Bans of WHO Class I Pesticides in Bangladesh –Suicide Prevention without Hampering Agricultural Output

Pesticide self-poisoning is a major problem in Bangladesh. Over the past 20-years, the Bangladesh government has introduced pesticide legislation and banned highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) from agricultural use. We aimed to assess the impacts of pesticide bans on suicide and on agricultural production.We obtained data on unnatural deaths from the Statistics Division of Bangladesh Police, and used negative binomial regression to quantify changes in pesticide suicides and unnatural deaths following removal of WHO Class I toxicity HHPs from agriculture in 2000. We assessed contemporaneous trends in other risk factors, pesticide usage and agricultural production in Bangladesh from 1996 to 2014.Mortality in hospital from pesticide poisoning fell after the 2000 ban: 15.1% vs 9.5%, relative reduction 37.1% [95% confidence interval (CI) 35.4 to 38.8%]. The pesticide poisoning suicide rate fell from 6.3/100 000 in 1996 to 2.2/100 000 in 2014, a 65.1% (52.0 to 76.7%) decline. There was a modest simultaneous increase in hanging suicides [20.0% (8.4 to 36.9%) increase] but the overall incidence of unnatural deaths fell from 14.0/100 000 to 10.5/100 000 [25.0% (18.1 to 33.0%) decline]. There were 35 071 (95% CI 25 959 to 45 666) fewer pesticide suicides in 2001 to 2014 compared with the number predicted based on trends between 1996 to 2000. This reduction in rate of pesticide suicides occurred despite increased pesticide use and no change in admissions for pesticide poisoning, with no apparent influence on agricultural output.Strengthening pesticide regulation and banning WHO Class I toxicity HHPs in Bangladesh were associated with major reductions in deaths and hospital mortality, without any apparent effect on agricultural output. Our data indicate that removing HHPs from agriculture can rapidly reduce suicides without imposing substantial agricultural costs

Morris K. Udall - Central Arizona Project

United States Dept. of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation, Memorandum Report on Reconnaissance Studies Marble Canyon-Kanab Creek Power Development, Project Development Division, Region 3, October 1961

Contradictions in Agricultural Intensification and Improved Natural Resources Management: Issues in the Fianarantosa Forest Corridor of Madagascar

The international development profession is periodically buffeted by the infusion of new conceptual approaches that have a broad impact on both policies and project interventions at the local level. In Madagascar, as in many other countries, the government and donor organizations are turning to an ecoregional approach to natural resource management. Ecoregional planning is an outgrowth of the integrated conservation and development strategies (ICDPs) that prevailed in the 1980s and 1990s Because the approach favors the protection of larger areas, ecoregional conservation and development strategies often seek to connect existing protected areas with biological corridors. As one of the key proponents of the approach notes, "in order to stop the destruction of native biodiversity, major changes must be made in land allocations and management practices. Systems of interlinked wilderness areas and other large nature reserves, surrounded by multiple use buffer zones managed in an ecologically intelligent manner, offer the best hope for protecting sensitive species and intact ecosystems" (Noss, nd., p.10). Corridors connecting one protected area to another enable the flow of species across larger distances, thereby contributing to species survival over evolutionary time. In Madagascar, policies have shifted away from the focus on protected area management to a broader regional and spatial analysis and a set of corresponding interventions at multiple scales from the village to the national level. The second phase of the 15-year Madagascar National Environmental Action Plan strongly supports a 1 The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not engage USAID or Chemonics International

in Great Britain

and research organisation which explores the economic, mobility, safety and environmental issues relating to roads and their users. The Foundation publishes independent and authoritative research with which it promotes informed debate and advocates policy in the interest of the responsible motorist. RAC Foundatio