Assessment of pesticide residue awareness among vegetable growers and consumers

Abstract:

Field comparison: vegetable growers around Cotonou score noticeably lower on pesticide residue awareness than the very consumers who buy their produce, an asymmetry that runs counter to the usual assumption that producers necessarily know more than end users about the inputs going into what they grow. Questionnaire-based research surveyed 180 vegetable growers and 180 vegetable consumers, assessing awareness across pesticide use practices, recommended waiting periods before harvest, residue washing practices, and general consumer safety concerns. Consumers recorded an average awareness score of 58.4%, notably higher than growers' average of 48.2%, with the gap most pronounced on questions concerning recommended pre-harvest waiting periods, where growers scored only 34.6% against consumers' 51.8%. Farming experience among growers showed a positive but modest relationship with waiting period knowledge, improving from roughly 25% adequate awareness among growers with under five years' experience to about 51% among those with over twenty years, though even the most experienced grower segment fell short of matching consumer awareness levels on this specific question. Washing practice awareness was the strongest domain for both groups, though growers' washing practice knowledge appeared driven more by general hygiene habit than by any specific pesticide-residue-focused reasoning. These findings challenge assumptions that producer knowledge exceeds consumer knowledge by default and point toward waiting period education specifically, rather than general pesticide safety messaging, as the priority gap extension services serving vegetable growers in this region should address.