticides in one spray. These mixtures often involved the same active ingredient – this is counter to the label instructions and results in large overdoses. One common combination (Dursban + Selecron + Profectron + Fenom C) corresponds to chlorpyrifos+ profenofos + profenofos + (profenofos+ cypermethrin) i.e. triple application of profenofos, a WHO Class II cholinesterase inhibitor which is likely to result in very high residues and releases to the environment. Moreover, it was common for farmers to apply pesticides registered for use on animals (such as chlorfenvinphos in Steladone®) on plants such as onions and other vegetables. They were also using formulations for ultra-low volume sprayers in high volume sprayers which resulted in higher application rates. A baseline survey showed that the majority of farmers (66.1%) could not read or extract information from pesticide

labels and as a result, farmers tended to rely on pesticide dealers and peers when making decisions on which pesticides to use and which dosages to apply.

Conclusion

This study collected a lot of detail on the use patterns and exposure. The data is particularly compelling because it involved farmers recording their symptoms after each spray, rather than having to recall symptoms from an earlier exposure incident. It reveals that farmers have very little access to information on pesticide hazards and recommended use. As a result, poor practices such as mixing multiple pesticides and applying incorrect doses were common. All of the farmers in the study experienced pesticide poisoning with some farmers experiencing multiple episodes. Some of the poisonings were severe, resulting in loss of consciousness or seizures.

Photo: Women in Arusha, Tanzania. Credit: Blue Ox Studio