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Occupational Activities Associated with a Reported History of Malaria among Women Working in Small-Scale Agriculture in South Africa
Abstract and Figures
Malaria-endemic agricultural communities are at risk for this disease because of crop and agricultural activities. A cross-sectional survey among women in small-scale agriculture on irrigated and dryland areas in Makhatini Flats, KwaZulu-Natal South Africa explored associations with self-reported history of malaria, including demographics, crop production, and specific agricultural activities. Ninety-eight (15.2%) of 644 women reported malaria while working in agriculture. More women working in drylands than women working in irrigation scheme reported disease (18.4% versus 10.9%; P < 0.05). Working self or family-owned farms (prevalence ratio [PR] = 2.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3-5.2), spraying pesticides (PR = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.4-3.8), cultivating sugar cane (PR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.1-2.3), and cultivating cotton and mangoes (PR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.1-2.6) were positively associated with a history of malaria while working in agriculture. This study suggests that certain agricultural activities and types of crop production may increase the risk for malaria among women working in small-scale agriculture.
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... There is evidence that malaria transmission is often concentrated in a few population groups and is being increasingly localized among difficult-to-reach populations and those with occupations of agriculture, mining, military or forest work [21][22][23]. Some studies show that particularly miners [22,24] and those with jobs that require travel have a high risk of malaria infection and low use of prevention tools [25], while studies in Nigeria and South Africa show a similar high risk of malaria infection among agricultural workers [23,26], particularly rice-farmers [26,27]. ...
... There is evidence that malaria transmission is often concentrated in a few population groups and is being increasingly localized among difficult-to-reach populations and those with occupations of agriculture, mining, military or forest work [21][22][23]. Some studies show that particularly miners [22,24] and those with jobs that require travel have a high risk of malaria infection and low use of prevention tools [25], while studies in Nigeria and South Africa show a similar high risk of malaria infection among agricultural workers [23,26], particularly rice-farmers [26,27]. The risk of malaria infection is high for rice farmers because the ecological conditions of the early stages of rice fields are preferred by larvae of the vector An. ...
Background
In Madagascar, the districts of Antsirabe II, Faratsiho and Antsiranana I have relatively low malaria incidence rates and have been selected by the National Malaria Control Programme for pilot elimination strategies. The districts have residual transmission despite increasing coverage and quality of malaria services. This study sought to identify priority subpopulations at highest risk for malaria and collect information on intervention preferences and methods that will inform subnational tailoring of malaria service delivery.
Methods
This mixed methods study employed (i) a quantitative malaria risk factor assessment in Antsirabe II and Faratsiho comprising a test-negative frequency matched case–control study and a qualitative risk factor assessment in Antsiranana I; and (ii) a qualitative formative assessment in all three districts. For the case–control study, a mixed effects logistic regression was used with age, sex and district included as fixed effects and health facility included as a random effect. The qualitative risk factor assessment used semi-structured interview guides and key informant interviews. For the qualitative formative assessment in the three districts, a summary report was generated following semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with high-risk populations (HRPs) and stakeholders.
Results
In Antsirabe II and Faratsiho districts, rice agriculture workers, outdoor/manual workers, particularly miners, and those with jobs that required travel or overnight stays, especially itinerant vendors, had higher odds of malaria infection compared to other (non-rice) agricultural workers. In Antsiranana I, respondents identified non-rice farmers, mobile vendors, and students as HRPs. Risk factors among these groups included overnight stays and travel patterns combined with a lack of malaria prevention tools. HRPs reported treatment cost and distance to the health facility as barriers to care and expressed interest in presumptive treatment and involvement of gatekeepers or people who have influence over intervention access or participation.
Conclusions
The study results illustrate the value of in-depth assessments of risk behaviours, access to services and prevention tools, surveillance and prevention strategies, and the involvement of gatekeepers in shaping subnational tailoring to reach previously unreached populations and address residual transmission in elimination settings.
... The data collected by malaria posts and by the programme during routine activities are considered passive surveillance and is supplemented by (1) active surveillance which includes case investigations and (2) monitoring and evaluation assessments of malaria post performance. As case numbers decline case investigations become increasingly important in identifying patterns of risk including travel history prior to diagnosis [7], occupation [8,9], and behaviours including the use of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) [10]. This information can then be used to guide interventions such as screening and treatment, or the delivery of awareness campaigns to improve the treatment seeking behaviour of high-risk populations. ...
