Video summary
The video highlights a disturbing reality regarding agricultural pesticides, shifting the focus from consumer safety to the severe health risks faced by farmers themselves. A recent report commissioned by the Pesticide Action Network reveals that approximately half of the world's farmers suffer from acute pesticide poisoning annually, with an estimated 11,000 fatalities each year. The data indicates that South Asia, particularly India, bears the brunt of this crisis, accounting for 60% of these deaths, followed by Southeast Asia and Eastern Africa. These tragedies primarily affect subsistence farmers and peasants who rely on agriculture for their survival, rather than workers on massive industrial farms, as they are often exposed to chemicals without adequate protective measures or regulatory oversight.
Beyond immediate fatalities, the transcript details a spectrum of health symptoms that plague farming communities, ranging from acute issues like headaches, nausea, skin irritation, and vomiting to chronic conditions such as carcinoma and Parkinson's disease resulting from long-term exposure. A significant cultural barrier complicates this issue: in many local dialects, pesticides are referred to as "medicine," leading farmers to mistakenly view them as beneficial treatments rather than toxic substances with dangerous side effects. This misconception is compounded by the fact that acute symptoms often appear hours after application, delaying recognition of the cause, while chronic illnesses are difficult and expensive to diagnose and treat, leaving entire communities deeply affected by these chemical exposures.
The video further explores the systemic nature of this crisis, suggesting a pattern where countries in the West ban certain pesticides only to have them exported to nations in the Global South that lack robust regulatory systems or protective labor laws. Activists from the Pesticide Action Network face significant obstacles in their efforts to reduce pesticide use, including legal threats, lawsuits, and discrediting campaigns by powerful agricultural industries that promote these chemicals as essential for increasing yields. Despite these challenges, there is a growing movement among farmers seeking alternatives, driven by government support programs like Kerala's organic farming initiative and the rising demand for biocontrol agents such as the fungus *Beauveria bassiana*, which effectively controls pests while being safer and more cost-effective to apply.
Ultimately, the narrative concludes with a message of hope and resilience, emphasizing that farmers are increasingly eager to transition away from toxic chemicals toward sustainable practices when provided with the right knowledge and support. By collaborating with experts to understand how to maintain profitability and crop yields without relying on hazardous poisons, farming communities are building greater resilience against climate challenges and health threats. The video underscores that while the industry works to promote chemical dependence through incentives like free motorbikes for purchasing specific products, a grassroots shift is occurring as farmers demand safer options and governments begin implementing schemes for natural and organic farming, signaling a potential turning point in global agricultural safety.
Read the full video transcript
When we think about pesticides in
agriculture, we tend to think about what
we might be eating. How could these
inorganic compounds sprayed on my food
impact me or my family or my kids? But
what we think less about, or at least I
can [clears throat] I can admit, I think
what I thought less about until today um
are the farmers who have to use them. A
new report released today and
commissioned by the Pesticide Action
Network reveals that half the world's
farmers are poisoned by pesticides each
year with 11,000 of them killed
annually. Most of those fatalities, 60%
of them occur in India. The Guardian has
the Guardian has reported on these
details from that study
using publicly available data from 2006
to 2023. The study which was
commissioned by Pesticide Action Network
found there to be an estimated 402 to
433 million cases of unintentional acute
pesticide poisoning of farmers and farm
workers every year. Those are huge huge
numbers vast numbers of people being
affected by by the toxicity of of these
pesticides. Earlier today I was joined
from Kerala by Jay Kumar Chelaton a
director of the pesticide action network
in India. I began by asking him which
areas of the world are most affected by
pesticide poisoning. we have a very high
number coming from South Asia followed
by Southeast Asia and then Eastern
Africa.
>> And are the farmers that um you're
talking about in those areas? I'm I'm
imagining that they're they're sort of
small um you know personal farmers or or
cooperative farmers rather than farmers
on you know massive industrial farms or
or am I wrong about that?
>> Perfect. I think that is also the case
like that is why this number is going up
because mostly these are people who are
what you call subsistence farmers or
pastoral or peasants you can call in
English like these are people who are
both they work in the farm and they also
make a subsistence by working in the
farm. So, it's a bit complicated in the
>> I see. And and obviously, you know,
dying from pesticide poisoning is is the
worst kind of impact um of of these of
these chemicals, but I'm sure that
people present with a range of other
symptoms um you know, who are still
deeply affected by it, but but haven't
died. So, what what kinds of symptoms
are you seeing in the areas that you
work? Um and what are the impacts on on
on local communities of of the illnesses
created by these pesticides? The farmers
are not directly relating exposure to a
health problem they having. uh because
in between something happens you go in
the morning and you spray and you come
in the evening then you feel uh very bad
headache or nausea or you have skin
irritation or so it is not even though
it is can be correlated by people who
are working in the the in the academic
side of it but for farmers they feel
that because in their notion across all
languages around the world pesticides
are called medicine in the local
language. So they are bit uh taking a
bit of a time to understand that they're
poison. That's number one. Uh back to
your symptoms. I think you start with
headache, nausea, uh skin irritations
and it can go all uh vomiting and when I
come back from the field I also feel I
said exposure like blisters on your
skin, you feel suffocation, you have new
uh
headaches and nosia and a whole bunch of
things. So when I say I what the farmers
are experiencing, I can tell that this
is also something which many of us
personally experienced when we went to
fields and started working with farmers.
