Agricultural experts at the Ministry of agriculture in conjunction with development partners have warned against misuse of pesticides in vegetables particularly tomatoes by famers and traders since the residues cause danger in human health.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), in partnership with the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) and Kampala Capital City Authority KCCA, is fighting unsafe pesticide use in tomatoes and fresh produce through public awareness campaigns, behavior change initiatives and stronger regulatory enforcement.

This was revealed during the launch of a second phase of nationwide public awareness campaign titled "Wash Well, Eat Well, stay Healthy" aimed at promoting food safety and responsible pesticide use.

This is after running a twelve week first campaign on Radio Buddu in Masaka and Radio Simba tilted “spray smart, eat safe” to educate farmers, agro input dealers, market vendors and consumers on pesticide risks.

The campaign procedure

Ms Christine Alokit. PlantwisePlus Country Coordinator at CABI explained that her team of experts held talk shows on the two radio stations targeting sensitization initiative on pesticide miss by tomato traders in major markets across the region.

“The talk shows targeted questions such as what do traders use to preserve tomatoes. How do consumers make sure they tomatoes they are purchasing are safe from pesticide residues and how do farmers apply the pesticides in their farms,” she notes.

There were a number of respondents where 50% said they wanted glossy tomatoes and 20% said they want tomatoes free of pesticides.

The farmers said they want their tomatoes to reach the market when still fresh and 20% said the support the idea of their tomatoes that are not sprayed by pesticides but most of them said they spray their tomatoes to achieve high yield.

In general 67% of the listeners said pesticide consumption is dangerous to human organs and majority do not observe the harvesting interval.

“When the experts where presenting the sensitization program on radio, they emphasized the dangers of consuming pesticide residues in Tomatoes and other vegetables. It causes infertility, cancer and skin diseases. It is the reason farmers, traders and agro input dealers are urged against its misuse,” Alokit notes.

Ms Alokit and her team of experts from MAIFF, National Agricultural Research Organisation (Naro), KCCA and the government analytical laboratory have started the second phase of the campaign where they are conducting Market sensitization in 10 Markets in Kampala and 6 in Masaka

The Kampala markets include Wandegeya, Kalerwe, Bugolobi, Natete, Busega, Usafi, Nakawa, Kasubi, Ntinda and Owino and radio talk shows on Radio Simba and Budu in Masak running for three weeks.

The second package is to train farmers in selected eleven districts mainly in Central Uganda where the challenge of misuse of pesticide is acute. This compaign has already started with the team taking on traders at Busega Market last week.

Overview of pesticide miss use and solutions

The Assistant Commissioner for Agro-Chemicals at MAAIF, John Mwanja, giving the overview on improper pesticide application said it remains a significant threat to consumer health and the safety of Uganda's food supply.

“Farmers use pesticides on vegetables including tomatoes to control pests and diseases but improper use can cause damage to human health and it can contaminate the environment and harm beneficial organisms,” he notes.

He explained that farmers across the country are applying a chemical called Mancozeb on tomatoes after harvest yet it is supposed to be applied on tomatoes that are still growing in the field.

Consumption of such tomatoes leads to cancer, reproductive organ failure and thyroid gland diseases in humans.

It is the reason the Ministry of agriculture has a law and regulation on pesticide use because pesticides are toxic in nature.

Farmers are tasked to use it safely by observing the instructions in the label and observing the Pre harvest interval as well as pesticide interval application. He urged farmers to stop applying Mancozeb on harvested tomatoes.

Stake holders take

Dr. Robinson Kabanda, the in charge of animal production at KCCA explained that it is important for farmers and traders of vegetables to observe  proper handling of the produce and this calls for markets to ensure there is water facility, proper sanitation, proper storage facility to ensure product quality.

“Food premises and market infrastructure must fit medical standards and these include storage with proper temperature control. This calls for provision of cold rooms and refrigerators in markets for traders,”

Dr Heny Kaula the manager health and sanitation inspection KCCA giving the statistics noted that the recent World Health Organization report indicates an estimated out of  866 million people nearly 1 in 9 to 1 in 10 people worldwide fall ill each year from eating contaminated food.

The death rate is that 1.5 billion people die globally from eating contaminated food and 310 billion US dollars lost in terms of productivity annually.

Mr David Mutende, a senior chemist at the Government analytical Laboratory noted they are part of the campaign because every year his team moves across the country testing farm produce quality to establish the pesticide use levels.

To him washing the produce may not be a solution because some of the pesticides can last longer in the vegetables. He recommends farmers, traders and agro input dealers to stop miss use of pesticides and pesticide residue contamination in vegetables.

Key Strategies and Actions

The team recommends Social and behavioral change where actors must move away from blanket spraying toward better purchasing, application, handling and monitoring of agricultural chemicals.

Urged farmers to strictly obey recommended waiting periods between spraying and harvesting so chemical residues can degrade.

Apply Integrated Pest Management & Extension Support by utilizing the CABI-backed Plantwise Knowledge Bank and training agricultural extension workers and plant doctors to help farmers scout for pests and adopt safer or biological alternatives.

Legal Enforcement through warning that farmers, traders and manufacturers who violate pesticide regulations or handle banned and counterfeit agro-chemicals face legal action and market rejection.