Background
The collection and utilization of surveillance data is essential in monitoring progress towards achieving malaria elimination, in the timely response to increases in malaria case numbers and in the assessment of programme functioning. This paper describes the surveillance activities used by the malaria elimination task force (METF) programme which operates in eastern Myanmar, and provides an analysis of data collected from weekly surveillance, case investigations, and monitoring and evaluation of programme performance.
Methods
This retrospective analysis was conducted using data collected from a network of 1250 malaria posts operational between 2014 and 2021. To investigate changes in data completeness, malaria post performance, malaria case numbers, and the demographic details of malaria cases, summary statistics were used to compare data collected over space and time.
Results
In the first 3 years of the METF programme, improvements in data transmission routes resulted in a 18.9% reduction in late reporting, allowing for near real-time analysis of data collected at the malaria posts. In 2020, travel restrictions were in place across Karen State in response to COVID-19, and from February 2021 the military coup in Myanmar resulted in widescale population displacement. However, over that period there has been no decline in malaria post attendance, and the majority of consultations continue to occur within 48 h of fever onset. Case investigations found that 43.8% of cases travelled away from their resident village in the 3 weeks prior to diagnosis and 36.3% reported never using a bed net whilst sleeping in their resident village, which increased to 72.2% when sleeping away from their resident village. Malaria post assessments performed in 82.3% of the METF malaria posts found malaria posts generally performed to a high standard.
Conclusions
Surveillance data collected by the METF programme demonstrate that despite significant changes in the context in which the programme operates, malaria posts have remained accessible and continue to provide early diagnosis and treatment contributing to an 89.3% decrease in Plasmodium falciparum incidence between 2014 and 2021.
... Travel has been reported as a risk factor for P. falciparum infection in East and Southern Africa [43,44] and for cases of imported malaria being older than those not imported in Southern Africa [45]. Whereas occupational hazards were not evaluated in this study, considerable occupational risk of malaria has been documented among mobile male workers in Asia [46,47] and populations involved in agriculture in Africa [48,49]. ...
Background:
Malaria control using long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying of insecticide (IRS) has been associated with reduced transmission throughout Africa. However, the impact of transmission reduction on the age distribution of malaria cases remains unclear.
Methods:
Over a 10-year period (January 2009 to July 2018), outpatient surveillance data from four health facilities in Uganda were used to estimate the impact of control interventions on temporal changes in the age distribution of malaria cases using multinomial regression. Interventions included mass distribution of LLINs at all sites and IRS at two sites.
Results:
Overall, 896,550 patient visits were included in the study; 211,632 aged < 5 years, 171,166 aged 5-15 years and 513,752 > 15 years. Over time, the age distribution of patients not suspected of malaria and those malaria negative either declined or remained the same across all sites. In contrast, the age distribution of suspected and confirmed malaria cases increased across all four sites. In the two LLINs-only sites, the proportion of malaria cases in < 5 years decreased from 31 to 16% and 35 to 25%, respectively. In the two sites receiving LLINs plus IRS, these proportions decreased from 58 to 30% and 64 to 47%, respectively. Similarly, in the LLINs-only sites, the proportion of malaria cases > 15 years increased from 40 to 61% and 29 to 39%, respectively. In the sites receiving LLINs plus IRS, these proportions increased from 19 to 44% and 18 to 31%, respectively.
Conclusions:
These findings demonstrate a shift in the burden of malaria from younger to older individuals following implementation of successful control interventions, which has important implications for malaria prevention, surveillance, case management and control strategies.
... Travel has been reported as a risk factor for P. falciparum infection in East and Southern Africa [43,44] and for cases of imported malaria being older than those not imported in Southern Africa [45]. Whereas we were unable to evaluate occupational hazards in our study, considerable occupational risk of malaria has been documented among mobile male workers in Asia [46,47] and populations involved in agriculture in Africa [48,49]. ...
Background: Malaria control using long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying of insecticide (IRS) has been associated with reduced transmission throughout Africa. However, the impact of transmission reduction on the age distribution of malaria cases remains unclear.
Methods: Over a 10-year period (January, 2009 to July, 2018), outpatient surveillance data from four health facilities in Uganda were used to estimate the impact of control interventions on temporal changes in the age distribution of malaria cases using multinomial regression. Interventions included mass distribution of LLINs at all sites and IRS at two sites.
