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Background
Chemical pesticides, regardless of their inherent hazard, are used intensively in the fast changing agricultural sector of Ethiopia. This study is aimed to assess illness patterns and potential health risks among farmers exposed to pesticides in rural villages of Jimma district, Southwest Ethiopia, from February to June 2019.
Methods
Community based cross-sectional study was conducted in 195 randomly selected rural farmer households. Data were collected with an interview method using structured questionnaires. Data compilation, categorization, processing and analysis was made with the help of SPSS version 20.
Results
Result showed that all of the farmers enrolled in the study had symptoms of illness after pesticide application. The symptoms were headache (36%), nausea (21%), vomiting (20%), skin and eye irritations (10% each), and other discomforts (3%) which are most likely because of acute poisoning. Several potential health risk factors were identified among the farmers exposing them to pesticides in this study. These included lack of awareness, unable to use personal protective equipment (PPE), absence of formal training, a causal attitude and unsatisfactory safety practice about pesticide application and handling.
Conclussions
Intervention programs targeting the frequently seen illnesses and their possible risk factors are suggested to reduce burden of illness in the farmers. Further work with rigorous statistical approch is also needed to test illness relationship with risk factors.