Abstract
Background
Using pesticides within agriculture setup immensely contributes to the food security and enhancement of better health. It is however noted that inadequate knowledge, negative attitudes, unsafe practices are responsible for most pesticide poisonings that result in pesticide-related morbidity and mortality. This research focused on assessment of the knowledge, attitudes and practices among pesticides applicators in Limpopo. The study is part of risk factor surveillance and monitoring that are important for health promotion among farmers, farm workers and agricultural communities.
Methods
The study used was a cross-sectional study where data was collected through interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaires. Data was collected, coded and keyed into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences Program to calculate frequencies distributions, medians, standard deviations, crude and adjusted odds ratios and confidence intervals. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was also used to assess the existence of association between the dependent and independent variables.
Results and discussion
The study recruited 366 participants, 44.0% of whom were not aware of the pesticide’s hazards while 68.3% did not use safe pesticides handling methods. The age group of 31-40 years was significantly more likely to be unaware of pesticide hazards with adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 1.86 (95% CI 1.00 – 3.47). However, males were significantly less likely to be aware of pesticide exposure hazards with AOR 0.53 (95% CI 0.28 – 0.72). Approximately 35.1% of the participants sometimes or never wore personal protective clothing when using and handling pesticides.
Conclusion
This study revealed gaps in knowledge, attitudes, and practices among pesticide applicators in Limpopo. Therefore, there is a need to implement pesticide safety awareness campaigns, integrated pesticides management as well as risk factor surveillance and monitoring among agricultural communities.