Nearly Half of the World’s Farmers May Suffer Acute Pesticide Poisoning Each Year
By Pippa Neill, The Guardian
Researchers reviewing pesticide-poisoning data from 2006 through 2023 estimate that about 46% of the world’s 934 million farmers and farm workers experience unintentional acute pesticide poisoning each year, according to The Guardian.
Southern Asia carries the largest estimated burden, followed by Southeast Asia and East Africa, while roughly 11,000 deaths annually are attributed to acute poisoning. Global pesticide use, meanwhile, reached 3.8 million tonnes in 2023—double the level recorded in 1990.
There is an important caveat to the headline number. The 46% figure is an extrapolated global estimate built from studies of varying design and quality, not a direct count of poisoned farmers. An earlier version of the analysis was retracted after critics challenged some of its extrapolation methods; the authors say this updated study addresses those concerns with new data and sensitivity analysis. Three of the four authors are affiliated with Pesticide Action Network organizations, although the paper reports receiving no financial support and declares no financial conflicts. The scale may therefore be uncertain, but the underlying problem—substantial occupational pesticide exposure and poisoning, particularly in lower-income agricultural regions—is difficult to dismiss.
