**1. Introduction**

 This chapter describes the historical events related to pesticide use and the pros and cons of pesticide use in Africa. Description for *pesticide* as any chemical used to prevent, destroy, or repel pests and also the description of *pest* as any species that interferes with human activities, properties, or health have been provided with examples. In Africa, rapid population growth, illiteracy, food insecurity, weak control systems, and poverty have accelerated the use and misuse of pesticides. Based on the latest, 2018, United Nations estimates the current population of Africa is now estimated at 1.3 billion, that is, 16.6% of the total global population. A large part of African population lives in tropical and subtropical climate with high temperatures [1] and moisture favorable for insects' population growth, as well as movement, agricultural and animal husbandry activities throughout the year [2]. Through these dynamics, humans modify the components of disease agents, including moisture to promote disease occurrence and spread. Hunger and malnutrition, as a result, are affecting many regions in Africa. In 2016, FAO estimated that 27.4% of the population in Africa is affected by severe food insecurity. Since food insecurity is on the rise, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the need for increase of food productivity and use of pesticides are unavoidable. Over the past decades, the history of pesticides for agriculture, public health, and construction industry in Africa has gone

through milestones with several challenges. These challenges range from limited control in import, distribution, use, storage, and disposal of pesticides. As a result, the risk of exposure and health impact to humans and environment has become another challenge. This chapter not only describes the trend of pesticide use and the negative consequences experienced in the past and the current status but also predicts the future implications for environment and health. Controversies regarding the benefits of pesticide use and the disadvantages that are magnified by lack of knowledge, protection, and malpractice with pesticides are highlighted.

#### **2. Anthropogenic activities**

Human activities are a part of struggle for meeting basic needs of life. In order for humans to sustain life, they must discover better means for addressing the development challenges including those relating food security and safety for a peaceful and secure life. In order to sustain productivity, food security, and safety for survival and growth, humans have to control the environmental challenges due to anthropogenic activity including nuisance and threats.

Since before 2000 BC, humans have been utilizing pesticides to protect crops. In Mesopotamia, about 4500 years ago, they used elemental sulfur dusting as pesticide for their crops. In other places, they used poisonous plants for pest control [3]. Other methods of pest control included burning grasses not only to kill insects and to control plant diseases but also to inhibit the growth of unwanted weeds. The serious use of pesticides in the agriculture started in the nineteenth century and expanded in the twentieth century [4]. Pesticides were used to control various pests and disease carriers, such as mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, mice, and rats.

Use of pesticides to control pests of importance in public health and agriculture including animal husbandry and poultry has been necessary for improving health as well as quantity and quality of yield for feeding the growing population. As a result, these pesticides reach the untargeted organisms through direct contact, polluted water sources, air, soil, and the food chain due to weak control systems for importation, supply, use, and disposal. In general, human activities that involve application of pesticides pollute and destroy habitats, untargeted animals, and some plant species. Thus, as unwanted effect, exposure of pests to pesticides leads to pest resistance problem, loss of many untargeted species, and also biological magnification through food chain.

#### **3. Pests in Africa**

 Despite the fact that poorly controlled human activities threaten different untargeted species, agriculture in Africa is threatened by pests, including insects. The insects can either be endemic or epidemic. The endemic insects in Africa include cereal stalk borers that destroy different kinds of cereal crops and crop-eating fall armyworms that destroy a wide variety of crops and also whiteflies that destroy root/tuber crops (e.g., cassava is one of main sources of carbohydrates). Bean flies, aphids, thrips, leafhoppers, whiteflies, and leaf beetles are also among common and endemic insects that destroy legume crops' source of protein and many more insects in Africa [5].

Epidemic insect attacks in Africa include locust outbreaks (e.g., Madagascar in 1997) that inflicted severe damage to crops and cattle pastures around the country. In this locust outbreak control, fipronil (insecticide) was donated by developed countries, later impact evaluation reported detrimental fipronil effects, ranging from genotoxicity and cytotoxicity, and impaired immune function, to reduced growth and reproductive success of vertebrates, often at concentrations below that which is associated with mortality [6].

*Pesticides, Anthropogenic Activities, History and the Health of Our Environment: Lessons… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82600* 

Other pests include fungi, virus, and bacteria. There are substantial estimated losses caused by these pests per year. For example, in Tanzania, economic damage due to the other pests on crop productivity is estimated at 50% (Controller and Auditor General established that in 2015).

 Human life in Africa is also threatened by vector-borne diseases. Such vectors (pests) transmitting diseases include female anopheles mosquito that transmits *Plasmodium falciparum* causing malaria. Culex and other mosquito species transmit *Wuchereria bancrofti* (mostly) causing elephantiasis leading to permanent disability. Fleas harbored by rats transmit *Yersinia pestis* causing plague and tsetse flies transmit *Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense* and *Trypanosoma brucei gambiense* to cause sleeping sickness. Fresh water snails transmit schistosomes causing intestinal and urinary schistosomiasis [7–9]. All these cause a lot of socioeconomic losses due to diseases and deaths they cause to humans. Other pests like ticks cause health problems to animals.
