On August 10th, 2018, a California judge ordered Monsanto, a global agribusiness owned by Bayer, to pay $289 million in damages to Dewayne Johnson, a former groundskeeperwho used the Monsanto herbicide Roundup for many years and is now dying of cancer.
As I watched the news of this ruling announced on major international channels, I thought of the wider implications this decision could have on farmers that I work with in Africa. At the crux of this issue is the chemical glyphosate, the main ingredient of Roundup, the most widely used weed killer in the world. It is also the most used herbicide in South Africa, and is widely used across the African continent with minimal safety oversight. The ruling should sound an alarm for African governments, farmers and civil society organizations as safety protocols are falling far behind rising demand for crop protection products in Africa.
The prosecution in Johnson’s case found that Monsanto knew its Roundup and RangerPro weed-killers were dangerous and failed to warn consumers. In its defense, Monsanto argued that its products were safe, registered for use in over 130 countries, widely studied and researched, and were not responsible for Mr. Johnson’s cancer. They intend to appeal the verdict.
With the widespread incidence of crop pests and disease across Africa, responsible for up to 50 percent loss of harvests, farmers increasingly recognize the importance of crop protection.This has transformed West Africa into a growth market for Monsanto and other international agribusiness giants. However, there is minimal farmer education about the proper methods of application for herbicides, insecticides and fungicides and the risks associated with unsafe use.
Indeed, I have personally seen many of these products sold in bottles, with minimal warnings. I have observed that most smallholder farmers lack the income to purchase basic gloves, masks, protective clothing or sprayers to protect themselves during the application process. Many even store these chemicals in their homes or with their harvest, because they lack separate storage space.
Sadly, there is limited data on negative effects of the use of these products in the African context, and no landmark cases to propel the investigation of the short, medium and long-term implications of improper use. However, a recent studyby researchers based out of Cornell Universityand Georgetown Universityof farmers in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda revealed evidence a range of negative human health outcomes associated with pesticide use including time lost due to illness.
The reality is that African farmers needaffordable, safe and sustainable crop protection products and this in turn demands that product manufacturers are responsible, regardless of whether the operate in environments with strong regulatory agencies.
Multinational companies such as Bayer, Dupont, Syngenta, Dow, BASF need to recognize that even though Africa represents large and growing markets, they must uphold global best practices in sales and marketing, and resist the temptation to applya double standard. Both multinational and local manufacturers must ensure farmers are educated in the proper application methods and risks associated with the chemicals. They should invest in educating government and state extension workers who can provide comprehensive training to the farmers. Companies should also equip government agencies with the requisite protective clothing and equipment for spraying, which can be rented and shared by clusters of farmers.
In order to protect farmers and consumers, African governments must regulate the contents of crop protection productsand monitor the health impact of glyphosate, which the World Health Organization has associated with cancer. They must stipulate packaging and labeling requirements and fund farmer education drives using community and village radio stations to reach farmers who are illiterate. They must also rebuild the extension systems, improving the training, efficiency and effectiveness of the extension workers, enabling them to provide continuous education and support to the farmers, especially those in remote rural communities.
Meanwhile, farmer and consumer organizations should partner with civil research institutions to conduct research on the impact of crop protection products,and hold companies and governments accountable for setting high standards and ensuring compliance.
The Monsanto ruling also heightens the urgent need for Africa to revisit more integrated pest management systems that use natural approaches for controlling pests such as crop rotation to break the cycle of pests and diseases. Many such methods are age-old African traditions which have been discarded since the age of agricultural science and technological innovation.
Dewayne Johnson’s experiences as a groundskeeper in a California county school system, and his experiences are far from those of farmers in Africa. But his legal case, and those of the many other claimants who will engage in future legal battles are a wake-up call for African farmers, the regulatory agencies and the local and global private sector. We must learn from the lessons of other nations and commit to raising awareness and partnering to protect our crops and our people.
Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli
Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli is the Co-Founder of AACE Food Processing & Distribution Ltd, Managing Partner of Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition, Founder of LEAP Africa and a 2018 Aspen New Voices Fellow