The moment this acute exposure moves a
little bit on a regular basis over a
period of time that enters into what you
call a chronic exposure. So uh that can
lead into carcinoma, Parkinson's and
many uh problems which are which are
very complicated to diagnose but it's
also very expensive to very expensive to
treat. It's really interesting what you
say there about about in lots of
dialects the word medicine is is used to
describe pesticides which I guess
implies that there's a sense that well
medicines have side effects and these
are maybe just some of the side effects
of of something which is ultimately good
because it increases my yield or
decreases crop damage done by by
insects. So how how does the um
pesticide action network uh the kind of
work that you do how how difficult is is
it to persuade those farmers to give up
on these chemicals.
>> It is a bit tough you know why why uh we
need to look at a bit historically for
in many of these countries where we come
from the paid was not the choice of
farmers.
>> It was introduced as part of
improvement. It is also improved
introduced as that you stop your
conventional ways of doing things which
are inferior. So let us go for a very
superior fasting fast mean immediate
reactions
uh and bigger benefits and you can grow
for a bigger area. So it came from a
what you call in agriculture terms what
you what we can call is that it came
from a heavy investment in extension
services which introduced pesticides and
agrochemicals to the farmers and that is
how it came into the existence. Very
interesting what you said there because
you know when I see a story like this
and I see you know the the bulk of the
negative impact of some industrial
product is taking place in countries in
let's say the global south that often
implies to me that there's a kind of
model there where countries in the west
for example have banned these products
and they're being offloaded um onto uh
other countries uh and marketed heavily
um in their use in in those countries
who aren't who aren't legislating
against them.
>> You're right. And also uh in the west
there was systems to check or systems to
regulate and the system to protect the
farm workers and farmers. And then it is
suddenly coming to global south where uh
the the molecules come without the
regulatory systems which is in place in
those countries and often the the
regulatory systems are relaxed for
welcoming the global investment to some
extent. So what happens is that we get
the poisons without the regulatory
mechanisms. So it increases the exposure
for the people who are working in the
field or who also pass by.
>> So as I said before I think the
pesticide action network's sort of role
is to is to try and minimize or or get
people off of the use of these kinds of
poisonous pesticides. I imagine that
sort of industrial agriculture the
production you know that industry isn't
very keen on that. So what kinds of um
obstructions have you encountered in
your in your efforts to do this where
you are?
>> There are often legal cases which stop
most of the activists doing do those
kind of work and even threatened or sued
or class action suits what you call in
US. So we had a lot of limitation or
limiting factors and there is also many
times your credibility is challenged.
Your uh you are also presented as a uh
uh as a as a spin like the the
international collaboratives are trying
to
work with you because the pace at which
if all these things are used the global
south countries growing faster will be a
threat for northern countries. So I mean
it is a it is a very unimaginable kind
of stories which are presented by the
industry on one side and on the other
side there is a lot of promotional
activities which are happening in many
countries like in Thailand 15 years back
when you buy a particular person
after a lot you may win a motorbike for
example
>> I imagine you must sometimes feel like
you know David versus Goliath here uh
what kind of progress do you think
you're making
>> in India we worked with a large number
of farmers and we are seeing a large
enthusiasm like as I told you earlier
when we sit with farmers learn together
about how to make farming profitable and
how to make crop produce more yield and
how to confront the climatic challenges
we are having to build resilience in
farms. When we start doing this together
we see a lot of enthusiasm and lot of
interest from farmers to come together.
The large number of farmer demands are
coming for alternatives. There is a big
demand for biocrol agents like one there
is one fungus called baria basana and
baria basiana is a pest mean as a it's a
fungus it attacks in insects which b so
for example where we work on cardamom
cardamom one of the biggest problem is
like stem border and the stem borer is
equally or even more effectively
controlled by biocrol spray like bia
basana. So we are seeing that the
farmers are very keen but to switch to
biocrol agents because it is cost
effective and the applications are much
more easier. You need a mask and you
need a glove and you can explo
spray the bio control agents at a very
comfortable pace. So I think what I'm
seeing at at I don't know about the
global picture but uh in in India for
example we are seeing a uh possible
uh movement of farmers and farm workers
coming together for to approve for the
right questions like uh how the pests
are becoming harmful and the government
stepping in with newer schemes like the
natural farming or in Kerala we have the
organic farming support program by
government of Kerala. So these are kind
of making a them and moving forward.
>> That was Jay Kamar Chelatin from the
pacified action network speaking to me
earlier today.