A lot of media attention is currently focused on the environmental destruction caused by “illegal” mining. The poor air quality in Ghana has also been in the news lately. There was one on 12 September 2025. Kenneth Anotwe Darko offered us: Gridlock and Gasping: Transportation is choking Accra’s air.
Yet, there is inadequate attention to the ubiquitous environmental pollution caused by pesticides. This is not limited to farms in rural areas; toxic pesticides are used regularly in urban areas, too. If you live in an estate, the management probably uses pesticides on at least a quarterly basis. Many households may use these toxins even more frequently. I have tried without success to find somewhere to live where I am not exposed, in the most whimsical fashion, to these poisons.
Yes, pesticides are poisons. These chemicals that we use around our homes, as if they were pristine spring water, are highly toxic. Here is a bit of evidence: “Pesticides can persist in the environment for decades and pose a global threat to the entire ecological system upon which food production depends. Excessive use and misuse of pesticides result in contamination of surrounding soil and water sources, causing loss of biodiversity, destroying beneficial insect populations that act as natural enemies of pests and reducing the nutritional value of food.” This quote is from the report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food (A/HRC/34/48).
What about the impact on human health? According to a recent article from CNN:
Pesticides have been potentially linked in past studies to premature births, congenital malformations such as neural tube defects, spontaneous abortions and an increase in genetic damage in humans. Exposure to pesticides has also been associated with lower sperm concentrations, heart disease, cancer and other disorders.
It is critical to be attentive to the impact of pesticides on children. The American Journal of Paediatrics notes that:
“Children encounter pesticides daily in air, food, dust, and soil and on surfaces through home and public lawn or garden application, household insecticide use, application to pets, and agricultural product residues.”
This must be reiterated: children are exposed to pesticides through the air, food, dust and soil. An incredible amount of public education is needed in this regard, because many people don’t seem to realise that when they spray pesticides, they not only affect what is targeted, but the toxins remain in the environment and negatively impact children.
When children experience acute and chronic exposure to pesticides, epidemiologic studies have noted: “adverse birth outcomes including preterm birth, low birth weight, and congenital anomalies, pediatric cancers, neurobehavioral and cognitive deficits, and asthma.” Other studies note that there is a likelihood that exposure to insecticides is linked to the “risk of brain tumours and acute lymphocytic leukaemia.” Another set of studies, “link early-life exposure to organophosphate insecticides with reductions in IQ and abnormal behaviours associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism.”
Readers are encouraged to review this insightful article here.
Given the above, it is important to ask: Is Ghana trying to reduce the use of pesticides?
Pesticide use is increasing. According to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s data, Ghana imports 40 million litres of pesticides annually. That is more than a litre each for every person in Ghana. Indeed, pesticide use has increased from 19 per cent in 2006 to more than 50 per cent in 2017.
Why is the use of toxic pesticides increasing? It has to do with the decreasing availability of farm labour. Many farmers complain about the declining interest in farming among the youth. Conversely, armed with a few bottles of “condemn,” some water and a knapsack sprayer, a farmer can prepare land for cultivation much more quickly than by the mechanical removal of unwanted plants. So, there is the “efficiency” of using toxins for “weed” control instead of using hard-to-access labour.
That is not the end of the story. There are also factors pushing the use of industrially produced agrotoxins. A recent study by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa finds that AGRA (formerly the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) is one of the key actors influencing agricultural policies of Ghana and other African countries.
A clear example is the proliferation of retailers of agro-toxins across Ghana. This is the outcome of a deliberate strategy implemented by AGRA to facilitate the addiction of smallholder farmers to pesticides and other agrotoxins linked to the so-called green revolution.
Other factors linked to the growing use of pesticides in Ghana are the continued export of agrotoxins, banned for use in the European Union countries, to countries in Africa. The European Union is being challenged to end the hypocrisy. In fact, the European Union has expanded the export of these toxic chemicals. And they plan to export even more of the toxic pesticides.
Even as Ghana is faced with the existential threat posed by the environmental destruction caused by mining, it is crucial not to ignore the harm caused by pesticides. Alarming levels of heavy metals are currently in the environment. Increasing the use of pesticides will only compound the problems. We need to tackle both problems simultaneously.
Here are some suggestions for policymakers and citizens. Government of Ghana must immediately ban the import of any of the pesticides banned from use in the European Union. This should be accompanied by the robust implementation of a nationwide recall of all banned pesticides and ensure that all entities selling banned pesticides stop and submit them to a designated authority for safe disposal.
The government must conduct a sustained public service awareness and education campaign designed to stop the use of banned pesticides, to minimise the use of all pesticides and to ensure if used, they are used minimally and appropriately, including the use of protective equipment. This must be supported with extensive monitoring and enforcement.
Additionally, the government of Ghana should provide subsidies to produce bio-pesticides made in Ghana by Ghanaian-owned enterprises. Government should support CSIR to commercialise the tested bio-pesticides they may have already developed. This should be done via a public-private partnerships model, prioritising public health over privatised profit-taking.
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture should provide farmers with technical support to increase the practice of sustainable management of unwanted plants via low-cost, appropriate technologies for mechanical removal. For example, crimper rollers could be made available via co-operative farmer service centres. It is also important that MoFA encourage the practice of cover-cropping among farmers.
Ultimately, it is engaged citizens who will have to make policymakers implement and enforce the policies that can remove agro toxins from our environment, for our collective best interest.
*******
Chaka Uzondu (PhD) writes about agroecology, climate change, economic justice, food sovereignty, health, housing, political ecology/economy, and trade.