Ghana is one of several countries in Africa with an obsolete pesticides management programme called CleanFarms. The objectives of the programme are to take inventory of all obsolete pesticides and empty containers in the private sector and safeguard them long-term. Currently, more than 170 tonnes of obsolete pesticides, including associate waste, has been safeguarded. Another 30 tonnes will be safeguarded before the end of 2012.
Just as in other obsolete management programmes under the CleanFarms name, CropLife International is implementing the programme with the local CropLife association, the Ghana Ministry of Agriculture and regulatory authority. The project started with local authorities declaring an indemnity period during which owners of obsolete pesticides could register them without being fined. Next, organizers conducted an inventory of obsolete pesticides throughout Ghana.
The inventory revealed that the majority of the identified obsolete pesticides were produced by non-CropLife International members. Nevertheless, CropLife International committed funds to safeguard obsolete stocks in one region. Safeguarding activities started in September 2011 in the northern part of the country where several obsolete products from the cotton industry were identified. Veolia, an international company specializing in hazardous waste management, trained staff from the private sector and a local waste company in safeguarding pesticides.
CropLife International covered costs for the entire safeguarding programme in Ghana. CropLife Ghana also supplemented the program with about US$40,000 contributed by member companies and some plantations. To finance safeguarding activities in the future, CropLife Ghana has proposed to regulatory authorities that it introduce a levy on the importation of pesticides. The organisation has applied to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization for the safeguarded stocks to be disposed of as soon as possible.