Governments and industry must stop blaming farmers for ‘misuse’ of pesticides and adopt a human rights-based approach to pesticide management, according to a new paper published in the Journal of Human Rights.
The paper, written by the Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention, describes how cases of pesticide poisoning in low and middle-income countries are frequently blamed on the user. It highlights pesticide industry claims that their products are ‘safe’, if used correctly. Pesticide poisoning is therefore attributed to incorrect use.
The paper sets out why this is a false narrative. It advocates a human rights-based approach to empower farm workers and hold governments and industry to account.
Safety measures do not work
Governments and pesticide manufacturers promote ‘safe’ use of pesticides. However, the measures they recommend are often ineffectual in low and middle-income countries. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is not always available, affordable, or practical in hot and humid conditions. Labels on pesticide bottles cannot always be understood by the user.
Pesticide manufacturers also recommend and conduct training on safe use of pesticides. This assumes that farmers are put at risk due to a lack of knowledge on the dangers of pesticides. However, if safe practices are costly or inconvenient to farmers, then knowledge alone will not change farmer behaviour.
Vulnerable people face ‘burden of responsibility’
In high-income countries, farming is usually undertaken by large family farms or corporations, who have responsibility for safe pesticide use. In contrast, most pesticide users in low and middle-income countries are small-scale farmers. The burden of responsibility for the negative impact of pesticide use is therefore shifted on to vulnerable individuals.
There are many factors that make it difficult for people living in low and middle-income countries to protect themselves from the harms of pesticides. This includes poverty, lack of employment opportunities, inequalities in workplaces, and gender inequality.
The paper argues that a human rights-based approach would take these vulnerabilities into consideration. It will re-shape power dynamics by holding governments and industry to account, while empowering pesticide users.
What does a human rights-based approach look like?
A human-rights based approach is built on the principal that everyone has a right to life; health; clean water and food; safe working conditions; and a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. These rights are violated by access and exposure to harmful pesticides.
The paper outlines the following components to a human rights-based approach to pesticide poisoning:
- A phase-out of the concept of pesticide ‘misuse’ in policy, research, and legislation.
- Recognition that some pesticides are too toxic to be used by small-holder farmers in low and middle-income countries.
- Measures to prevent pesticide self-poisoning and suicide, recognising that deaths are due to the wide availability of highly toxic pesticides.
- Pesticide manufacturers taking responsibility for the impact of their products on health and the environment.
- Mainstreaming human rights into pesticide policies and regulations, including the FAO / WHO International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management.
An ‘obligation to protect’
Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention Policy Director, Dr Leah Utyasheva, lead author of the paper, said:
“For too long, farmers in low and middle-income countries have been blamed for harms caused by pesticides. They have been accused of improper and irrational acts, contributing to ‘misuse’. This is despite the fact that it may be impossible for them to follow safety practices. Some pesticides are also so toxic that they cannot be made safe.
“It is time to reject the blaming the farmer narrative. Under the international human rights law, governments have an obligation to protect, respect and fulfil human rights – including the right to health and life. It is therefore the governments that allow the use of harmful pesticides, along with the pesticide manufacturers, who should bear the main responsibility for preventing harm.
“A human-rights based will put real people, their health, and their human rights, first. This is needed if we are to reduce and eliminate toxic exposure to pesticides and save lives.”
The paper is published in the Journal of Human Rights.
Related articles and publications
Can we really blame farmers for pesticide ‘misuse’?
Why pesticide exposure is a violation of children’s rights
Prevention of pesticide suicides and the right to life: The intersection of human rights and public health priorities (external link to publication)