PESTICIDE USE AND HEALTH HAZARDS AMONG COCOA FARMERS: EVIDENCE FROM ONDO AND KWARA STATES OF NIGERIA

The study investigated the health implications of pesticide use by cocoa farmers in Ondo and Kwara States ofNigeria. Multistage sampling technique was adopted in the selection of 260 cocoa farmers in the study area. Datawere collected with the aid of questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics and multivariate probit(MVP) regression model. Results from the study indicated that the cocoa farmers were getting aged with a meanage of 50 and 55 years and educational level of mainly primary school in Ondo and Kwara States, respectively.The predominant health effects experienced by the cocoa farmers resulting from pesticide exposure in the studyareas were skin irritation (70.7%), breathing difficulty (69%) and eye irritation (65.9%). The results of the MVPrevealed that total pesticide dose used increased the probability of the cocoa farmers experiencing eye irritation(p<0.05), skin irritation (p<0.01), dizziness (p<0.05), breathing difficulty (p<0.05) and stomach cramps(p<0.01), while reading and adherence to instructions on pesticide labels and manuals reduced the probability ofthe cocoa farmers experiencing eye irritation (p<0.05), dizziness (p<0.05), breathing difficulty (p<0.01) andstomach cramps (p<0.05). The study recommended that pesticide labels should be made comprehensible tofarmers with little or no education through the use of pictorials on how to use and apply pesticides. This shouldaccompany pesticide packages at the point of sales