Making food systems safer: Time to curb use of highly hazardous pesticides

Jacobi, Johanna; Ottiger, Fabian; Kiteme, Boniface P.; Delgado Burgoa, José Manuel Freddy; Winkler, Mirko S. (2019). Making food systems safer: Time to curb use of highly hazardous pesticides (CDE Policy Brief 15). Bern, Switzerland: Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern

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Use of synthetic chemical pesticides has expanded widely. These insecti-cides, herbicides, and fungicides have helped to boost crop production, but at a major cost – one whose full extent remains unknown. Many commonly used pesticides – especially in developing countries – are now considered “highly hazardous” by experts due to their proven or likely harms to nature and people.1 Evidence from farms in the global South confirms heavy use of pesticides, including substances banned elsewhere. Farmers and nearby communities face the most direct health threats. This policy brief outlines key harms and research findings, high-lights alternatives to pesticide-intensive agricultural practices, and calls for phasing out the riskiest substances – in line with human rights and proper application of the precautionary principle.

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