10
UNWISE USE OF PESTICIDES CAUSING DISASTER IN EGYPT, INFRINGING HUMAN RIGHT TO FOOD
Pesticides, once seen as a final solution for the many problems caused by pests and diseases, now seem to be a nightmare. Moreover, more pesticides were invented, as science and technology have advanced. Unfortunately, though such pesticides proved affective in reducing many pests’ populations, the unwise use of them caused many problems for the humankind. Not only that but the corruption in institutions regulating their use has also added to the scope of their hazards.
In a report issue d by Land Centre for Human Rights, many of such hazards revealed. The report is the tenth in the Economic and Social Rights’ series includes many such malpractice examples.
The report outlines the kinds of hazard result from the excessive use of such pesticides in Egypt. It indicates that many poisoning cases reported annually in the country due to the use of pesticides. Besides that, it revealed that many thousand people were suffering from serious diseases. For instance the rate of kidney failure infection in Egypt is at 20 in 1000, while the world’s higher rate put at 4 in 1000.
The report ascertaining its findings quoted some statements included in a report made by the People Assembly’s health affairs committees. The statements shown that there was 100,000 person subject for infection with cancer in Egypt. In addition, there were other quarter million person already infected with the same disease over the past period.
Some other reports predicate an increase in cases of cancer infection in Egypt. That is due to the increase of pollution in the air, the water and food contamination.
The results of some studies in this area prove that the contamination of agricultural products with pesticides causes many serious diseases. The studies showed that there was 3000-kidney failure and 60,000 bladder cancer cases reported every year. Similar was the increase in death rate as result of pesticides’ poisoning. It has reached 76 cases in a year.
The report goes on to highlight the dangerous affect of pesticides’ unwise use on coming generations. It says that the bad affect of using chemical pesticides does not confined to present generation. The consequences of it would manifest on lives of upcoming generations. In addition, many other natural resources like the environment and farmland soil would badly affect by the use of those pesticides. All that would have its adverse affect on human life in the earth.
The report's first chapter through defining pests and pesticides tries to investigate the scope of the pesticides problem in the world.
In this respect it stated that due to pests infestation the world lose 35% of its agricultural production that besides the death of 50 million heads of caws and water buffaloes and 100 million heads of goats and sheep.
In addition, the second and third chapters of the report demonstrate the hazards of the excessive use of pesticides. In doing so, the report stated some of the world countries' bad experiences in this respect.
The report also handles the situation of chemical pesticides use of in Egypt.
It affirms that Egypt ranked the first among the world nations in term of the its average use of pesticides when compare with what it had of cultivated lands. To prove this fact the report indicates that Egypt lately prohibited the use of 200 type of pesticides. That is in addition to another 47 that their application barred since 1996.
In the same context, the average annual rate of pesticides use in Egypt was set at 14,000 tones during 1980s. Moreover, It sharply increased to 30,000 tones during 1990s and to 34,000 tone during mid 90s. All this happened despite the fact that the total farmland area has only increased by no more than 100,000 acres the report clarifies. Though, in taking into the consideration, that rate of pesticides’ used is very low in newly opened land; we would release that each acre in that land receives not less than 6 kg of pesticides. Such rate in fact is very high when compared with similar rate at other countries of the world.
This condition urged a member in the People Assembly to submit a request note before the minister of supply to clarify the whole issue. Moreover, the discussion of this request held during the Assembly final session of 1999. In this request, The member asserted that there were several kinds of the contaminated food staff available at various marketplaces. Adding that among those were pesticides’ treated potatoes milks beef and hen meat. He also said that killing of the people with contaminated food is now being practiced openly. “Many of such miserable people lying in streets, other are awaiting in long queues before turners and cancer institutes or kidney and liver treatment centers.”
The report confirming the statement of the PA member says that liver diseases rates reached a very serious stage during the past few years. It adds that there are six million person now in Egypt suffer from such diseases and, another one million in very critical health conditions. They are all suffering from liver cirrhosis, cancer and C virus infections. All that resulted from the random use of pesticides agricultural chemicals.
In supporting these facts, the report states that liver diseases become a problem as from mid 1970s. It adds that the random use of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals in farming was the reason behind that. The report goes to say that liver diseases are accumulative diseases that their affects appear after a long period.
Giving more details on such diseases the report says that human liver is the fist organ going to affect by any contaminated material consumed by human. That because the digested food goes directly to it to be filtered. It is not like other organs that only receive the blood for consuming it. The report also counts the introduction of genetic engineering into agricultural among the most important factors lead to increasing of various diseases infections. Therefore, it ruled that consumption of fruits and vegetables has become one of the main causes of liver diseases.
Later the report demonstrates the most important violations cases to which human and animal exposed as result of misappropriate use of chemical pesticides in Egypt.
It said in Al-Wassita local district, the natives refused to consume beef meat out of the fear that they might infected with its diseases. That happened after they have come to know that large number of caws died at Beni- Audai village. Reports from there affirmed that 425 cases killed and another 50 shown symptoms of blindness paralysis and their milk color turned blue. This state of fear sent the area’s entire meat market into recession.
In Beharyia province, the natives expose for high levels of pollution resulting from the activities of three chemicals industries there. The population of a village called Houd 10 are the mostly affect for such hazards. Reports from there affirmed that the rate of infection with chest diseases is very high among those people. The worse is during 1996 a new pesticide plant ahs established at the area. That happened though environment legislation prohibits the establishment of such installations close to residential areas. However, it was that due to the power the owners of this plant enjoying a permit issued enabling them to build it on nose of the law.
In Gharbyia province, where one of the country's giant pesticides companies founded, one farmer died while irrigating his field. It was later confirmed that this company discharged 1000 cubic letters of its waste materials into the Nile waters. This unwise act resulted in contaminating the waters and consequently caused many harms for inhabitants there.
In Sharkyia province, the use of pesticides resulted in killing many birds in Abu Hamid and Fakous rural districts. In addition, it reported that a family of five was extinct as they have eaten ‘Tamya’ bean hot cake contaminated with rat poison.
In Dakahlyia, the pesticides wrong use also resulted in killing of a large number of birds and other beneficial insects. It has also taken the life of five men in Mit Ghamer. Other reports from Mit Ghamer, Dekarnis and Al-Sanbalwan districts affirmed a rise in kidney failure cases due to the random use of pesticides.
The report also asserts that the use of pesticides has also affected the nation’s wealth of fisheries. It said many of anglers were of the habit to use such pesticides in fishing.
Meanwhile the report tries to demonstrate the pesticides market in Egypt and the main institutions involved in this industry. It also tries to clarify whether such institutions adhere to legislation regulating such industry pesticides or not. In addition, to identify what kind of pesticides they produce and whether they were among the prohibited one or not.
As discussing all those issues the report was focusing on law 53/1966, some ministerial decrees issued in same area and a number of international conventions regulating the use of those poisons.
Ü The report ends in outlining some recommendations:
A strict supervision should be imposed on use, processing and treading of these pesticides. This supervision should performed by independent scientific governmental and non-governmental authorities. In such way, the regulating of their use would not depend only on the ministerial decrees, as the issue has to do with the right of the people to clean food and life. Ministry of health should have a role to play in this issue as it the one responsible for the people health. Equally, the ministry of environmental affairs has to take part in handling this issue since it the one care much for Egypt’s environment. It also can not be of any logic that the ministry of supply is away from interfering in this issue. In fact providing a clean and health, food is the responsibility of all those institutions.
The set-up of the country’s pesticides committee should developed and local supervision committees have to be formed at the levels of villages, districts, and provinces. Those committees will supervise the processing, handling and use of pesticides in their areas. Their memberships should include representatives from non- governmental organizations; people local councils; ministries of health, supply and environment; professors from agricultural faculties; and members of the People Assembly and Shura (Consultative) Council. Such committees would be the nucleus of a higher national committee that could tackle this problem according to the threat it poses.
Penalties that stipulated in agricultural law or any other law against irregularities in using of pesticides should toughened. In addition, the Penalties imposed against commercial and industrial fabrication of pesticides should also toughen.
The departments of fishers, birds and animal health to be assigned to independent authorities. Such to be done in a way that ministries of health, supply and environment should have an equal role in their function like that of the ministry of agriculture.
The preconditions of studying of the healthy, environmental and social effects should fulfill before deciding to bring into the country any new food staff or allowing the use of a new pesticide. This also would make it a must that permitting the use of any pesticide to be made public before putting it into marketplace.
More strict, clear and reasonable precautions should be taken to avoid food items be polluted in a way that could pose threat to public’s health. The Central Pesticides Lab and other scientific institutions should play a role in examining and studying all locally consumed food crops. Their work should not confine only to imported items of them. that to ensure its validity for human consumption
Finally, Land Center calls on Egyptian Government to promptly endorse all the international conventions regulating the use of the pesticides. The also of such is Rotterdam agreement. The Center also calls on all concerned officials, popular and executive authorities to face the threat those pesticides posing to our people lives. They have to benefit from this report’s recommendations or any other reports addressed the same problem.
All that efforts needed to guard our nation’s health against all hazards result from consuming pesticides-contaminated foods and from the diseases, they cause. Therefore, we could confidently claim that we fulfil the human right to clean food and better life.