A coalition of Agricultural Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), farmers and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector, are set to wage a campaign against the reckless application of agro chemicals on the natural environment which have direct effect on living creatures including humans.
The Coalition’s main target which is the Parliament of Ghana, it said did not only enact laws and policies, but also ensured that such policies and laws were made to function properly.
The Presbyterian Farmers’ Training and Child Development Program also known as Presby Mile Seven Project, a faith-based NGO is leading the campaign dubbed “Road to Parliament”.
At a workshop on misuse of chemical pesticides and weedicides, participants called for more efforts and collaborations to deal effectively with the harmful effects of agro-chemicals on both human and the natural environment.
Azumah Shaibu, an Advocacy Officer at Mile Seven Agric Project Office, explained that the formation of the Coalition was necessitated by the many challenges that were currently being encountered in the agro-chemical supply chain system, particularly the wrongful acquisitions, sale and application of such chemicals that needed to be checked.
He cited a draft proposal titled ‘Ghana pesticide crisis; when will the government really act?’, a document which listed that as many as 15 people died through food that had been contaminated with agro-chemicals in the Upper East Region alone in 2010, while many others were hospitalized through careless handling of such chemicals.
Only about a week ago, an entire family of five was wipe-off at a farming community near Walewale in the West Mamprusi District after eating contaminated beans and these are some of the issues we want to bring to the attention of the entire country, Mr. Azumah stressed.
Mr. Shaibu said a proper legislation which synchronizes the activities of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) including importers, sellers and farmers, would help correct the challenges and the dangers posed by these agro-chemicals and fertilizers.
According to him, from now up till March 2012 when the Coalition will be meeting Parliament on the issue of pesticides and other chemicals, they were going to embark on series of campaigns, sensitization workshops and forums that would target farmers and agro-chemical dealers to solicit their support for the rightful application of such farm inputs.
The Coalition proposed organic farming as an alternative to be explored, adding that it wanted to see government establish health institutions that would routinely conduct test on samples of agro-chemicals and guarantee their safety to all forms of life.
The Coalition said it also wanted a review of lists of permitted pesticides and suspension of those considered to be dangerous to life.
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