Pin-pointing pesticide contamination and the damage it can do to people

Abstract

Water and health As with many developing countries, agriculture remains vitally important to South Africa’s economy. Though it has decreased as a percentage of GDP over the past four decades, currently contributing around 2%, the sector formally employs 638 000 people, and an estimated 8.5-million people are directly or indirectly dependent it for an income. The sector’s significance is a key focus of the New Growth Path, a governmental strategy to create 5 million new jobs by 2020. Yet, the sector is impacting negatively on the resource that it is most dependent on – our limited freshwater supplies. Regardless of limited monitoring studies, there is sufficient information to indicate that many currently used agricultural pesticides enter surface and groundwater. According to the latest Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) database, there are in excess of 8 000 herbicide, insecticide and fungicide products registered for use in South Africa.

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