It's time to ban highly hazardous pesticides

Development practitioners face difficulties persuading small holder farmers to reduce their use of extremely and highly hazardous pesticides. The patents on many of these pesticides expired long ago, allowing companies to market them at bargain prices. From an agro-ecological perspective, it is ironic that nearly all are non-specific, broad spectrum insecticides that kill all insects – both harmful and beneficial. From a public health perspective, it is perverse and tragic that they are the most toxic and at the same time normally the most readily available products in the developing world. Presenting their experience in Ecuador, and the actions currently being carried out to make these products "politically unviable", the authors urge LEISA practitioners and readers from throughout the world to consider similar actions in alliance with other sectors of society