An Assessment of Factors Affecting Levels of Awareness on Safety And Health in use of Agro Chemicals among Large Scale Flower Farm Workers in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

Flower farms play an important role in the horticulture industry which contributes about 10% of agricultural produce in Kenya. They create employment, earn foreign exchange through exports and improve infrastructure in the world. Despite these achievements agro-chemicals used in these farms to increase production pose a great danger to the health of the farm workers and the surrounding environment. The broad objective of this study was to perform an assessment of factors affecting level of awareness on safety and health in use of agro-chemicals among large scale flower farm workers in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. This study sought: to describe the socio-demographic characteristics of large scale farm workers, assess the knowledge, attitude and practice on safe handling of agro-chemicals among large scale farm workers, determine the prevalence of self-reported health symptoms related to agro-chemicals exposure among large scale farm workers and determine factors affecting level of awareness on safety and health in use of agro-chemicals among large scale flower farm workers in Uasin Gishu County. Data was collected by administering questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS version 20 for descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that some of the agro-chemicals used are acephate, tetradifon, aldicarb and piperophos. Though majority of the respondents have participated in training courses related to the safe handling, age, marital status and level of education had significance in safe handling of agro-chemicals. The results indicate that agro-chemicals can have negative impacts on health, with farm workers that handled agro-chemicals reporting to have had symptoms of the skin, nasal, eye, and chest alongside pregnancy complications. This study recommends that studies be done to assess level of monitoring of safety procedures for farm workers and farms such as wearing protective equipment. It is proposed that further research be conducted to assess social impact of agrochemicals use among adjacent communities, identify their environmental and social impact and to explore the association between agro-chemicals and health outcomes.