Assessment of Pesticides Utilization and Occupational Exposure among Small Scale Farmers in Kellem Wellega, Western Ethiopia

Background: - Pesticides in Ethiopia are extensively used for pest and plant disease control. Even if the amount is fluctuating across the type of pesticides the country imports 3,346.32 tons of pesticides annually. Due to pesticides over use and misuse in small scale farming occupational exposure of farmer increases from time to time in Ethiopia. Methods: - A community based cross sectional study was conducted by involving 249 households from Seden-Chanka, Hawa-Gelan and Seyyo districts in Kellem Wellega zone Ethiopia. Data collection was conducted by administration of a pretested standardized questionnaire in all study districts on 6% of the samples. Purposive and random sampling techniques were employed. Data was encoded by using Microsoft Excel spread sheet and analyzed by SPSS version 21 software computer package. Frequency, mean, standard error and Chi-square test were used for analysis of the data. P-value < 0.05 at 95% confidence interval was considered as statistically significant. Objective: - The general objective of this study is to assess pesticides utilization and occupational exposure of small scale farmers in Kellem Wellega, Western Ethiopia 2019. Result: - The finding of the present study revealed that, farmers pesticide utilization was 87.15%. The types of pesticides commonly used by small scale farmers were 2, 4-D, Glyphosate, Malathion, Mancozeb, Diazinon and DDT. Organophosphate and Organochlorine were the major reported chemicals used by farmers. The mean amount of pesticide used was 3.45 liter (95 % CI 3.27-3.63) and the mean exposure time was11.43 hour (95 % CI 10.83-12.03) per year respectively. Only 8 (3.2%)of the respondents followed labeling instruction and 40 (16%) of the farmers attended training. 39 (15.6%) of the farmers mix pesticides on the farm field. 48 (19.2%) of the farmers stored pesticides in separate places, while 209 (84%) of the farmers did not use any type of PPE. There was significant association between amounts of pesticides used (χ²=15341.1, P=0.0011), frequency of use (χ²=147.797, P=0.001), duration of use on pesticides (χ²=153.132, P=0.001) and training of farmers on pesticides (χ²=8.474, P=0.004) and the occupational exposure of farmers. Conclusion: in conclusion, the present study found a wide utilization and high potential for pesticide exposure due to use and misuse of pesticide. Therefore, significant levels of pesticide exposure among farmers can be concluded. Due to pesticides exposure different symptoms were seen on farmers and there was significant association between the use of pesticides as risk factors and the occupational exposure of farmers. A strong coordination between Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health and Environmental Protection Authority of Ethiopia and pesticide sellers is very important for the safety of farmers.