Results: Overall, 896,550 patient visits were included in the study; 211,632 aged <5 years, 171,166 aged 5-15 years, and 513,752 >15 years. Over time, the age distribution of patients not suspected of malaria and those malaria negative either declined or remained the same across all sites. In contrast, the age distribution of suspected and confirmed malaria cases increased across all four sites. In the two LLINs-only sites, the proportion of malaria cases in <5 years decreased from 31% to 16% and 35% to 25%, respectively. In the two sites receiving LLINs plus IRS, these proportions decreased from 58% to 30% and 64% to 47%, respectively. Similarly, in the LLINs-only sites, the proportion of malaria cases >15 years increased from 40% to 61% and 29% to 39%, respectively. In the sites receiving LLINs plus IRS, these proportions increased from 19% to 44% and 18% to 31%, respectively.
Conclusions: These findings demonstrate a shift in the burden of malaria from younger to older individuals following implementation of successful control interventions, which has important implications for malaria prevention, surveillance, case management and control strategies.
... Occupation-specific: Some occupations increase the risk of contracting malaria. Construction (Shivalli et al, 2016) and agricultural sites (Naidoo et al, 2011) offer breeding possibilities for mosquitoes and workers spend much time in these places. Occupations that require high mobility, such as workers travelling from low-to high-risk areas, e.g. ...
This assessment is a comprehensive report combining: a) the key evidence linking
diseases and injuries to occupational risks; b) a quantitative assessment of the disease
burden attributable to selected occupational risks; and c) a compilation of general
interventions and selected examples of occupational and environmental interventions
that successfully improve health.
This study estimates that in 2015, more than 1.2 million deaths globally were attributable
to occupational risks, which represent 2.1% of all deaths in the general population. When
accounting for both deaths and disability, the fraction of the global disease burden in
the general population due to occupation amounts to 2.7%. Noncommunicable diseases
contribute 70%, injuries 22% and infectious diseases 8% to the total disease burden from
occupational risks. Low- and middle-income countries are disproportionally affected by
occupational death and disease.
This study provides an approximate estimate of how much disease can be prevented by
reducing occupational risks to health. The analysis uses a combination of approaches with
a clear focus on comparative risk assessment methods, which apply detailed exposure and
exposure-risk information. Of the 1.2 million deaths attributable to occupation, 1.1 million (90%)
were estimated using comparative risk assessment methods, and the remaining using more
limited epidemiological data and expert opinion. While the evidence has shown that many
diseases are caused by occupational risks to health, to date, only a limited number of those
could be quantified, suggesting that the disease burden from occupational risks presented in
this report remains a conservative estimate.
This assessment summarizes extensive information on interventions to reduce the burden of
disease due to occupation. It lists general interventions by disease or injury as well as selected
examples of occupational and environmental interventions from the epidemiological literature.
Occupational risks, in this study, include physical, chemical, biological and psychosocial risks,
working conditions and the built environments of workplaces.
Changes in the global rural workforce took place from 1980 onwards, above all, with the increase in female participation in salaried work. An integrative review of the literature on the working and health conditions of rural women workers, published from 2010 to 2020, was carried out. The databases consulted were BVS, SciELO and PubMed, and 43 studies, 11 national and 32 internationals, were analyzed. The results point to a diversity of work activities performed by rural women, in a salaried, autonomous and cooperative way, as well as unpaid activities. Working conditions in salaried jobs are generally precarious, with temporary contracts, low wages and long working hours. In autonomous work and in cooperatives, studies report greater control of activities, financial autonomy and greater satisfaction of workers. Stood out in all forms of work, the sexual division of labor and the work overload with the addition of productive activities, unpaid reproductive activities, housework and care work. Musculoskeletal disorders, suffering and mental illness, high exposure and poisoning to pesticides and violence in the work and domestic environment were identified as preponderant in the health-work relationships experienced by these rural women workers.
KEYWORDS
Women, working; Rural workers; Working conditions; Rural health
Changes in the global rural workforce took place from 1980 onwards, above all, with the increase in female participation in salaried work. An integrative review of the literature on the working and health conditions of rural women workers, published from 2010 to 2020, was carried out. The databases consulted were BVS, SciELO and PubMed, and 43 studies, 11 national and 32 internationals, were analyzed. The results point to a diversity of work activities performed by rural women, in a salaried, autonomous and cooperative way, as well as unpaid activities. Working conditions in salaried jobs are generally precarious, with temporary contracts, low wages and long working hours. In autonomous work and in cooperatives, studies report greater control of activities, financial autonomy and greater satisfaction of workers. Stood out in all forms of work, the sexual division of labor and the work overload with the addition of productive activities, unpaid reproductive activities, housework and care work. Musculoskeletal disorders, suffering and mental illness, high exposure and poisoning to pesticides and violence in the work and domestic environment were identified as preponderant in the health-work relationships experienced by these rural women workers.
