Protecting Communities Exposed to Agrochemicals

In order to change public policies, we need to recognize that there is a problem. In Argentina, the expansion of agricultural business, based on the expansion of the agricultural frontier, goes over the human rights of people living next to the crops. There, agrochemicals (pesticides and fertilizers) are spread without taking care of the neighbors’ health.

 We decided then to do a raising awareness strategy to empower the advocacy efforts we have been carrying out from years ago to promote more protective laws. We created a platform called “El entramado” to start writing about the problems we address in FUNDEPS in a different way than just reporting activities.

 With “El Entramado” we aim to tell stories, chronicles and think about human rights issues from a different perspective. Our first text was entirely dedicated to the environmental problem of agrochemicals use, specifically how this affects people’s lives in Colonia Tirolesa (a small town in Córdoba), as an example of what is happening in the rest of Argentina. You can access this chronicle in Spanish in the following URL: http://bit.ly/2vIvGi1

 We are also developing media content, to allow the people whose human rights are affected to tell their own story. We started with Cervando, a local producer who used pesticides and suffered from cancer. After he recovered, this experience made him change his mind regarding the use of chemicals in agriculture. You can listen to his story here: http://bit.ly/2xPD5xG

Meanwhile, we keep working on our advocacy strategy to promote higher standards of health protection for populations living near crops. Therefore, we are working on a draft on recommendations for national legislation on agrochemical use near populated areas.

Links:

• El Entramado
• La salud publica a la deriva del agronegocio
• Los agroquimicos en primera persona