Assessment of consumer’s knowledge and practices on pesticide residues reduction in tomatoes in Mvomero, Morogoro region, Tanzania
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Date
2023-09-14
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East African Journal of Science, Technology and Innovation
Abstract
Pesticides are important components of agricultural production but the consumption of crops treated with
pesticides, even in small quantities, can accumulate in the human body and cause health problems.
Therefore, consumers’ knowledge and practices on reduction of these residues is essential however, there
is scant of information on consumers’ knowledge and practices on pesticide residues reduction in tomatoes
in Tanzania. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Mvomero District in Morogoro region among 280
randomly selected consumers. Questionnaires were administered through face-to-face interviews to assess
knowledge and practices on the reduction of pesticide residues in tomatoes before consumption. Data
were analyzed using SPSSTM version 20 to obtain descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that
64.6% of respondents know that pesticides can cause health effects of which, 41% are not sure of the specific
health problem with few mentioning cancers. About 80% of respondents know that tomatoes sold in the
market have pesticide residues. Majority of respondents (78.9%) believe that the pesticide residues in
tomatoes disappear after cooking. Seventy-five percent of respondents reported that they know methods
for reducing pesticide residues of which 66.8% reported to be reducing pesticide residues by washing with
water. Generally, consumer’s knowledge on health effects and practices on reduction of pesticide residues
before consumption was relatively poor. Hence, there is a need for improving knowledge on reducing
pesticide residues in tomatoes using cost-effective methods that are applicable at the household level.
Knowledge on the health effects of pesticide residues was significantly associated with having a mobile
phone, reading newspapers, and attending training on pesticides and associated health effects. Therefore,
phones, radio, and newspapers may be used as effective methods for communicating health information
to the public.
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Consumers, Knowledge, Practices, Pesticide Residue, Reduction