IJERPH, Vol. 18, Pages 10879: Farmers ’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceptions Regarding Carcinogenic Pesticides in Fez Meknes Region (Morocco)

IJERPH, Vol. 18, Pages 10879: Farmers’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceptions Regarding Carcinogenic Pesticides in Fez Meknes Region (Morocco) International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph182010879 Authors: Zineb Ben Khadda Mustapha Fagroud Yahya El Karmoudi Said Ezrari Imane Berni Marc De Broe Tapan Behl Simona Gabriela Bungau Tarik Sqalli Houssaini Pesticides play an important role in the improvement of agricultural production, but their use may result in adverse effects on the environment, consumers, and farmers’ health. As there are limited data focusing on the factors influencing safety behavior toward pesticide use in Morocco, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in 15 rural communities of Morocco’s Fes Meknes region to assess the attitudes, knowledge, and practices regarding pesticide use. A structured questionnaire was completed, containing the data of the interviewed farmers, their behavior towards safety measures, the type of active ingredient used, as well as the perception of risks to their own health following exposure to pesticides by the existence of chronic, self-perceived symptoms. Non-probability (empirical) sampling with the quota method was carried out, which consists of constructing the sample. Results showed that most respondents have not been trained in the application of pesticides, with almost half of the farmers using a category of pesticides which are classified by the Internation...
Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research