What agro-input dealers know, sell and say to smallholder farmers about pesticides: a mystery shopping and KAP analysis in Uganda

Abstract

Background Pesticides can have negative effects on human and environmental health, especially when not handled as intended. In many countries, agro-input dealers sell pesticides to smallholder farmers and are supposed to provide recommendations on application and handling. This study investigates the role of agro-input dealers in transmitting safety information from chemical manufacturers to smallholder farmers, assesses the safety of their shops, what products they sell, and how agro-input dealers abide by laws and recommendations on best practices for preventing pesticide risk situations. Methods Applying a mixed-methods approach, we studied agro-input dealers in Central and Western Uganda. Structured questionnaires were applied to understand agro-input dealers’ knowledge, attitude and practices on pesticides (n = 402). Shop layout (n = 392) and sales interaction (n = 236) were assessed through observations. Actual behavior of agro-input dealers when selling pesticides was revealed through mystery shopping with local farmers buying pesticides (n = 94). Results While 97.0% of agro-input dealers considered advising customers their responsibility, only 26.6% of mystery shoppers received any advice from agro-input dealers when buying pesticides. 53.2% of products purchased were officially recommended. Sales interactions focused mainly on product choice and price. Agro-input dealers showed limited understanding of labels and active ingredients. Moreover, 25.0% of shops were selling repackaged products, while 10.5% sold unmarked or unlabeled products. 90.1% of shops were lacking safety equipment. Pesticides of World Health Organization toxicity class I and II were sold most frequently. Awareness of health effects seemed to be high, although agro-input dealers showed incomplete hygiene practices and were lacking infrastructure. One reason for these findings might be that only 55.7% of agro-input dealers held a certificate of competency on safe handling of pesticides and even fewer (5.7%) were able to provide a government-approved up-to-date license. Conclusion The combination of interviews, mystery shopping and observations proved to be useful, allowing the comparison of stated and actual behavior. While agro-input dealers want to sell pesticides and provide the corresponding risk advice, their customers might receive neither the appropriate product nor sufficient advice on proper handling. In light of the expected increase in pesticide use, affordable, accessible and repeated pesticide training and shop inspections are indispensable.

Identifying determinants of pesticide use behaviors for effective agri-environmental policies: a systematic review

“…Full adoption of the complete BCW would require further investigation of such interventions. Furthermore, our research has focused on the farmers as one group of agricultural supply chain actors, but we disregarded extension officers, pesticide retailers, and even consumers (Staudacher et al 2021, Rosenfeld et al 2022, all of whom play crucial roles in this system. For future research to propose comprehensive and integrative policy instruments for agri-environmental policies, these actors and their behaviors also need to be taken into consideration.…”

Agro-Dealers’ Knowledge, Perception, and Willingness to Stock a Fungal-Based Biopesticide (ICIPE 20) for Management of Tuta absoluta in Kenya

“…Wider adoption of the biopesticide will depend on the trader's awareness, perception, and willingness to stock and sell the product within the farmer's reach. The importance of the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions in commercialization and adoption of pest management technologies in developing countries is underscored in previous literature [13,14] The results show that traders stocked a wide range of chemicals for the management of T. absoluta with the most used pesticide being Coragen ® (active ingredient chlorantraniliprole). A higher proportion of agro-dealers (82%) was willing to pay for ICIPE 20 at the same price as Coragen ® and most importantly, at a much higher price of approximately Ksh 750 (US$7.5) per liter.…”

“…where X i is a vector of characteristics of interest for agro-dealer i and their household, and e i is an error term. The selection of the independent variables (X) for this study was guided by the review of previous literature on willingness to pay for new products [14][15][16],…”

Pesticides monitoring in surface water of a subsistence agricultural catchment in Uganda using passive samplers

“…In Uganda, farmers tend to purchase pesticides from informal (often) non-certified suppliers, who, in most cases, do not offer information regarding proper pesticide handling (Andersson and Isgren 2021 ; Staudacher et al 2021 ). Practices such as over-dosage, inappropriate cleaning of spray equipment and clothing, indiscriminate disposal of pesticide containers, and spraying close to waterways or water sources are frequently observed (Matthews 2008 ; Staudacher et al 2020 ).…”