Kent Adamilo Danlami
Project Introduction On Health implications on the Uses of Pesticides on Beans by Rural Farmers.
My name is Kent Adamilo Danlami. I am a mentee at KELIC Education Consult and I am currently working on a community project titled “Health Implications on the Uses of Pesticides on Beans by Rural Farmers”. At KELIC we focus on Citizen Science approach, so we are working with wide range of stakeholders to achieve our goals. In Nigeria today, most farmers depend on pesticides to boost agricultural production and preservation. But what about health implications? With this, and allied questions, our decisions are to delve into food security, occupational health and safety sphere with a great support of community members.
With the rise in the world’s population, there is a proportional increase on the dependence of humans on agriculture and its produce. Therefore, farmers have resorted to the use of different chemicals on farm produce. The use of these chemicals have led to cumulative health burden to consumers in the society. In Nigeria, so many people are being weighed down with diseases like liver, kidney, diabetes and lungs failure. Only few citizens know and care about the misconducts that led to these illnesses. I have realized that most farmers use these chemicals ignorantly. My objective is to find alternatives for the use of pesticides – it could be mechanical or digital machine alternatives. I have started with the introduction of hermetic bags and silos to reduce the use of pesticides.
Farmers, who are predominantly rural dwellers, are my key stakeholders and Citizen Science researchers. With the help of KELIC team members towards this project, we anticipate a change in behavior. I hope to disseminate the outcome of this project through social media and online article publications. Together we can avoid a ‘Silent Spring’.