Our Work
Our work aims to identify lethal pesticides responsible for suicides and end their use through regulatory action – banning and phasing them out. We work in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) with national pesticide regulators, public health researchers and civil society.
We are guided by the human rights-based approach and the principle that a person’s right to life is affected by easy access to lethal pesticides. States have a duty under international human rights law to protect the life of vulnerable individuals who are at risk from self-harm.
What we do
01Data collection
We work closely with countries to collect data on pesticide poisoning incidents and deaths.
After first finding out what is known about pesticide poisoning in a country, we then train local researchers to collect the further, necessary data.
Working with the health sector, police and other authorities, we help to record cases where people have been poisoned and identify the products responsible.
02Supporting regulation
A key focus of our work is our engagement with national pesticide regulators and policy-makers, supporting regulatory action to ban or phase out lethal pesticides.
The data we collect is passed on and discussed with the regulators, helping them to explore how the most harmful pesticides can be taken out of use and replaced with safe alternatives.
03Measuring impact of bans
We measure the impact of bans on pesticide poisoning incidents, deaths and agriculture.
By continuing to monitor poisoning cases and overall suicide rates, we can examine how successful a ban has been in saving lives.
By collecting data on crop yields we can explore whether food production has been affected.
04Alternative pest control measures
We support the introduction of alternative pest control measures, such as non-chemical options or less toxic pesticides.
Working with agricultural officers within countries, we help to identify alternatives for each crop and pest combination, ensuring that food production is not affected by the removal of lethal pesticides.
05Community interventions
We work directly with communities, exploring interventions which may help reduce deaths from pesticide poisoning. This includes training pesticide vendors to identify people at risk of self-harm, so they do not sell pesticides to them.
We are also developing guidelines to improve treatment of poisoned patients, providing advice to doctors working in local hospitals.
06International and regional collaboration
Our work aims to strengthen regional and international collaboration on highly toxic pesticides, improving identification, regulation, replacement and monitoring worldwide.
We partner with United Nations organisations, including the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). We also work closely with regional pesticide regulation bodies.
Our projects
In addition to project work within individual countries, CPSP also supports international and regional action on highly toxic pesticides.
