the hunt for fraudulent pesticides, which destroy the health of farmers

Like every morning, the men of this village in Côte d’Ivoire go deep into the bush and head for the coffee and cocoa plantations. In recent years, their way of maintaining the fields has changed: machetes have been replaced by pesticides and chemical weedkillers. They say they have tripled their annual yield and profits. In the country, the average salary is around 100 euros per month.

Significant risks for the health of planters

Only, the planters spray without any protection. “JI have headaches, and it makes me cough. I’m scared, but I can’t help it. I don’t have gloves, my boots are already torn, I can’t afford“, confides Dominique Mahan, farmer. Almost all of them are unaware of the risks and toxicity of the products they use, sold in self-service at the market. Most of them, banned in France and Europe, are very harmful for both farmers and consumers. and the environment.

Several NGOs denounce it. “Generally, planters are illiterate. They cannot read or write. So expired or not, they don’t know. (…) There are no regular checks. There are people who died from this“, assures Mathurin Sadia, responsible for the development of the NGO Eco-tourism.