**1. Introduction**

#### **1.1 Background of the study**

In parallel with the line of feeding 9.8 billion people by 2050, agricultural productions are largely expanding and intensifying [1]. The agricultural sector that made a living for 65% of poor working adults living in the developing world [2], includes the largest segment of society afflicted with the greatest amount of pesticide exposure [3]. Farmers and farmworkers put themselves at risk of pesticide poisoning during the production process [4]. They are routinely exposed to toxic pesticides via spray, drift or direct contact with pesticide residues on treated crops or soil [5].

Excessive and indiscriminate use of the most infamous synthetic organic chemicals, specifically chlorinated hydrocarbons like DDT, left a long-lasting imprint on every atom on earth since the beginning of the green revolution to date [6]. Despite the early alarming signs on the gruesome effects of these chemicals, such as the sharp decline of the bald eagle and other birds in the highest trophic levels of the food chain [7], the ascendency of using these chemicals pressed onward. This entailed unintentional pesticide exposure to the general population via food consumption [3, 8].

In Ethiopia, the agricultural sector is a source of livelihood for more than 80% of the population and represents more than three quarters of national exports [9], which impacts that almost 80% of the population in Ethiopia contributes to posing negative health issues to both humans and the environment, leading to the prevalence of acute and chronic health issues among people in the whole population [10, 11]. Hence, addressing this problem will have practical benefits for Ethiopia and will contribute to understanding of this widespread phenomenon among farmers almost in the whole country.

Unsafe practices exhibited by farmers in Ethiopia included the frequent mixing of highly toxic pesticides, unsafe storage and unsafe transport methods [12], unsafe disposal of empty pesticide containers [10**]**, spraying while barefooted, using obsolete pesticides [13**]**, selling illegal, expired, hazardous, unknown, repacked pesticides in small containers without any labeling, manufacturing or expiry date by unauthorized and untrained people in shops and local village in open markets [13], reusing empty insecticide containers for food and potable water, washing pesticide-contaminated work clothing with the family clothes and using highly toxic insecticides to treat head lice, fleas, bedbugs, and even to try to cure open wounds using malathion and (DDT), sometimes with fatal results [14].

Few researches in Ethiopia were conducted concerning the same area of study [10–12, 15], and further studies about pesticide use and pesticide-related illnesses are needed to develop more effective approaches for protecting farmers from pesticide exposure and moving the targets towards organic farming, resulting in having a healthy community free of disabilities and other dysfunctional diseases.

#### **2. Material and methods**

#### **2.1 Study area**

The study was conducted at Finchawa and Tullo rural kebeles in Hawella Tula sub city, which is located in Hawassa City Administration, Sidama, Ethiopia. Tullo and Finchawa are considered the catchment area of Lake Hawassa. The area lies on 1728 meters above sea level. The land form is plain [16], and has tropical savanna climate with two seasons [17]**.** The mean annual temperature is 20.9 °C with

**95**

*Limited Knowledge and Unsafe Practices in Usage of Pesticides and The Associated Toxicity...*

mean rainfall 997.6 mm [17]. The type of soils around Lake Hawassa in general is Andisols. A source of information about the type of soil in the study area is Hawassa University, Agricultural Campus. The two main crops cultivated in both areas are

A cross-sectional survey with both qualitative and quantitative data collection research design were employed. The study was conducted between June and September 2020. The study also applied concurrent triangulation in data collection, where both qualitative and quantitative data were collected in one phase of the research study and equally weighted. A concurrent triangulation procedure is the model mostly employed when researchers first consider mixed methods as it results in a shorter data collection time period [18]. The three different primary data sources used in this study were a standardized questionnaire, key informant

A supportive letter was given from the College of Natural and Computational Science, Biology Department, Hawassa University, to get the permission of the respective directions to select the study participants and conduct the interviews in extension offices, health institutions and hospitals. Two days of training were allocated to train four experienced data collectors. The training focused on explaining the purpose of the study, the meaning and interpretation of some scientific terminologies in each question, and obtaining consent from every single participant. The data collectors were experienced and capable of speaking the local languages (Amharic and Sidamingia). The four data collectors conducted door-to-door visits based on a list of members of the households to get responses and fill in the questionnaire. The list of householders was coded and their names were not mentioned for anonymity and confidentiality. In-depth interviews with officials and physicians were conducted by the researchers with the help of a professional translator who

All data was coded and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize frequencies and proportions, and results were presented in tables and charts. A multiple logistics regression model was employed to determine the effect of the independent variables on farmers' knowledge and the prevalence of self-reported toxicity symptoms. Multiple logistic regression was employed due to its powerful statistical way of modeling a binomial outcome for categorical data [19]. Chi-square, as well as Hosmer and Lemeshow tests, were firstly used before running the logistic regression test to measure the association between the independent and dependent variables and to check whether the model fits the data or not respectively. The data was summarized using the odds ratio, 95% confidence

The study employed a multi-stage sampling technique due to the advantage it gives of using more than one stage and combine several sampling techniques. The multi-stage sampling in this study entitled four stages. In the first stage, the

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96093*

**2.2 Study design and data collection tools**

interview and a document review.

spoke both Amharic and English languages.

**2.5 Sampling technique and sample size determination**

**2.4 Data analysis**

interval at .05 alpha levels.

**2.3 Methods of data collection**

corn and ensete.

#### *Limited Knowledge and Unsafe Practices in Usage of Pesticides and The Associated Toxicity... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96093*

mean rainfall 997.6 mm [17]. The type of soils around Lake Hawassa in general is Andisols. A source of information about the type of soil in the study area is Hawassa University, Agricultural Campus. The two main crops cultivated in both areas are corn and ensete.
