Member profile
Dr. Sheila Willis
Organization:
Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN-UK)
Country:
United Kingdom
Field(s) of expertise:
I am working on:
Agroecology, pesticide management, Highly Hazardous Pesticides, collecting and managing data on the impacts of pesticides in smallholder farming, testing / applying safer alternatives
Dr. Sheila Willis
Pesticide Action Network-UK has not done policy analysis in this area but we have some relevant experience to share from our work in West Africa and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA).
2) Climate change and Environmental Degradation and 3) Family farming
Many of the smallholder farmers with whom we work with have little training or information concerning the pesticides they use and the hazards they present for human health and the environment. This can have a significant negative impact on their livelihoods as well as the ecosystem services on which they depend (such as pollination, soil health, natural enemies of pests). This, in turn impacts on family livelihoods, nutrition and the welfare of children. In addition, children are particularly susceptible to the impacts of pesticides on their health and development. Evidence suggests that even low exposure to certain pesticides can impair their neurological and behavioural development. Women of child bearing age are also particularly vulnerable to these toxic effects which can be passed through the placenta to the foetus and in breast milk.
In 2016 PAN-UK undertook small scale surveys of children living on small farms in 5 countries (Armenia, Belarus, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine). In each country except Armenia, the surveys revealed that children were directly handling pesticides on the farm. The survey teams in Kyrgyzstan and Moldova in particular were surprised to find more than a quarter of participating children directly involved in applying pesticides (26% and 39% respectively) as well as undertaking other tasks around the farm that may expose them to these hazardous chemicals, such as picking fruit and washing spray equipment. These were small scale studies and the age profile was not comparable, but still indicates a potentially significant issue for children. In Kyrgyzstan, the issue was debated in parliament and efforts were made to raise public awareness about the dangers to children.
3) Family farming and gender
PAN-UK has worked with partners in Benin for over 20 years to support organic cotton production. Two key features of this work are i) protecting livelihoods through resilient and biodiverse agricultural systems ii) empowering women to engage in decision-making and diversify livelihoods. Both of these aspects have proved to be important for children’s welfare and school attendance.
The situation of women in poor, rural communities can be bleak. As one report puts it ‘In rural areas women traditionally occupy a subordinate role and are responsible for much of the hard labour on subsistence farms.’ (2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices). This attitude is reflected in girls’ opportunities from a young age. Just 11.2% women in Benin over 25 years of age have a secondary education. In order to improve the situation of children, it is also important to address the constraints on adult women.
Our work has successfully supported women to engage in decision-making at family and community level and to engage in a wide range of income-generating activities. Securing their own income has helped to increase the status of participating women, who are now taking on leadership roles in local cooperatives and other forums. In a meeting with the Women’s Cotton Cooperative in Djamadji village near Glazoué in 2019, for example, a participant said ‘I think that having my own income has given me more power concerning household decisions, particularly about sending my children to school. I have often argued with my husband about keeping my daughters in school and, with my own money, it is easier to win’. The group agreed that they had experienced similar conversations and said that they wanted their children to get as much schooling as possible. This is anecdotal, but we hear similar feedback again and again.
4) Innovation
One of the requests of participating cotton farmers in Benin was for milling equipment. This equipment saves many hours of arduous and repetitive work milling maize and other dry produce by hand. In a survey of 498 farmers in 2018, 50% farmers reported that proximity to milling equipment was an important factor for girls’ school attendance. Without a mill in the village, girls are often kept from school to process maize and millet manually.