It is no secret that chemical companies in the West export newly manufactured pesticides to "Third World" countries, where the outcomes of their use are monitored in order to determine whether or not to market these products in Europe and North America. It is also well known that chemical pesticides are made from the same components used by Western countries during World Wars I and II to produce explosives and poisonous gases, using derivatives of ammonia, bromide, mustard gas, sulfates and others. As it seems, substituting the use of these chemical substances for warfare purposes that kill people directly, they are now used in the form of "agricultural pesticides" to gradually kill people and destroy the environment.

With enormous profits to be gained through the manufacture of chemical pesticides -- estimated at more than $US30 Billion in 1996, and mostly marketed in the poor countries of the South -- chemical companies invest in the marketing and lobbying for their use. Towards this, not only do chemical companies obstruct the development of organic agricultural practices that reconstitute the natural environment-human health balance, but also deliberately issue false and inaccurate commercial propaganda to market their products, all the while inhibiting the free flow of scientific information on their products through corporate claims of "secrecy". For many years North American companies have effectively prevented attempts by the United Nations to make and publish a list of chemical products that have been banned in the United States itself.

The problem here is not just to prevent the marketing and use of internationally banned pesticides, but how to control the use of pesticides that are not banned formally in many "Third World" countries. These pesticides include organophosphorous compounds, carbamates, and others concerning which tests have shown that farmers are unable to use safely. The compositions of these pesticides pose serious dangers to the small farmer, due mainly to the ineffectiveness of the preventative clothing chemical companies recommend for the use of their products. In all cases, suggested clothing allow large quantities of chemicals to seep through to the farmers' bodies. In addition, using these pesticides is costly, while following safety instructions is almost impossible given the environmental, atmospheric, and living conditions of "Third World" countries.

What is more alarming is the fact that symptoms of poisoning from some pesticides (especially organophosphorous compounds) could appear several weeks after use. Since we lack specialized monitoring of cases of poisoning or illness caused by agricultural chemicals, many instances are not recorded in hospitals and health clinics as cases caused by chemicals.

Furthermore, safety instructions on the use of pesticides only defer the poisonous effects of chemicals. Consequently, continual use could mean that the user may take the final fatal dose. It is no wonder that agricultural chemical manufacturers, whose sole aim is to maintain an increase profits, always ensure users that their products can be used "safely and effectively".

On the other hand, realizing profit is also what concerns most farmers. They are not at all concerned with safeguarding the soil, environment, and general public health against contamination and deterioration. They do not follow correct agricultural practices, nor do they concern themselves with sustainable agriculture for the preservation of soil fertility. Soil deterioration has been a growing problem for years, mainly in the increase of salinity. In the Jericho District of the West Bank, high levels of salinity have caused severe soil deconstitution. High salinity and calcium contents, increased water salinity and the use of chemical fertilizers, lead some agricultural experts to believe that soil in the Jericho District will become almost sterile in a matter of only ten years.

One way in which farmers have been contributing to soil deterioration is their reluctance to plow the land immediately after reaping the crops, which would minimize the spread of weed seeds. As weeds spread, the farmer will have to use herbicides. One such chemical, commercially named, is Dukatalon, a pesticide listed in the internationally known "dirty-dozen". This substance has been scientifically proven to cause deformations in unborn children, cancer growth, as well as destroying brain, heart, liver and kidney tissues. But if farmers were to apply correct agricultural and environmental practices, the reliance and use of chemicals could be well reduced.

Not surprisingly, pesticide manufacturers encourage the use of their products with the argument that crop output must be increased in order to produce sufficient quantities of food for the poorer countries. In reality, the world produces more food than can be consumed, but "Third World" countries do not have the means to buy or effectively grow their own food. Arguments for the increase of food quantity, then, do not constitute a solution to the problem, and are no more than misleading propaganda.

Agricultural inputs, such as seeds with high productivity, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and irrigation have given rise to the "Green Revolution", whereby crop production has been enormously increased. Those gaining the most are wealthy farmers who can afford large quantities of inputs and who receive credits on their production, whereas the small farmer has no chance of competing. What is not surprising is that over 70% of pesticides used in the "Third World" are used on luxury or cash crops for North American, European, and Japanese markets, and not for basic food staples for the poor.