A report put together by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, a Friend of the Earth Europe, and Pesticides Action Network, has ranked Nigeria as one of the six countries that had their pesticides reviewed for highest levels of harmful residues. The report which is titled ‘Pesticide Atlas: Facts and Figures About Toxic Chemicals in Agriculture’, also revealed that 65% of pesticides used by farmers in Africa’s biggest economy on their farmlands are hazardous, hence, one of the reasons why the Nigerian beans continues to be rejected by European traders and consumers, since 2015.
The primary argument against Nigerian goods on the global market continues to be the fact that they frequently contain high concentrations of pesticides that are deemed to be extremely dangerous. The report also noted that bean samples from Nigeria showed high levels of contamination, containing up to 0.3 milligrams per kilogram of dichlorvos, leaving it under the category of harmful. In contrast, the legal limit in Europe is 0.01 milligrams. It added that Dichlorvos can cause difficulties breathing, diarrhoea, and vomiting, among other effects. The report found that elevated levels of pesticide residues were also detected in Nigeria’s tomato samples, including traces of permethrin. According to the report, the US Environmental Protection Agency classified “permethrin” insecticide as “probably carcinogenic”, capable of causing cancer.
Now that a National Quality Council (NQC) has been constituted, experts have suggested that a proper and thorough process of supervision across the entire value chain, from farmers to export markets, should be put in place in order get the ban on the Nigerian beans lifted and make it fit for admittance for exports to other nations. Recall the Pesticide Atlas was launched in Nigeria, earlier in 2023 with a consideration for the increasing global consumption of pesticides and how it causes harm to insects and plants while contaminating water bodies in the country.
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