Some of the highly hazardous pesticides include: Atrazine, Butachlor, Dichlorovos, Carbendazim, Cypermethrin, Dimethoate, Diuron, Endosulfan, Glyphosate, and Imidacloprid. Others are Carbofuran, Chlorpyrifos, Paraquat, Mancozeb, and Permethrin among others.
These hazardous pesticides, often banned in other countries, are still widely traded in Nigeria despite their devastating impacts on human health.
According to data from the Alliance for Action on Pesticides in Nigeria (AAPN), 17 of these highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) banned in other countries are found in the hands of Nigerian farmers.
Although the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has banned six of the 17 HHPs, they are still in use in the country and can be found in local markets.
Most of these pesticides, when accumulated in human bodies, cause endocrine and nervous system disruption, carcinogenic, developmental and neurological damage, among others, experts say.
“When pesticides are used beyond the maximum limits on food products, it becomes dangerous to human health,” said Joseph Akinneye, a professor at the Department of Biology at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State.
“Farmers and traders in the country often use these chemicals at high levels, and the accumulation of them in the body causes cancer, difficulty in breathing and hormonal imbalance among other illnesses,” Akinneye said.
“This is wrong and must stop to save lives,” he said, while calling for farmers and traders’ education on pesticide use and application. He noted that limited knowledge of the dangers of highly hazardous agrochemicals is fuelling increased use.
He explained that in most countries, there are regulations and penalties for exceeding the maximum limits on the use of agrochemicals, noting that the Nigerian Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is responsible for this in the country.
He added that the agency has failed to effectively regulate these hazardous chemicals, as some that are banned in the country are still found in open markets.
Pesticide imports into Africa have increased significantly in recent years. In West Africa, imports nearly doubled in five years, rising from 218,948 tonnes in 2015 to 437,930 tonnes in 2020. Of this total in 2020, Nigeria accounted for 33.67 percent, according to data from the Alliance for Action on Pesticides in Nigeria (AAPN).
In 2021, almost two-thirds (about 66 percent) of agrochemicals found in Nigeria were categorised as highly hazardous, according to a Pesticide Atlas report.
The report also found elevated levels of residues were detected in tomato samples from Nigeria, including traces of permethrin, a chemical the US Environmental Protection Agency classified as probably carcinogenic.
Beans from Nigeria showed high levels of contamination as samples contained up to 0.3 milligrammes per kilogramme of dichlorvos. The legal limit in Europe is 0.01 milligrammes per kilogramme.
Patrick Ijewere, medical director at The Nutrition Hospital, said most of the agrochemicals used by Nigerian farmers contain active ingredients that the World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Agency for Research on Cancer, among others, have categorised as highly hazardous due to their toxic effect on humans and the environment.
He noted that the use of highly hazardous agrochemicals is dangerous to human health when consumed over a long period. “The side effects are responsible for the rising cases of cancer we have now in the country because Nigerians consume these food products daily,” Ijewere said.
Fuelling export rejection
The high use of agrochemicals by farmers has continued to drive rejection of Nigerian food exported to the European Union (EU), the U.S. and others.
The European Union (EU) had in 2016 rejected 24 food products from Nigeria. Groundnuts were rejected because they contained aflatoxin, while palm oil had a colouring agent that was carcinogenic.
The European Food Safety Authority had likewise rejected beans from Nigeria in 2015 because they contained between 0.03mg per kg and 4.6mg/kg of dichlorvos pesticide, when the acceptable maximum residue limit was 0.01mg/kg.
The ban is still in place, indicating that Nigerian food processors and exporters are yet to change from such practice.
“The high use of hazardous pesticides is why our food products are still banned in Europe and other countries,” Ijewere said.
Organic pesticides provide alternative
Experts have urged governments at all levels to prioritise investments in organic and agroecological farming as sustainable alternatives to conventional agriculture.
Jude Obi, a professor and president of the Association of Organic Agriculture Practitioners of Nigeria (NOAN), stressed the need for awareness and advocacy for organic agriculture while de-emphasising conventional practices that rely heavily on agrochemical application.
Obi noted that countries are shifting to using more organic pesticides and less agrochemicals in food production owing to its health and environmental benefits.
The high use of agrochemicals by farmers has continued to drive rejection of Nigerian food exported to the European Union (EU), the U.S. and others.
The European Union (EU) had in 2016 rejected 24 food products from Nigeria. Groundnuts were rejected because they contained aflatoxin, while palm oil had a colouring agent that was carcinogenic.
The European Food Safety Authority had likewise rejected beans from Nigeria in 2015 because they contained between 0.03mg per kg and 4.6mg/kg of dichlorvos pesticide, when the acceptable maximum residue limit was 0.01mg/kg.
The ban is still in place, indicating that Nigerian food processors and exporters are yet to change from such practice.
“The high use of hazardous pesticides is why our food products are still banned in Europe and other countries,” Ijewere said.
Organic pesticides provide alternative
Experts have urged governments at all levels to prioritise investments in organic and agroecological farming as sustainable alternatives to conventional agriculture.
Jude Obi, a professor and president of the Association of Organic Agriculture Practitioners of Nigeria (NOAN), stressed the need for awareness and advocacy for organic agriculture while de-emphasising conventional practices that rely heavily on agrochemical application.
Obi noted that countries are shifting to using more organic pesticides and less agrochemicals in food production owing to its health and environmental benefits.
