The CSOs say pesticides have side effects on the health of humans.
Civil Society Organisations have raised concern over the continued use of dangerous pesticides that they say are slowly killing Ugandans.
Addressing journalists on Sunday, the CSOs said with agriculture being the mainstay of Uganda's economy employing around 70 percent of the working population, the persistent challenge of pest resistance, given Uganda's tropical climate favors pest diversity and faster multiplication rates.
This, they said means farmers use all sorts of pesticides to tackle the problem.
"We have observed that according to the official Uganda agrochemical register at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) and the National Drug Authority (NDA), the country had at least 115 active ingredients (ais) and 669 brands of synthetic pesticides legally registered for use in Uganda by the end of 2023 ," said Jane Nalunga, the Executive Director of SEATINI Uganda.
"We are alarmed that according to the 2024 Food Safety Synthesis Report published by the Food Safety Coalition Uganda that of the legally registered active ingredients, 47.8% and 68.6% of the brands in Uganda qualified as Highly Hazardous Pesticides(HHPs) according to the Pesticide Action Network(PAN) criteria for Highly Hazardous Pesticides HHPs)."
Nalunga explained that Highly Hazardous Pesticides are classified as reproductive toxicants that have the potential to negatively affect the human reproductive system and have adverse effects on pregnancy outcomes and reduced fertility.
She said that by July 2023, 65.5% of the 55 flagged active ingredients registered for use in Uganda and yet considered as Highly Hazardous Pesticides according to the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) criteria, were not approved for use in the European Union (EU)- exporting countries .
According to Nalunga, majority of pesticides flagged as highly hazardous and banned in Europe but are imported in Uganda are highly toxic to bees,fatal if inhaled, are toxicants, carcinogen and are also highly persistent in water and soil and are highly toxic to aquatic organisms.
"The World Health Organisation in 2020 estimated that 385 million cases of unintentional pesticide poisoning, including 11,000 deaths, mostly in low- and middle-income countries are registered annually worldwide. The effects of pesticides from chronic to acute depend not only on how heavily they are applied but also on their toxicity, and the susceptibility of non-target organisms that get sprayed, ingest pesticide granules, or consume contaminated water or food," Nalunga said.
According to UNICEF, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, children under the age of five and elderly are more vulnerable to the effects of pesticides for example, if exposed to aerially sprayed pesticides, children will inhale double the amount of an average adult. On the same note, due to the small size of liver and kidney, the same chemical is likely to be 10 times more toxic to a child than to an adult."
David Kabanda, the Executive Director for Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT) said the increased use of highly hazardous pesticides in Uganda is a threat to the realization of the right to adequate food, people's livelihoods and farmers' rights.
"Protecting food is a shared responsibility. When we talk about protecting food, we must do it from a systems approach from where it is being produced to where it finds us on the table. However, this is not happening as pesticides have become one of the loudest killers we have but we have associated with it in our farms and homes," Kabanda said.
He said that government through the Ministry of Agriculture is mandated to enforce high standards for those spraying using pesticides but said this is not done.
"The Agriculture Control Act mandates that anyone spraying in Uganda without certificate of application is doing it illegally. In simple terms, no one is supposed to apply pesticides without being trained in doing so by the Ministry of Agriculture but this is not happening."
Dr.Gregory Olupot, a soil scientists from Makerere University said talk of regulation of pesticides cant be separated from genetically modified organs.
"They all have the same impact as they leave us no better than we were before them. 97% of GMOs are to do with insect or weed resistance and they are pesticides themselves. We are concerned by the impact of pesticides on bees and insects yet agroecology is a traditional practice we ought to stick to," Dr.Olupot said.
He said that on many occasions, farmers are fond of mixing different pesticides in order to beat resistance, a practice he said is very dangerous.
"There are growing concerns about pesticide misuse, including improper application, counterfeit products, and insufficient training. Increasingly, farmers face a high risk of exposure due to the use of toxic chemicals or counterfeit pesticides whose use is either banned or restricted in other countries, improperly regulated application techniques, poorly maintained or totally inadequate spraying equipment and unacceptable storage practices, among many other similar issues," he said.
"Glyphosate-based herbicides, in particular, have raised significant alarm globally due to their potential environmental and health risks. In Uganda, glyphosate use has become widespread, especially among large-scale commercial farms and in crop management practices. While glyphosate is a widely used herbicide for weed control, its use has been linked to a range of environmental and health issues, such as contamination of water sources, soil degradation, and potential carcinogenic effects on humans. The increasing use of such chemicals without adequate regulation, monitoring, and education poses a significant risk to the health of farmers, consumers, and ecosystems."
The CSOs also took a swipe at a section of opinion leaders whom they said are bankrolled by the manufacturers of these pesticides to hoodwink the public, yet they know the reality.
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Call to action
The CSOs asked government the Agricultural Chemicals Control Board under Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries to expedite its work and profile the various agrochemicals, acaricides and inputs and their various sources that are available on the market in Uganda.
They also asked government to ban the importation of highly hazardous pesticides.
"Government through the Department of Crop Inspection and Certification at MAAIF should strengthen the regulation, management, use, handling, storage and trade of agrochemicals in Uganda," SEATINI's Jane Nalunga said.
The CSOs also urged government and other stakeholders to purposively plan and budget for education and awareness on the management, use, handling, storage and trade of agrochemicals in the country.
"Government should strengthen research and innovation for sustainable approaches such as agroecology and best pest and disease management technologies but should also enhance domestic resource allocation for research and innovations specifically for Integrated Pest Management and Agroecology."
The CSOs also urged that the upcoming Extra- Ordinary Summit of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) due to take place in Uganda from January 9 to 11, 2025, should consider agroecology as a core strategy and approach to safeguard African biodiversity, improve nutrition and health, enhance soil health, increase resilience to climate and other crises, and strengthen local food systems.
