Farmers' pesticide use, disposal behavior, and pre-harvest interval: a case study from Nigeria
In Sub-Saharan Africa, small farmers rely heavily on synthetic pesticides, the overuse of which poses significant risks to human health, the environment, and food safety. Yet detailed empirical evidence on the knowledge and drivers of pesticide management practices remains scarce, limiting insights...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1520943/full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850056764012101632 |
|---|---|
| author | Mesay Yami Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie Richard Maiwad Tesfamicheal Wossen Titilayo D. O. Falade Oyakhilomen Oyinbo Futoshi Yamauchi Jordan Chamberlin Shiferaw Feleke Tahirou Abdoulaye |
| author_facet | Mesay Yami Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie Richard Maiwad Tesfamicheal Wossen Titilayo D. O. Falade Oyakhilomen Oyinbo Futoshi Yamauchi Jordan Chamberlin Shiferaw Feleke Tahirou Abdoulaye |
| author_sort | Mesay Yami |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In Sub-Saharan Africa, small farmers rely heavily on synthetic pesticides, the overuse of which poses significant risks to human health, the environment, and food safety. Yet detailed empirical evidence on the knowledge and drivers of pesticide management practices remains scarce, limiting insights for policymakers and development practitioners. To address this gap, we leveraged data collected from 1,556 tomato producers in Northern Nigeria to investigate the determinants of pesticide use behavior using a sequential-exploratory mixed-method approach. We examined a broader range of pest management-related practices than prior literature, including safety equipment usage, pesticide disposal methods, and adherence to pre-harvest intervals (PHIs)–the intervals between the last pesticide application and the crop harvest. We found substantial non-compliance with the recommended practices: 45% of farmers reuse empty pesticide containers for other purposes, 14% discard them on the farm, 15% burn containers in open fires, and 40% harvest tomatoes within 1–5 days after pesticide application, violating the 7-day PHI guideline. These findings suggest that many tomato farmers adopt unsafe practices, which have adverse implications for their health, the environment, and the safety of food for consumers. We show that training on pesticide disposal and midstream market channels (e.g., wholesalers and aggregators) are strongly correlated with improved pesticide handling and PHI compliance. Overall, our results underscore the need for targeted training programs to enhance farmers' awareness of safe pesticide application, disposal practices, and PHI adherence. These efforts should be complemented by stronger regulatory frameworks and mechanisms to align farmer pesticide use practices with consumer preferences for safe products, as observed in the higher PHI adherence among farmers selling to midstream actors. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2177489cd8344b839c24ad548fc0b15d |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2571-581X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems |
| spelling | doaj-art-2177489cd8344b839c24ad548fc0b15d2025-08-20T02:51:38ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems2571-581X2025-03-01910.3389/fsufs.2025.15209431520943Farmers' pesticide use, disposal behavior, and pre-harvest interval: a case study from NigeriaMesay Yami0Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie1Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie2Richard Maiwad3Tesfamicheal Wossen4Titilayo D. O. Falade5Oyakhilomen Oyinbo6Futoshi Yamauchi7Jordan Chamberlin8Shiferaw Feleke9Tahirou Abdoulaye10International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, NigeriaInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, NigeriaMichigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, MI, United StatesCropLife Nigeria, Kaduna, NigeriaInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nairobi, KenyaInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, NigeriaInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Abuja, NigeriaInternational Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC, United StatesInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Nairobi, KenyaInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, KenyaInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Bamako, MaliIn Sub-Saharan Africa, small farmers rely heavily on synthetic pesticides, the overuse of which poses significant risks to human health, the environment, and food safety. Yet detailed empirical evidence on the knowledge and drivers of pesticide management practices remains scarce, limiting insights for policymakers and development practitioners. To address this gap, we leveraged data collected from 1,556 tomato producers in Northern Nigeria to investigate the determinants of pesticide use behavior using a sequential-exploratory mixed-method approach. We examined a broader range of pest management-related practices than prior literature, including safety equipment usage, pesticide disposal methods, and adherence to pre-harvest intervals (PHIs)–the intervals between the last pesticide application and the crop harvest. We found substantial non-compliance with the recommended practices: 45% of farmers reuse empty pesticide containers for other purposes, 14% discard them on the farm, 15% burn containers in open fires, and 40% harvest tomatoes within 1–5 days after pesticide application, violating the 7-day PHI guideline. These findings suggest that many tomato farmers adopt unsafe practices, which have adverse implications for their health, the environment, and the safety of food for consumers. We show that training on pesticide disposal and midstream market channels (e.g., wholesalers and aggregators) are strongly correlated with improved pesticide handling and PHI compliance. Overall, our results underscore the need for targeted training programs to enhance farmers' awareness of safe pesticide application, disposal practices, and PHI adherence. These efforts should be complemented by stronger regulatory frameworks and mechanisms to align farmer pesticide use practices with consumer preferences for safe products, as observed in the higher PHI adherence among farmers selling to midstream actors.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1520943/fullpesticidesdisposaluse practicesfood safetyintegrated pest managementpre-harvest interval |
| spellingShingle | Mesay Yami Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie Richard Maiwad Tesfamicheal Wossen Titilayo D. O. Falade Oyakhilomen Oyinbo Futoshi Yamauchi Jordan Chamberlin Shiferaw Feleke Tahirou Abdoulaye Farmers' pesticide use, disposal behavior, and pre-harvest interval: a case study from Nigeria Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems pesticides disposal use practices food safety integrated pest management pre-harvest interval |
| title | Farmers' pesticide use, disposal behavior, and pre-harvest interval: a case study from Nigeria |
| title_full | Farmers' pesticide use, disposal behavior, and pre-harvest interval: a case study from Nigeria |
| title_fullStr | Farmers' pesticide use, disposal behavior, and pre-harvest interval: a case study from Nigeria |
| title_full_unstemmed | Farmers' pesticide use, disposal behavior, and pre-harvest interval: a case study from Nigeria |
| title_short | Farmers' pesticide use, disposal behavior, and pre-harvest interval: a case study from Nigeria |
| title_sort | farmers pesticide use disposal behavior and pre harvest interval a case study from nigeria |
| topic | pesticides disposal use practices food safety integrated pest management pre-harvest interval |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1520943/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mesayyami farmerspesticideusedisposalbehaviorandpreharvestintervalacasestudyfromnigeria AT lenissawedaoliverpooltasie farmerspesticideusedisposalbehaviorandpreharvestintervalacasestudyfromnigeria AT lenissawedaoliverpooltasie farmerspesticideusedisposalbehaviorandpreharvestintervalacasestudyfromnigeria AT richardmaiwad farmerspesticideusedisposalbehaviorandpreharvestintervalacasestudyfromnigeria AT tesfamichealwossen farmerspesticideusedisposalbehaviorandpreharvestintervalacasestudyfromnigeria AT titilayodofalade farmerspesticideusedisposalbehaviorandpreharvestintervalacasestudyfromnigeria AT oyakhilomenoyinbo farmerspesticideusedisposalbehaviorandpreharvestintervalacasestudyfromnigeria AT futoshiyamauchi farmerspesticideusedisposalbehaviorandpreharvestintervalacasestudyfromnigeria AT jordanchamberlin farmerspesticideusedisposalbehaviorandpreharvestintervalacasestudyfromnigeria AT shiferawfeleke farmerspesticideusedisposalbehaviorandpreharvestintervalacasestudyfromnigeria AT tahirouabdoulaye farmerspesticideusedisposalbehaviorandpreharvestintervalacasestudyfromnigeria |