Nigeria’s National Agency for Food Drugs and Administration Control (NAFDAC) says it has evolved measures toward averting dangers associated with the use of pesticides and agrochemicals in the country. Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, NAFDAC Director-General, made the disclosure on Tuesday (3 December) during a ‘Sensitization Workshop for Agro-Input Dealers on Safe and Responsible Use of Pesticides and Agrochemicals’ in Ibadan. She said the agency had received several complaints, from concerned citizens on misuse, abuse, presence of counterfeit, substandard and fake pesticides in the country.
Dr. Sani Maiyaki, a Deputy Director in NAFDAC, told the participants that “due to injudicious and indiscriminate use of some pesticides, many accidents have occurred in different parts of the country. The presence of pesticides in foods, fruits, vegetables, and environment and its use as a suicide tool by youths and vulnerable persons is of great concern to NAFDAC.” She also added that her agency, NAFDAC, “along with relevant stakeholders, is taking the initiative to ensure safe use of pesticides and agrochemicals in Nigeria through stakeholders’ awareness campaign and the institution of regulatory measures. This is with a view to effectively avert the dangers associated with injudicious and indiscriminate use of pesticides.”
Among the regulatory measures used was immediate ban on importation and manufacture of 100ml pack size of Dichlorvos (DDVP) and ban on sale of DDVP in open market and supermarkets and mandatory listing of agrochemical dealers. Other measures are restriction on sales of Crop Protection Products (CCP) to NAFDAC approved/accredited agrochemical dealers, mop up of DDVP 100ml from open markets and supermarkets by manufacturers, importers and distributors. The NAFDAC boss said that NAFDAC had developed a phase-out action plan to ban the manufacture, importation, sale and use of Paraquat in Nigeria, based on its toxic and harmful effect on humans and environment.
