Understanding the Full Costs of Pesticides: Experience from the Field, with a Focus on Africa

Evaluation of cocoa mirid (Distantiella theobroma Dist. and Sahlbergella singularis Hagl.) control practices in Cte dIvoire

“…As a result, reducing the dosage would decrease the impact of the contact insecticides on mirid predators leading to a higher amount of cherelles observed after treatments. Weaver ants Oecophylla longinoda and Oecophylla smaragdina have been suggested as key-predators to mirids in cocoa cropping systems in Cameroon (Babin et al, 2010;2011 and Australia (Forbes and Northfield, 2017), respectively. Those predatory ants will less likely be killed by insecticide products that do not contain pyrethroids and will consequently be able to maintain their populations to levels that are able to significantly reduce mirid numbers.…”

“…Today, mirid control in West Africa is almost exclusively done using pyrethroids (such as bifenthrin, deltamethrin, cypermethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin) and neonicotinoids (such as imidacloprid and thiamethoxam) (Bateman, 2015;Anikwe et al, 2009a;Asogwa and Dongo, 2009). Although the latter insecticides have a lower (acute) toxicity than the earlier-used organochlorides, organophosphates and carbamates ( (Bateman, 2015), their widespread use continues to pose human health hazards and risks to terrestrial and aquatic wildlife (Diakite et al, 2018;Jepson et al, 2014;Williamson, 2011). There is particular concern on the neurotoxicity of neonicotinoids on bees.…”

Environmental governance of pesticides in Ethiopian vegetable and cut flower production

“…The majority (81%) of the farmers obtain pesticides from small retail shops and the others (Williamson, 2011;Waibel, 2007;Hoi et al, 2016). Ineffectiveness of pesticides is a frequently reported problem in Ethiopia and also in our survey73% of the interviewed farmers claimed that retailers are not honest and only interested in profit because they fail to supply effective products.…”

“…There is a large amount of case study research conducted on knowledge, attitudes, perception and unsafe use of pesticides among farmers in Africa (Williamson, 2008(Williamson, , 2011Damite & Tabor, 2015;Negatu et al, 2016;PAN Africa, 2008), Asia (Hoi et al, 2010(Hoi et al, , 2013Jin et al, 2015;Panuwet et al, 2012) and Latin America (Jansen, 2003(Jansen, , 2008Rios-Gonzalez et al, 2013). However, none of these studies applied a sector governance analysis approach for making the use of pesticides visible through and across registration, importation, distribution, use and interaction of the three key pesticide actors (state (regulator), traders (business) and users (farmers)).…”

“…However, the issue of human health and environmental risks has emerged as a key problem for these countries in a number of studies (Karlsson, 2004;Williamson et al, 2008;Williamson, 2011;Hoi et al, 2009Hoi et al, , 2013Stadlinger, 2013). Although the use of pesticides in Africa is relatively low (Reynold, 1997;Rojas, 2012;Kateregga, 2012) this should not be equated with low risk.…”