KEYWORDS
Women, working; Rural workers; Working conditions; Rural health
Introduction
Malaria is a major public health burden in developing countries despite efforts made by several countries. This disease leads to high morbidity and mortality among Rwandans, particularly in the Southern Province where it was the sixth national cause of morality; at Munini hospital it is the first cause of mortality, but the associated factors remain unknown. In this study, we determined the factors associated with deaths among patients with severe malaria to come up with evidence-based interventions to prevent malaria and its factors.
Methods
A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on malaria patients who were treated at the Munini District Hospital from 2016 to 2017. Data were collected from the hospital records or registers relating to patients who were admitted with severe malaria. The odds ratio was estimated by bivariate logistic regression and multivariate hierarchical regression models for determining the associated factors of deaths. Data were analyzed using STATA/MP Version 14.1 and Epi-info with proportions.
Results
The study population were mostly women (n = 237, 59.1%), farmers (n = 313, 78.05%), aged 16–30 years (n = 107, 26.68%). Our results indicated that the majority of deaths were women (56.25%). Socio-economic and clinical determinants are important predictors of death among patients with severe malaria. Patients with coma had higher odds of dying (AOR = 7.31, 95% CI :3.33–16.1, p < 0.001) than those who were not. The possibility of mortality increased by almost four times in patients who delayed consultation by a day (AOR = 3.7, 95%CI:1.8–4.1; p < 0.001) compared to those who came in very early. Patients who had severe malaria in the dry season were at a lower risk of mortality (AOR = 0.23, 95%CI:0.08–0.64, p = 0.005) compared to those with severe malaria during the rainy season.
Conclusion
Lack of health insurance, age of the patient, delayed diagnosis, coma, proximity and access to healthcare services, and weather conditions were the major factors associated with mortality among patients with severe malaria. Comprehensive, long-term, equity-based healthcare interventions and immediate care strategies are recommended.
From the Plague of AthensPlague of Athens, the earliest pandemicPandemic recorded in historyHistory, to COVIDCOVID-19, infectious diseaseInfectious diseaseoutbreaksOutbreak have relentlessly impacted societiesSociety, culturesCulture, and economiesEconomy. For a long time, it has been assumed that the spreadSpread of pathogensPathogen in a populationPopulation is homogeneousHomogeneous, with each infected host having approximately equal probabilitiesProbability of encountering and infecting susceptibleSusceptiblesecondary contactsSecondary contact. More recently, it was shown that many outbreaksOutbreak are shaped by heterogeneitiesHeterogeneities, which may occur in the spatialSpatial or temporalTemporaldimensionsDimension and can arise through various mechanisms. These heterogeneitiesHeterogeneities exist at the level of individuals, groups of individuals, and species, Species and were described in the interactionInteractionof humanHuman, animalAnimal, and cellularCellularpopulationsPopulation with bacteriaBacteria, viruses, parasites, or vectors. Extreme cases of these transmissionTransmissionheterogeneitiesHeterogeneities are known as super-spreading events. TransmissionTransmissionheterogeneitiesHeterogeneities and super-spreading are governed by factors that depend on the host, the pathogenPathogen, and the environmentEnvironment. While super-spreading events were documented for many outbreaksOutbreak studied to date, they are usually identified retrospectivelyRetrospectively. This makes it challenging to incorporate them into the managementManagement of ongoing epidemicsEpidemic or pandemicsPandemic. Previous studies point toward co-infectionInfection, immuneImmune suppression, pathogenPathogen virulence, airflow dynamicsDynamic, and high numbers of socialSocial contacts as some of the factors involved in super-spreading. A better understanding of super-spreading, from epidemiologyEpidemiology to the cellularCellular processes and the mechanistic details, promises to support the developmentDevelopment of a framework to identify transmissionTransmissionheterogeneitiesHeterogeneities early during outbreaksOutbreak, incorporate them into epidemicEpidemic and pandemicPandemicpreparednessPreparedness plans, and reshape the future of public healthPublic health. “We live in evolutionary competition with microbes—bacteria and viruses. There is no guarantee that we will be the survivors”. Joshua Lederberg. Super-spreading in infectious diseasesInfectious disease [Adapted from the Association of ScienceScienceand ArtArt (ASA), USERN; Made by Nastaran Hosseini]. The code of this chapter is 01101110 011011100110100101101111011001010111001001110100010001010111011001101110 01101101.
