Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
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Chapter 3: The politics of wasteAccording to Pesticide News:The biggest stocks of pesticides are invariably found where major donoroperations have taken place, large scale cash crop production exists orhas existed in <strong>the</strong> past, and centralised agricultural input supply systemsoperate or operated in <strong>the</strong> past. Cotton, for example, has consistently beena major user of pesticides and national cotton production and marketingorganisations have commonly been involved in buying and distributingpesticides. Low cotton prices encouraged farmers in many countries to growo<strong>the</strong>r crops leaving in many cases massive stocks of pesticides and pesticidetreated seed unused. To a smaller extent a similar pattern was repeated withcoffee production. 43Changes in policy as well as markets have contributed to <strong>the</strong> problem. In countrieswhere <strong>the</strong> state promoted chemical agriculture, whole warehouses full of obsoletepesticides were left to rot when structural adjustment programmes forced cuts in<strong>the</strong> support to small farmers. Stockpiles were also created when <strong>the</strong> rules regulatingpesticides in sending countries were changed. The results on <strong>the</strong> ground are atrocious,as <strong>the</strong> experience in Vikuge, Tanzania, shows. 44Vikuge became <strong>the</strong> victim of a toxic donation in 1986, when a private company inGreece donated partly expired pesticides to <strong>the</strong> government of Tanzania – via <strong>the</strong>Greek government. These pesticides had been made obsolete in Europe by tighterregulation. A technical examination suggested that <strong>the</strong> ‘donation’ contained notonly pesticides, but also waste from pesticide production. The pesticides were storedin an open shed at Vikuge State Farm. They were never used – partly because localmanagers did not understand <strong>the</strong> Greek labelling – and <strong>the</strong> shed later collapsed.In 1995 <strong>the</strong> pesticides were partially burned by a bush fire. In 1996 <strong>the</strong> shed wasrebuilt and <strong>the</strong> pesticides collected and repacked with donor support from <strong>the</strong>Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). Development workers havereported that no vegetation grows around <strong>the</strong> shed, <strong>the</strong>re is a strong smell and somepesticides are still scattered in <strong>the</strong> vicinity. There is an obvious risk that villagersare exposed to <strong>the</strong> pesticides through contamination of <strong>the</strong>ir wells as well as <strong>the</strong>pollution of air.43 Pesticides News, September 200544 Based on Obsolete pesticides threaten Vikuge village, Tanzania, by Michael Kishimba, Henry Kylin, MatabolaMihale and Sara Elfvendahl. Pesticide News, September 2005.- 62 - groundWork - <strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong>