The Civil Society Organizations committed to promoting sustainable agricultural trade, quality assurance, product safety, food safety nutrition and sovereignty have expressed concern over the growing rapid increase in pesticide use.
This comes after scientific evidence from Uganda documented the presence of pesticide residues in community water sources, food products, and air, as well as in human biological samples such as urine and breast milk.
The chemicals are linked to serious effects on human and animal health outcomes, as well as environmental risks which include carcinogenic effects.
These exposures are largely attributed to the misuse and unsafe application of pesticides, driven by limited trader and farmer and chemical vendors’ technical capacity, inadequate adherence to post-harvest intervals, and low utilization of appropriate personal protective equipment contrary to the Agro Chemical Control Act.
In a bid to support Ugandas recent commitments in strengthening pesticide regulation civil society is calling upon the Ministry of Agriculture to issue a public notice and ensure widespread dissemination detailing recalled and banned pesticides.