Background: Malaria control using long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying of insecticide (IRS) has been associated with reduced transmission throughout Africa. However, the impact of transmission reduction on the age distribution of malaria cases remains unclear.
Methods: Over a 10-year period (January, 2009 to July, 2018), outpatient surveillance data from four health facilities in Uganda were used to estimate the impact of control interventions on temporal changes in the age distribution of malaria cases using multinomial regression. Interventions included mass distribution of LLINs at all sites and IRS at two sites.
Results: Overall, 896,550 patient visits were included in the study; 211,632 aged <5 years, 171,166 aged 5-15 years, and 513,752 >15 years. Over time, the age distribution of patients not suspected of malaria and those malaria negative either declined or remained the same across all sites. In contrast, the age distribution of suspected and confirmed malaria cases increased across all four sites for. In the two LLINs-only sites, the proportion of malaria cases in <5 years decreased from 31% to 16% and 35% to 25%, respectively. In the two sites receiving LLINs plus IRS, these proportions decreased from 58% to 30% and 64% to 47%, respectively. Similarly, in the LLINs-only sites, the proportion of malaria cases >15 years of age increased from 40% to 61% and 29% to 39%, respectively. In the sites receiving LLINs plus IRS, these proportions increased from 19% to 44% and 18% to 31%, respectively.
Discussion: These findings demonstrate a shift in the burden of malaria from younger to older individuals following implementation of successful control interventions, which has important implications for malaria prevention, surveillance, case management and control strategies.
Brazil is the world's fourth largest consumer of pesticides, and the largest in Latin America. In the Brazilian Amazon, the use of pesticides in varzeas (seasonally flooded land, where fresh vegetables are produced for regional urban markets) is intensive and is perceived by local farmers as necessary for the feasibility of vegetable production in the region. Usage of pesticides in Brazilian agriculture is regulated by Federal Law No. 7.802. However, law enforcement is almost absent in some remote areas. Given the limited or poor literacy skills of Amazon farmers and widespread use of pesticides, it is expected that occupational exposure to pesticides is likely to be high, increasing the vulnerability to acute and chronic poisoning. This paper investigates levels of understanding of pesticide handling among farmers by focusing on their ability to understand the information displayed on product labels, which might affect risk reduction.We found that the information displayed on product labels was not effective in promoting protective and safety measures. Farmers, in the main, do not read the labels, reporting that the fonts are too small, and that the instructions are too long and in overly technical Portuguese. They also understood few of the pictograms, which are directed at the illiterate. In many cases, the inability to understand the information displayed led to the adoption of practices which actually increased exposure, risks to human health and environmental contamination. This is alarming considering that 42% of farmers use methyl-parathion which is considered extremely hazardous by the WHO classification and whose use has been banned in the European Union. Farmers’ adopted practices and understanding of product labels is presented and possible alternatives discussed, including changes to the Federal law on pesticide product labeling.
Small-scale farmers in Northern Tanzania grow vegetables that include tomatoes, cabbages and onions and use many types of pesticides to control pests and diseases that attack these crops. Based on the use of questionnaires and interviews that were conducted in Arumeru, Monduli, Karatu, and Moshi rural districts, this study investigates farmers' practices on vegetable pest management using pesticides and related cost and health effects. The types of pesticides used by the farmers in the study areas were insecticides (59%), fungicides (29%) and herbicides (10%) with the remaining 2% being rodenticides. About a third of the farmers applied pesticides in mixtures. Up to 90% had a maximum of 3 pesticides in a mixture. In all cases there were no specific instructions either from the labels or extension workers regarding these tank mixtures. Fifty three percent of the farmers reported that the trend of pesticide use was increasing, while 33% was constant and 14% was decreasing. More than 50 percent of the respondents applied pesticides up to 5 times or more per cropping season depending on the crop. Insecticides and fungicides were routinely applied by 77% and 7%, respectively by these farmers. Sixty eight percent of farmers reported having felt sick after routine application of pesticides. Pesticide-related health symptoms that were associated with pesticides use included skin problems and neurological system disturbances (dizziness, headache). Sixty one percent of farmers reported spending no money on health due to pesticides. These results can be used to develop a tool to quantify the cost of pesticide use in pest management by small-scale vegetable farmers in Northern Tanzania and contribute to the reformation of pesticide policy for safe and effective use of pesticides.
