A Critical Review of the Status of Pesticide Exposure Management in Malawi

Ishmael Kosamu, Chikumbusko Kaonga and Wells Utembe
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Ishmael Kosamu: Department of Physics and Biochemical Sciences, The Polytechnic, University of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi
Chikumbusko Kaonga: Department of Physics and Biochemical Sciences, The Polytechnic, University of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi
Wells Utembe: Toxicology and Biochemistry Department, National Institute for Occupational Health, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-13

Abstract: Pesticides pose a significant risk to humans and the environment. This paper analyzes the measures used to manage pesticides in Malawi. Malawi’s regulatory authority of pesticides, the Pesticides Control Board (PCB), faces a number of challenges including lack of facilities for analyzing pesticides and inadequate personnel to conduct risk assessment of pesticides. The PCB needs to provide access to information and opportunities among the public to make contributions regarding requirements, processes and policies for assessing pesticide risk and efficacy. There is also a need to enhance the capacity of PCB to assess pesticide poisoning in workers, monitor pesticide residues in food and environmental contamination, as well as to control the illegal importation and sale of pesticides. Just like in other countries such as South Africa, India and Sri Lanka, Malawi urgently needs to implement measures that can restrict the importation, production, sale and use of very toxic pesticides. Malawi also needs to develop measures for the effective management of pesticide waste containers as well as obsolete pesticides, where potential solutions include reducing the purchase of (unneeded) pesticides, treatment of obsolete pesticides in high-temperature cement kilns, as well as requesting pesticide dealers to adopt life-cycle management of their products.

Keywords: pesticide; poisoning; contamination; food residues; obsolete pesticides (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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