Europe’s Banned Pesticides Are Poisoning Nigeria

For generations, Abdullahi Yusuf’s family has grown corn, millet and vegetables on a patch of arid land in the dusty hills of northwest Nigeria. He feeds his family with the produce and sells what he can in local markets, making a bit more than $200 a month. These days, though, he wonders whether it’s all been a tragic mistake. Last year, his 12-year-old daughter died of leukemia—which he attributes to the pesticides and herbicides he applies to battle locusts, weevils and weeds. “She just ate the food I grew,” the 45-year-old says quietly, running his fingers through the powdery soil. “I was feeding her poison without knowing.”

Like many farmers across Nigeria, Yusuf depends on cheap chemicals—most of them imported—to protect his crops from pests, disease and weeds. Local physicians told him his daughter’s illness could probably be blamed on the pesticides and herbicides, citing a pattern of similar ailments across rural Nigeria. Yusuf has considered going organic, but “for small farmers like us, it feels too expensive and complicated.” Now, each time he straps on his backpack sprayer, he says, “it feels like I’m holding a knife to my throat.”