Washington, DC — Obsolete pesticide stockpiles have been identified in almost every African country. At least 50,000 tons of the outdated chemicals, as well as tens of thousands of tons of contaminated soil, have accumulated across the continent, according to estimates made by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization.
Some of these toxic waste deposits are a result of the use of pesticides that are no longer considered safe. Others were simply leftovers from donations of pesticides that were part of international assistance offered to African countries. But many of these dangerous stockpiles have been accumulating for decades, some for as long ago as 40 years.
Several of the largest agricultural companies have come together in a network organized by CropLife International to help address this issue. This network, which includes BASF, BayerCropScience, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, FMC, Monsanto, Sumitomo and Syngenta, acknowledges that some of its members' products may have ended up in these stockpiles.
"The CropLife companies will contribute financially for the disposal of those obsolete products that they originally manufactured or supplied," explains Dr. Chris Waller, the head of the International Obsolete Stock project at CropLife Africa. "They will not contribute to the disposal of products that were originally purchased from companies not associated with CropLife."
In an interview with AllAfrica's Jim Cason, Waller explained that the industry has been involved with this issue for more than a decade and is currently working in 15 African countries to help clean up obsolete stockpiles. In addition to providing financial support, industry also provides important technical support for these clean-up efforts and has established a 'Safe Use' initiative to help establish preventive measures to avoid future accumulation.
What is the business community doing in Africa to address concerns about toxic wastes or obsolete stocks in Africa?
The member and cooperating companies of CropLife International have been actively engaged with this issue for over ten years.
Since 1991, our industry has been working in a variety of countries to facilitate disposal projects, including 15 countries in Africa: Botswana, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Gambia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda.
Facilitation has variously involved finding additional donor funding, organizing projects, supervising operations in the field or, when appropriate, reformulating useable stocks. Such projects typically last for 2 to 3 years. Of the 14 projects completed in Africa during the last ten years where industry has had a significant involvement, 12 have involved financial contributions from our companies, over and above the contribution of time and resources. Typically, this payment represents the cost of incineration of the products which were originally supplied by that company and represents 25 to 30 percent of the total costs of disposing of those products.
Over 3,000 tons of obsolete products from developing countries have been destroyed in these projects, of which about 1,800 tons have been from Africa. Within the next two years, our assistance to current projects in developing countries will contribute to the destruction of a further 1,000 tons of obsolete stocks in Africa.
Do have you examples of some clean-up programs in Africa that industry has been involved in that you would consider "models" for how this should be done?
An ongoing project in West Africa is a very good model of a disposal project. The project is mainly sponsored by the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Senegal and covers the collection and removal of 380 tons of obsolete pesticides from Cape Verde, Mauritania and Senegal. Industry is contributing to the costs and providing organizational and management expertise to that project.
A detailed inventory has been established using specialized hazardous waste disposal companies. Specialized contractors will also be brought in to do the collection and repacking of the obsolete pesticides for shipment to European high temperature disposal facilities, once all the necessary international permits have been obtained. The process is being monitored by an independent environmental consultant to ensure that the highest standards of safety and conformity to international regulations are achieved. We have received excellent assistance from the national authorities of the three countries and this has enabled good progress to be achieved in a short time.
What about the African Stockpiles Program? What type of support is industry providing to this specific program? Is it mostly technical advice, funding or something else?
The African Stockpiles Program (ASP) is not an active project at the moment; it is a proposal searching for funding. CropLife International is one of the ASP initiating partners contributing to the project definition and supporting the request for funding to the Global Environmental Facility and to other possible donor governments. CropLife International is a full member of the ASP multi-stakeholder partnership, an active member of the steering committee and has pledged financial support to the ASP in line with CropLife's contribution policy. CropLife International is also interested in offering support and assistance in project planning and implementation, as well as training for obsolete stock prevention.
The African Stockpiles Program has estimated that it will cost $250 million to clean up these obsolete stocks. But an expert at the World Wildlife Fund suggested in a recent interview with AllAfrica that industry has so far only committed $2 million to the 2003-2006 cycle for this program. Do you have more updated information?
The CropLife companies will contribute financially for the disposal of those obsolete products that they originally manufactured or supplied. They will not contribute to the disposal of products that were originally purchased from companies not associated with CropLife. The level of our financial contribution in any country depends therefore on the amount of CropLife members' products and this usually only becomes apparent when a project is underway. It is therefore impossible to fix on a contribution figure from industry at this stage.
For the first phase, ASP team is asking for $25 million from the GEF and $35 million from other contributors. Industry has said that it will be one of those other contributors and we are waiting to see who else will join in.
What is the best way to ensure that more obsolete stocks are not created?
Our view is that these stocks of obsolete pesticides around the world are largely a legacy from the past. Obsolete stocks of crop protection products have accumulated particularly in countries where procurement was governed by planned economies rather than farmers' needs. In Africa, many obsolete pesticide stocks are leftovers from donations provided under international development assistance programs, often decades ago.
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Much still remains to be done to train smallholder farmers on the safe use of crop protection products and to improve the regulatory infrastructure to control counterfeit, sub-standard and illegally traded products.
Industry, through its Safe Use initiative, has reached 2 million people in developing countries with training to farmers, extension workers, retailers and other sectors of society. The initial Safe Use project in Africa was established in Kenya in 1991. It has been the largest single mass-training project ever put into effect on the continent of Africa, reaching not only farmers and retailers but also government agencies, NGOs, women's groups and schools. Collaboration with the Kenyan Government has led to improved pesticide legislation and enforcement, together with accreditation of pesticide distributors and registration of sales representatives. The Kenyan model is being extended elsewhere on the continent and now promotes Integrated Pest Management, Integrated Crop Management and obsolete stock prevention.
At the same time, CropLife member companies have introduced newer products, active at lower rates and have used improvements in packaging and formulation technology to offer safer, cost effective small pack products to smallholder farmers. When a farmer has less than half a hectare of land, we appreciate that he needs a pack smaller than 5 litres.
