Nearly half of the world’s farmers and agricultural workers are estimated to suffer from unintentional acute pesticide poisoning every year, according to a new study that has raised concerns over the scale of health risks faced by people working in agriculture.
The research, published in Frontiers in Public Health, estimates that between 402 million and 433 million cases of unintentional acute pesticide poisoning occur among farmers and farm workers globally each year. Based on an estimated worldwide farming population of about 934 million people, the figures suggest that roughly 46% of farmers experience pesticide-related poisoning annually.
The study, commissioned by the Pesticide Action Network and based on publicly available data collected between 2006 and 2023, identified southern Asia as the region with the highest estimated number of poisoning cases. South-east Asia and east Africa were also found to face particularly high levels of exposure.
The extent of the problem varies significantly between countries. Burkina Faso recorded the highest reported national incidence, with almost 84% of farmers and agricultural workers estimated to have experienced pesticide poisoning. The findings have renewed calls for stronger safeguards for agricultural workers and greater efforts to reduce reliance on the most hazardous chemicals used in farming.
The research also estimated that pesticide poisoning contributes to approximately 11,000 deaths worldwide each year. India accounts for almost 60% of these estimated fatalities, according to the study, highlighting the significant burden faced by agricultural communities in the country.
Jayakumar Chelaton, executive director of Pesticide Action Network India, described the findings as evidence of a major crisis that requires urgent attention. Researchers and campaigners are calling for governments to implement measures recommended by the United Nations to phase out highly hazardous pesticides and make safer alternatives more accessible to farmers.
The study comes against the backdrop of continued growth in global pesticide consumption. Researchers found that approximately 3.8 million tonnes of pesticides were used worldwide in 2023, about twice the quantity recorded in 1990. The increase has occurred despite decades of warnings about the potential risks pesticides pose to workers, communities and the wider environment.
Farmers can come into contact with pesticides at several stages of agricultural work. Exposure may occur while chemicals are being prepared or sprayed, but workers can also encounter pesticide residues when handling recently treated crops, contaminated machinery, protective equipment or clothing.
The researchers stressed that the figures may not capture the full extent of the problem because information on pesticide poisoning remains incomplete and inconsistent across countries. They called for standardised systems to monitor and report cases so that the scale of pesticide-related illness can be measured more accurately and comparisons between countries can be made reliably.
The study also points to important gaps in existing research. It focused on acute poisoning, meaning health problems that occur relatively soon after exposure, and did not assess the long-term consequences of repeated pesticide exposure. It also did not examine the impact on an estimated 84 million children involved in agricultural work around the world.
Health and environmental organisations have warned that the consequences of pesticide exposure may extend well beyond immediate symptoms. Concerns have increasingly focused on chronic diseases and neurological conditions. Parkinson’s disease, in particular, has been linked in a growing body of research to environmental exposures, including certain pesticides. Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological disorder that can affect movement, balance and other bodily functions.
Experts therefore argue that tackling pesticide exposure requires more than protective equipment and safety instructions. They say farmers need practical access to less hazardous alternatives and governments need stronger systems for regulating, monitoring and phasing out particularly dangerous chemicals.
Sheila Willis, head of international programmes at Pesticide Action Network UK, said the scale of suffering revealed by the research demonstrated the need to help farmers shift towards safer methods of pest control.
Researchers said the new estimates represent one of the most comprehensive attempts so far to quantify acute pesticide poisoning among the global farming population. However, they emphasised that better surveillance and reporting will be essential to determine the true scale of the health crisis and develop effective measures to protect farmers and agricultural communitie.
