FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CEJAD Sounds Alarm on Widespread Exposure of Farmers and Farm Workers to Toxic Pesticides in Kenya
New Study Calls for Urgent Action to Protect Farming Communities and Public Health from Toxic Pesticide Exposure
On August 13-14, 2024, CEJAD participated in a training workshop in Arusha, Tanzania, bringing together key stakeholders for a study on pesticide poisonings. This study is part of our project on Pesticide Suicide Prevention in collaboration with the government of the United Republic of Tanzania. The study is led by the Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority (TPHPA), in partnership with the Ministry of Health and other relevant agencies and stakeholders.
The project is supported by the Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention.
Training on community-based pesticide action monitoring on the use and impacts of pesticides on human health and the environment
Amid the delicate balance of the Amboseli ecosystem, renowned for its diverse wildlife, natural grasslands, and pastoral practices, a new challenge has emerged, the unregulated use of pesticides. In response, the Centre for Environment Justice and Development (CEJAD), supported by the Sigrid Rausing Trust, held a crucial training workshop on June 26-27, 2024, at Penety Resort in Amboseli, Loitoktok Sub-County, Kajiado County.
Members of Southern African Pesticides Regulators Forum (SAPReF) adopted the draft SADC HHPs Strategy during the Annual General Meeting and Strategy training held in Johannesburg on 4th -8th September 2023. The meeting was organized by SAPReF and the University of Cape Town (UCT) in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Swedish Chemicals Agency (KemI).
On 6th - 10th February EAC Secretariat in collaboration with CEJAD, CPSP and FAO convened a meeting of pesticide registrars from the EAC Partner States in Kigali, Rwanda. The meeting reviewed and adopted the draft EAC regional strategy on HHPs. After adoption by the EAC TWG, the strategy now awaits validation from relevant stakeholders in the region before formal adoption by the EAC decision-making organs. If adopted, the strategy will guide the phase-out of Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) in Partner States.
After many years of negotiations, the world adopted the Global Framework on Chemicals, a voluntary instrument on sound management of chemicals and waste. The instrument was adopted during the fifth session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM5), from 25 to 29 September 2023, in Bonn, Germany.
The instrument aims “to prevent or, where prevention is not feasible, minimize harm from chemicals and waste to protect the environment and human health, including that of vulnerable groups and workers.”
By definition, HHPS are pesticides that are acknowledged to present particularly high levels of acute or chronic hazards to health or environment according to internationally accepted classification systems such as WHO or Global Harmonized System (GHS) or their listing in relevant binding international agreements or conventions, and includes pesticides that appear to cause severe or irreversible harm to human and animal health or the environment.
