THE REPUTATION OF the Surinamese vegetable sector is crumbling day by day. Just last week, garter was hit by a new, serious European report due to excessively high concentrations of harmful substances. Earlier this year, batches of sopropo and pepper were rejected due to excessive concentrations of agricultural chemicals.
Suriname is the leader in South America in pesticide use per hectare of agricultural land. Approximately 1.8 million kilograms are imported annually – good for 38 to forty kilograms per hectare. That is more than sixteen times more than the global average. This explosive increase is a direct result of a failed control policy and a culture in which the use of prohibited or incorrectly dosed substances is hardly punished. The possible contribution of this development to damage to public health cannot be estimated. Research should be done into this.
The National Institute for Food Safety (NIVS) has been functioning without a supervisory board for two years and is effectively rudderless
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Suriname, after cardiovascular disease. In women, breast, cervical and colon cancer are the most commonly diagnosed; prostate, lung, colon and head and neck cancer in men. The World Health Organization states that approximately 40 percent of all cancer cases are preventable by avoiding known risk factors, including unhealthy diet and exposure to harmful substances. This makes the presence of carcinogenic residues in our vegetables even more worrying.
Research into Surinamese products has found residues of substances such as endosulfan and lindane – substances that are banned in Suriname and are being phased out worldwide. How do these substances enter the country despite an import ban? Anyone who eats vegetables treated with such products every day runs a real health risk. The government’s failure to monitor this is contributing to a silent public health crisis. She bears a heavy, perhaps the heaviest, responsibility.
The legislation is hopelessly outdated (1911) and the new Food Act has been before the National Assembly for months. The National Institute for Food Safety (NIVS) has been functioning without a supervisory board for two years and is effectively rudderless. The residue laboratory, which has been under construction since 2012, remains unusable for the necessary analyzes for the time being.
The European Union applies strict standards, but these apparently do not apply to Surinamese consumers. Vegetables that do not meet European requirements are sold on the market in Suriname. Public health is thus structurally put at risk, especially for the most vulnerable groups.
The farmers themselves also bear responsibility. Many make their own ‘cocktails’ of herbicides and pesticides and ignore safety deadlines. Knowledge about responsible use is often lacking, but that does not absolve growers of the obligation to follow applicable rules.
The Food Act must be adopted without delay. The NIVS must be given a decisive board and the laboratory must finally become operational, so that consistent and independent inspections can be carried out – not only for exports, but also for our own population.
Enforcement must be accompanied by targeted information and training for farmers and violations must be punished. The FAO emphasizes that responsible pesticide management starts with awareness and compliance. Suriname must take that lesson to heart before the European door finally closes and the health of its own citizens – with cancer as a silent toll – is further undermined.
