Conservation Alliance, a non-governmental organisation, has expressed concern over the upsurge in the use of unapproved and fake agro-chemicals in agricultural production in the country, cautioning that they pose grave danger to farmers, consumers and the environment. The Alliance noted that some food crop farmers were using chemicals such as Karate, Furadan, Topsin, Dursban and Kocide, some with a tincture of banned substances such as DDT, Lindane and Thiodane, in crop production to meet their expected results. The Country Director of Conservation Alliance, Mr Yaw Osei-Owusu, who raised the issue in an interview with the Daily Graphic, therefore, urged relevant state agencies and stakeholders to evaluate the current usage of agro-chemicals, the regulatory framework and how to promote safe and responsible use of agrochemicals. He said it was sad to note that some farmers were aware of the danger they were exposing consumers and possibly the environment to but hardly changed their attitude. "It has been estimated that more than 50 per cent of crops produced in Ghana in 2008 received heavy doses of agro-chemicals, some of which have been found to take long periods to break down and even leave residues in the environment," he said. Mr Osei-Owusu also indicated that a study in 2002 revealed that there was widespread use of chemicals for bushmeat hunting in the country. He said "about 32.5 per cent of bush meat supplies came from wild animals killed through the use of chemicals," adding that "a laboratory analysis of some of these chemicals revealed traces of organophosphates and organochlorides that pose great risk to the health of consumers". He said the use of agro-chemicals in the country for agricultural production was a recent phenomenon and indicated that it was estimated that more than 80 per cent of farmers, with the exception of cocoa farmers, hardly used any agrochemicals in the 1960s. He explained that although agro-chemicals might be critical in efforts to boost agricultural production in the country, their inappropriate use posed great risks. "Reports by the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate that at least three million cases of acute poisoning and 20,000 deaths occurred annually in the world due to food exposed to pesticides," he stated. Mr Osei-Owusu also explained that agrochemicals; particularly the persistent organic pollutants (POPs), were a threat to biodiversity and even had the potential to cause disruption at the ecosystem level. "The POPs accumulate in the tissue of living organisms, which absorb it through food, water and air. The effects of POPs exposure include birth defects, cancers, and dysfunctional immune add reproductive systems," he stated. He said with the objective of achieving a national output of over one million metric tonnes of cocoa in three years' time, there was the urgent need to address the potential impact of agrochemicals usage in the country, especially in the cocoa sector. Mr Osei-Owusu said the promotion of safe use of pesticides would assure consumers of cocoa and cocoa products, especially those in the developed countries, that Ghana upheld the recommended maximum residue levels (MRLs) or tolerance for pesticides. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana