A non-governmental organisation, Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development, has said that between 2020 to 2021, Nigeria spent N75bn on the importation of highly hazardous pesticides.
The Executive Director, SRADev, Dr Leslie Adogame, said this while speaking in Lagos during a press briefing on sustainable alternatives to HHPs use.
While speaking on the theme, ‘Facilitating local action for sustainable of highly hazardous pesticides in Lagos state, Nigeria’, he said that about 15, 000 metric tons of HHP were imported into the country annually.
He said that imports from China and India alone accounted for over 97 per cent of the cost of HHP imports.
He said, “Between 2020 and 2021, the cost of the HHPs imported into Nigeria amounted to over N75bn. Imports from China and India alone accounted for over 97 per cent of the cost of HHP imports.”
Adogame said that the challenge of HHP management in Nigeria was enormous.
He worried that Nigerians were eating to die, adding that Nigeria had gradually been turned into a dumping ground for HHPs.
Adogame said, “There is infiltration of pesticides to the developing country. Nigeria has become a dumping ground, and the use of unregulated pesticides is skyrocketing that is why there are so many cases of reproductive issues and cancers in the world.”
He called on the need for the proper regulation of the pesticide sector, adding that a high number of pesticides were in circulation.
“It beats my imagination how high quantity of HHPs are being used here when some countries have banned such products,” he said.
According to him, the challenges of HHP management in Nigeria were enormous.
Adegame added that indiscriminate use and reliance on pesticides had grave consequences on food safety, the health of consumers, agricultural workers and biodiversity.
He also said the essence of the briefing was to strengthen local advocacy towards ensuring that a strategic approach to international chemical management, and a national progressive ban on HHP was achieved through the promotion of agroecology.