Compares the total counts of men and women in the farm labor force obtained from population censuses and surveys, from estimates prepared by the International Labour Office, and from censuses of farm holdings coordinated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, each of which follows different definitions and procedures. Whereas the three sources reveal quite similar counts of men in the labor force on average, they differ remarkably in their counts of women. New estimates based on the more inclusive practices of the FAO censuses substantially raise the female proportions in the agricultural labor force above those reported by the ILO. These new estimates are relevant to agricultural development planning and to theories of gender roles and labor allocation. -Author
This paper describes the origin and history of smallholding irrigation schemes (SIS) in previously disadvantaged rural areas of South Africa. It then analyses the implications of the 1998 National Water Act on those schemes. An analysis of water rights is presented, along with a brief case study on a water rights transfer. A number of contradictions, uncertainties and possible threats are highlighted, which may hinder further development in SIS. Most difficulties originate from the Act's lacks of clarity regarding water rights and from the objectives and socio-economic prospects of the schemes.
The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) was first reported as a pest in South Africa in the early 1900s. The cost of pesticides and the increasing resistance of P. xylostella to chemical control makes it necessary to explore alternative control methods. We investigated the crop preferences of P. xylostella to determine the possibility of using Indian mustard as a trap crop. Infestation levels of P. xylostella were tested on five different plants in the laboratory and the field: cabbage, Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.; cauliflower, Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L.; broccoli, Brassica oleracea var. italica L.; Chinese cabbage, Brassica pekinensis (Lour.) and Indian mustard, Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. Laboratory experiments indicated that females preferred to oviposit on Indian mustard. Field trials, however, indicated a higher larval infestation on broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. Larval survival in the laboratory was lower on Indian mustard than on other crops, which may explain the low numbers found on Indian mustard in the field. Other possibilities for this discrepancy are discussed. Results indicated that Indian mustard has potential as a trap crop for P. xylostella in South Africa.
The paper presents the results from a study of the effect of the Training and Visit (T&V) System of agricultural extension
on farm productivity. Two adjacent areas in northwest India, one with T&V extension and one with an older system, are compared,
utilizing farm-level data. Econometric analysis demonstrates that the T&V area had a wheat yield advantage of 9.33% after
four years of T&V extension. The baseline yield differential was calculated as 3.01%. The gain attributable to T&V is shown
to imply a return of at least 15% to the incremental investment in extension with high probability.
This paper highlights the role of rural women in agriculture and its allied fields. It is argued that the rural women in Pakistan have been actively involved in agriculture and its allied fields. Rural women's work ranges from crop production to harvesting operations, from live stock rearing to raising babies. In addition to her daily work routine, consisting of, cooking, cleaning, and other domestic chores, rural women are also heavily involved in all aspects of country's agricultural sector. From crop production to livestock rearing, rural women are expected to regularly engage both domestic and commercial aspects of society. Despite such a huge contribution, her role has yet not been recognized. The paper recommends a fair treatment to the rural women and calls for social upliftment by enhancing education, employment, training, and health care facilities.
A significant increase in pesticide use has increased concerns about potentially adverse effects on human health and the environment, particularly in countries where regulations are not strictly implemented and farmers’ knowledge of safe handling procedures is often inadequate. This paper assesses the potential risk of pesticide use by smallholder farmers in the Cagayan Valley, North-East Luzon, the Philippines, by examining pesticide usage, application methods, pesticide drift and health effects among farmers with different levels of income and market access. About 104 farmers growing rice and corn were interviewed and spray drift and exposure of operators was measured when 22 rice farmers sprayed with water using their knapsack equipment. Twenty different pesticides freely sold in stores or markets were encountered in the study, 9 of which are classified as ‘highly hazardous’ or ‘moderately hazardous’ and at least 6 as restricted use pesticides. Farmers mostly at risk had the highest income and largest farms. By walking through crops, farmers’ legs were most seriously exposed to pesticide deposition. The experimental results agreed with farmers’ affirmative response to questions about their suffering various symptoms of poisoning. Estimates of pesticide concentrations in watercourses exposed to drift suggest that aquatic species will suffer adverse effects up to at least 2.0 m from field borders. Hazard quotients suggest that pesticide application rates are not toxic to honeybees exposed to drift up to 1.5 m from sprayed fields. Approval of pesticides needs to distinguish between restricted and general use pesticides. Recommendations are made for controlling pesticide use and its impacts, modifying the integrated pest management programme and redesigning pesticide policies.