An Assessment of School Going Population Exposure Pathways to Agropesticide in the Mungo Corridor of Cameroon

Abstract

Pesticide use in agricultural holdings closer to dwellings exposes the population to its noxious effects. This study is set on the premise that although pesticide seems a panacea for crop protection, it has continued to wreak havoc on farmers' health and especially school going population who are exposed to pesticide use in nearby agroindustrial plantations in the Mungo Corridor. The study objectives are to identify students who use pesticides and why they use these toxic chemicals. In this same vein, it probes into identifying some common pesticides exposure pathways among students and the resultant effects of these toxic chemicals on them. The study employed both primary and secondary data, and key informant interviews with resource persons. Data was collected through a survey of 510 students across 10 schools in two subdivisions. Data analysis was run on Microsoft Excel 2016 and SPSS 16.0, employing descriptive (percentage indices, charts, mean, median) and inferential (Kruskal-Wallis (H-Test), Mann Whitney (U-Test), and Chi-Square test) statistics. Findings revealed that school going population is potentially exposed to pesticides via different exposure pathways, justified by the proximity of schools to agroindustrial banana plantations where pesticides are sprayed using helicopters. Also, majority of students (85%) use pesticides for various reasons with little or no knowledge on the methods of use which further broadens their exposure. A weighted analysis of data revealed that there was a significant difference between students' education level and some hypothesized explanatory variables (p<0.05), implying that lack of information by students on how to avoid contacts with pesticides further exposes them. However, the paper concludes that receiving training in the safe use of pesticides by students and providing wind barriers in agroindustrial banana plantations to prevent spray drifts from entering into school yards and residence are key solutions to this danger.

Schools Proximity to Plantations de Haut Penja, Learners’ Attitudes and Incidence of Pesticide Contamination in Cameroon

“…This proximity of schools to the PHP exposes learners to pesticides infections borne by particles that drift from the PHP when aerial applications are done. Schools and/or residential proximity has equally been found to influence population exposure to agrichemicals by other studies (Ward et al 2000;Lu et al 2000;Fenske et al 2000;Koch et al 2002;Petchuay et al 2006;Curwin et al, 2007;Panuwet et al 2009;Morgan, 2012;Fenske et al 2013;Hurley et al 2014;and Rohitrattana, 2014;Nkemleke & Kuété, 2020). These findings depict that residential and schools proximity to agricultural holdings where pesticides are sprayed expose the population and learners to pesticides harmful effects.…”

“…The rainfall amount in this area stands >2000mm but shows some significant variability (augmentation) which is witnessed in Njombe (2700mm of rainfall) and in Penja (3000mm of rainfall), (Nkemleke & Kuété, 2020). The rainy season begins from March extending right to October.…”

“…The Kruskal-Wallis test was run to test whether there was a significant variation in the reasons for learners' involvement in pesticides related activities across sampled schools. This H-Test has also been used in a similar survey to show variations when dealing with reasons affecting people's choices (Nkemleke & Kuété, 2020).…”

“…Scholars have stressed on the correlation between pesticides and school-aged children or school going population (Curwin et al 2007;Morgan, 2012) and hold the idea that, people who live closer to agricultural holdings are likely to be affected than people who live in non-agricultural zones. Other authors see school going population as a potentially vulnerable population to the harmful effects of PPP through a plethora of factors or drivers such as proximity to sprayed farmlands, learner's age, gender and take home pesticides by parents or household heads Petchuay et al 2006;Curwin et al 2007;Panuwet et al 2009;Morgan, 2012;Rohitrattana, 2014;Nkemleke & Kuété, 2020). Environmental factors are also responsible for pesticides drift to undesired areas.…”