Having emerged from decades of war and internal strife as one of the world’s poorest countries, Cambodia faces a new and sinister threat: the poisoning of its people, food, water and wildlife by chemical pesticides unwanted by the rest of the world. Cambodia is fast becoming a dumping ground for such chemicals, deemed by the World Health Organisation to be “highly or extremely hazardous to human health”. Death in Small Doses, the latest report from the Environmental Justice Foundation, highlights the extent of this problem, demonstrates that such pesticide use is largely unnecessary and shows that safe, sustainable alternatives exist.

Agriculture, and rice in particular, forms the cornerstone of culture and food security in Cambodia, where the average annual income is $270 and over one-third of the population lives below the poverty line - 90% of them in rural areas. Increasing food demands have led to widespread pesticide use in agriculture. However, the majority of chemicals that reach Cambodian fields are banned and imported illegally from Thailand and Vietnam. Lacking Cambodian instructions, these products are used by untrained and often illiterate farmers.

“The result is that inappropriate practice is rife,” said Dr Mike Shanahan of the Environmental Justice Foundation, “Pesticides are used at the wrong time, in the wrong strength, and against the wrong pests”. Products are often mixed, creating more dangerous chemical cocktails. Furthermore, unaware of risks, the majority of users fail to protect themselves against the powerful compounds they are applying, thus exposing themselves to direct poisoning by inhalation or skin contact. Farmers are being routinely poisoned and pesticides are polluting food and water supplies as well as threatening ecosystem health. Already, deaths have been reported. Indirectly, pesticide use has the potential to seriously impact food security and Cambodia’s burgeoning export market and tourist industry. Current practice also encourages pests’ resistance to pesticides and kills natural predators, trapping poor farmers on the ‘pesticides treadmill’, stimulating further pesticide use.

Many of the killer chemicals available in Cambodia are formulated in Asia for Western agrochemical giants, whose product stewardship programmes fall short of pledges promoting safe use. The continued supply of chemicals banned or severely restricted in the West, to countries unable to ensure safe use, is ethically questionable. It is of great concern that Western governments allow the export of active ingredients, banned in their own countries, for formulation in developing nations where such dangerous practices persist. “Perhaps the greatest tragedy is that Cambodian pesticide use is largely unnecessary. Many rice pests do not seriously affect yield and can be controlled by natural predators,” said Dr Shanahan. Methodologies such as integrated pest management, organic farming or rice-fish culture represent safe, economically-viable alternatives.

Such approaches have generated considerable success in other Asian countries. In Indonesia, over one million farmers have been trained in alternative practices, pesticide use has decreased yet yields have risen, and, having banned 57 pesticide products, the government saved over US$100 million per year phasing out an 85% pesticide subsidy.

Whilst the Royal Government of Cambodia has shown the political will to address this problem, it presently lacks the capacity to enforce domestic legislation. Death in Small Doses includes 50 key recommendations addressing these problems. Only with concerted efforts from governments, donor agencies, United Nations institutions and non-governmental organisations, and a more responsible approach from the agrochemical industry, will Cambodia be able to tackle these issues and avoid the slow poisoning currently threatening the country’s long-term development targets.

Death in Small Doses, the complete report, can be downloaded in pdf format from
www.ejfoundation.org/reports.html