Pesticides Use and Safety Compliance among Rural Maize Farmers; A Case of the Sunyani West District, Ghana
- October 23, 2019
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: Agriculture, IJRSI
International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VI, Issue X, October 2019 | ISSN 2321–2705
Josephine Yalley
Faculty of Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
Abstract: – This pragmatic case study research investigates pesticides use and compliance with the recommended safety measures among less educated rural small holding maize farmers in the Sunyani West District of Ghana. Three hundred and ninety maize farmers were sampled across about three farming zones involving 15 rural communities in the study District. The types of pesticides used by maize farmers, their frequency of use and the number of pesticides used on their maize farms per the farming season as against the recommended dosage were assessed. A five-point Likert scale was used to assess farmers’ awareness of the health implications of pesticides use and it was revealed that respondents were aware of the health implications of pesticides used in the study area. Also, a perception index used to assess the perception of farmers on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) found that, farmers agree to the perception that the use of PPE is expensive and unavailable in the rural communities, financial status of rural farmers makes it difficult to purchase PPE for pesticide application and it is also important in pesticides application. However, respondents disagreed that PPEs cause discomfort to the user. A set of twelve compliance statements used to assess the extent of respondent’s compliance on the recommended safety measures also found that majority of farmers were in the medium to low compliance category indicating that there was evidence of low compliance of pesticides regulations among maize farmers in the Sunyani West District. Furthermore, the estimation of the ordered logit model revealed that primary, JHS/Middle, SHS/Technical and tertiary levels of education had a significant positive correlation on pesticides use. More so, farmer’s access to extension and credit facility was significant hence recorded a positive coefficient. This, therefore, implies that access to credit and access to an extension are also a significant determinant of pesticides compliance. The study therefore recommends that the government should support local industries to produce PPEs locally to make it more affordable and accessible. In addition to targeting the less educated farmers with innovative and effective flow of information dissemination and education on the proper use of pesticides.
Keywords: Ghana, Rural, Maize farmers, Pesticides, Safety compliance
