With Julio Sánchez, of the Humboldt Center

Growth does not always equal development

Nicaragua’s governmental bodies seem oblivious to the time bomb the country is sitting on: the consequences of zealously applying an agro-export model based on the principles of the Green Revolution.

SIREL discussed this threatening reality with Julio Sánchez, head of the Biodiversity Department at the Humboldt Center.

The consequences of the agro-export model Nicaragua implemented in the past century can no longer be concealed. Deforestation, the advance of the agricultural frontier, an alarming decline in water resources, the displacement of whole communities, soil and water contamination, and the proliferation of numerous diseases arising from the indiscriminate use of synthetic agrotoxic substances... these are all the result of a production system that has put the survival of the entire country at risk. The large national and international agricultural corporations, however, continue to further that same production model which has led the country to this situation.

-How is agrochemical commerce regulated in Nicaragua and what agency is in charge of that regulation?

-Under the Pesticide Act (Law N° 274), the Ministry of Agriculture (MAGFOR) was designated as the authority in charge, but this Ministry works in coordination with the Ministries of Health (MINSA) and Environment (MARENA) in the approval, registration and revision of agrotoxic substances.

The problem emerged with the application of Law N° 290, the Executive Branch Organization, Competence and Procedures Act. With this law, issues over competence and powers arose among the various ministries, causing coordination to fail in the monitoring and enforcement of the ban on the agrotoxic substances listed under Ministerial Agreement N° 23-2001.

This lack of coordination has fostered the illegal trafficking, mishandling and illegal storage of agrotoxic substances, leading even to the installation of agrotoxic substance outlets in non-authorized sites, such as markets and urban areas.

This problem, which arises with Law N° 290, has not been corrected and it has become historic and chronic. There has been a great deal of confusion and lack of coordination.

-In addition to the banned agrotoxic substances there is another list, which constitutes the new dirty dozen. How is that list dealt with?

-As a member of the National Pesticide Commission, the Humboldt Center proposed that all these agrochemicals undergo revision. The outcome of this revision was that these chemical substances had to be banned because at the international level agrotoxic substances are considered “red label,” that is, extremely dangerous, which means that they must be pulled off the market. This report clashed with the position of previous governments, and the MAGFOR was too lenient with agrotoxic substance importers and producers, purportedly in the interest of achieving national growth. If we look at the figures, Nicaragua did attain economic growth, but that growth has not translated into development. There can be no development when thousands of persons continue to fall ill, the health care system is oversaturated, and the Ministry of Health spends 9 million dollars a year to provide health care for these people.

-In sum, there are 17 banned agrochemicals, which are nonetheless being used in crops, and another 12 that should be banned, but whose use is regulated.

-That’s correct. Of those 17, most are being used illegally. This is the case, for example, of DDT. DDT has been detected in waters and soil. This chemical has a very low degradation rate, and the problem is that when it decomposes, the metabolites can be even more toxic than DDT itself.

Of the new dirty dozen, the only agrochemical that has been banned is Monocrotophos, and this is only because it was no longer being imported. As for the rest of the products, the MAGFOR issued a decree that regulates their use, but in a totally insignificant and useless way.

For these products we requested a progressive prohibition, so as to eliminate the chemicals in stock. Nicaragua faces huge problems in this sense. A company can bring a pesticide into the country, distribute it and sell it, and when it no longer has any use for it -because the product expired or the company was unable to sell it- it stores it. What’s absurd is that the disposal of these stored products is no longer the company’s responsibility but the State’s, and the cost of such disposal is covered by our taxes. Companies should be responsible for the removal and disposal of their products, but Nicaragua has no system in place for agrochemical disposal.

-So what happens with these products?

-They’re simply left in storage, in unsuitable warehouses, inside barrels that are not properly conditioned, and there are often spills and the products seep into the water system. It is highly likely that there are unknown sites where barrels have been stored containing products that are already banned and are still contaminating.

-In the case of the former sugar workers affected by Chronic Renal Failure, the Ingenio San Antonio -owned by Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited- has continuously refused to acknowledge a direct relationship between this illness and their working conditions. Are there any studies and tests that support a connection between the two?

-The company’s management and staff pretend they don’t know what’s going on, because that would mean they’d have a moral obligation to do something about it. For them it is better not to see, to ignore the situation, and assume no responsibility. Nicaragua has the best agrochemical research and poisoning registry system. The Aquatic Resource Research Center (CIRA) has conducted thorough investigations on Nicaragua’s waters, and there are sufficient medical and environmental research studies that provide enough data to evidence the problem, and can help reconstruct the logical chain of events. The proof is there and it can be done!

The corporations are trying to avoid their responsibilities, claiming that there is no scientific evidence, but we’re no longer worried about a lack of evidence.

-Why?

-Because our legislation includes what is known as the Precautionary Principle, which states that in the absence of certainty, the protection of human health and the environment must prevail. This is stipulated in Nicaragua’s General Environmental Act and it is also ratified by international agreements. Every international convention on agrochemicals that has been approved internationally and ratified by Nicaragua is based on this principle. This means that we no longer need to have 100 percent scientific proof to be able to assert that this is happening.

-But the situation is very complex…

-That’s true, and companies very often claim that the agrochemicals were already present in the water and that it’s not their responsibility. How, then, can you prove that the problem lies with the agrochemicals that they are using? When their agrochemicals are mixed with those already present in the waters, a new chemical is produced, which also impacts human health. What we must not lose sight of is that what an agrotoxic substances does is kill people. It’s poison.

-Biofuels have began to be discussed in Nicaragua. What is the position of the Humboldt Center in this matter?

-I don’t think we should rush into any position, and we’re studying it. Biofuel planting leads to single-crop agriculture, and we’ve already had some very negative experiences with that kind of production. I think that Nicaragua should choose crops that contribute to the country’s progress. The population is suffering very significant food shortages, and we can’t be thinking of devoting areas that are ideal for food crops to produce biofuel. Another problem is that these productions demand a great quantity of agrochemicals, and this will generate even greater problems. I don’t think this country should be considering it. It should instead be thinking about recovering indigenous varieties, promoting small farming, towards increasing the income of rural families and providing them with a more solid economic base. Nicaragua needs to adopt a sustainable organic agriculture model, because even the market is asking for it.