Farmers: Pesticides Poison Half Annually
A new study estimates 402-433 million cases of acute pesticide poisoning occur among farmers and farm workers each year, representing nearly half the global farming population.
Almost half of the world's farmers are poisoned by pesticides every year, according to a new study commissioned by Pesticide Action Network. The research, analyzing data from 2006 to 2023, estimates there are 402 to 433 million cases of unintentional acute pesticide poisoning among farmers and farm workers annually.
Based on a global farming population of 934 million, this translates to approximately 46% of farmers being poisoned each year. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, also calculates that an estimated 11,000 deaths occur annually due to such poisoning, with nearly 60% of those deaths happening in India.
Global Burden and Regional Hotspots
The greatest estimated number of poisonings was found in southern Asia, followed by south-east Asia and east Africa. The overall highest national incidence was in Burkina Faso in west Africa, where nearly 84% of farmers and farm workers were reported to have experienced poisoning.
Jayakumar Chelaton, the executive director of Pesticide Action Network India, said the research exposed a crisis that can no longer be ignored. The authors of the study are calling for immediate action, including implementing a UN recommendation to phase out highly hazardous pesticides.
Rising Use Despite Known Dangers
The study states that pesticide use has continued to grow steadily despite global efforts to highlight the dangers. A total of 3.8 million tonnes were used in 2023, which represents a doubling since 1990.
Dr. Sheila Willis, head of international programmes at Pesticide Action Network UK, argued for change. She said that now that the scale of suffering has been revealed, farmers must be supported to access safer alternatives to protect their health and that of their families.
Limitations and Uncounted Impacts
The research did not consider the impact of pesticide exposure on the estimated 84 million children working in agriculture. It also did not examine long-term health impacts, as it focused on acute poisoning, defined as any illness or health effect experienced a short time after exposure.
Health experts warn the crisis extends beyond immediate poisoning. Génon Jensen, executive director of the Health and Environment Alliance, expressed concern about the devastating health impacts from pesticide poisonings, both the acute impacts mentioned in this study but also chronic exposures that farm workers and communities suffer.
Links to Chronic Disease
There is growing evidence linking pesticide exposure to the development of Parkinson's disease. Hélène Nicora, the director general of Parkinson’s Europe, said there was overwhelming evidence to suggest Parkinson's was an environmentally driven disease. The global burden of Parkinson's is rising, with France, Germany, and Italy all recognising it as an occupational disease for farmers.
Farmers are mainly exposed during preparation and application of pesticides, as well as when touching treated crops and contaminated equipment or clothing. Rendert Algra, speaking at a webinar organised by Friends of the Earth Europe, believes his Parkinson's disease is linked to pesticides he used on his family farm in the Netherlands. He stated that as the eldest son, he did all the spraying of pesticides in their fields for several years in a row.
The report authors acknowledge that, despite being the most robust study to date, available information on pesticide poisoning remains inadequate. They call for standardised surveillance and reporting protocols to make pesticide-related poisonings reliably measurable.
