No incinerators to dispose of agrochemicals in Botswana

Botswana has no plans in the near future to construct incinerators for disposing agrochemicals containers.

The chairperson of the National Agrochemicals Committee, Molatlhegi Modise, told a press conference in Gaborone last week that though agrochemicals (fertilizers and pesticides) are very harmful and detrimental to the environment and human health, the volume of agrochemicals in Botswana does not warrant constructing the multi-million pula facility.

Addressing a press conference to sensitize the media on the management of Agrochemicals in Botswana as well as the Agrochemicals Act of 1999, Modise said the Ministry of Agriculture has an arrangement in which they go around the country collecting containers of used agrochemicals. “We have a truck which goes around the country collecting containers from farmers, which we then store at Sebele where we have a warehouse for storage.  The containers are then shipped to the United Kingdom where there are incinerators,” he said.

Section 22: Subsection 6 to 8 of the 1999 Agrochemicals Act states that:

(6) No person shall harvest any crops or horticultural produce, or slaughter, or milk any stock following exposure of the crop, horticultural produce or stock to any agrochemical, except under prescribed conditions.

(7) "Stock" in subsection (6), has the meaning assigned to it under the Stock Theft Act.

(8) Any person who contravenes the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding P10, 000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, or to both.

Modise said they use the Act as a tool to protect the environment and human life from harmful effects of agrochemicals.

"Our observation is that Batswana don’t understand the harmful nature of agrochemicals, therefore we invited the media to help sensitize the people on how to handle, transport and store agrochemicals,” he said.

Modise said they are facing a challenge because the Agrochemicals Act does not cover all chemicals; therefore they cannot control people who import chemicals and use them in other industries. He said: “Our hands are tied in that case. We need a comprehensive law that will manage all chemicals in this country.”

Modise said the Agrochemicals Act provides for a Registrar of Agrochemicals where manufactures of agrochemicals apply to have their chemicals permitted to be used in Botswana. His committee will then look at the recommendations of the registrar on whether to approve to have the chemical or not.

Agrochemical dealers are also licensed. “We train agrochemical dealers at the Botswana College of Agriculture before giving them a license to operate. It is only after we are satisfied that the dealer understands the nature of the product that we license him/her to sell the product. The dealers then impart the knowledge to the customers as they buy the agrochemicals,” he said.

According to the Registrar of Agrochemicals 81 dealers have been licensed to operate in Botswana. The number is likely to go up very soon because the SPAR Group has already enrolled 15 people for training.

Modise said they are aware that people sell agrochemicals containers in the streets. He however said the people who sell these containers remove the labels, making it hard to take action against them.

He revealed that there have been reported fatalities due to poor handling of agrochemicals in Botswana. In one incident people at a wedding died after drinking traditional beer that had been brewed in an agrochemical container. A number of dealers in Maun have already been charged and paid fines for the poor handling of agrochemicals.

Modise advised members of the public to read and follow the instructions on the labels of agrochemicals containers.

"The label states the level of fertility, how to handle the chemical, protective clothing required, type of environment to use the product in and when to harvest after spraying,” he said.