Empirical Analysis of Factors Associated with Awareness of Pesticide Safety Measures among Pesticide Users in Oil Palm Farms in Edo, Delta and Ondo States, Nigeria

The study analyzed the socio-economic characteristics of pesticide users and their influence on awareness of safety measures in Edo, Delta and Ondo States. Data were collected from two hundred six-eighty respondents using questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and tobit regression model. The results of this study showed that most of the respondents (75.4%) were males, mean age of 39 years and more than half of them (56.6%) had secondary education. Results showed that respondents were aware of each of the 28 identified pesticide safety measures and awareness of safety measures was highest among Delta State respondents and least among Ondo State respondents. Tobit results for the individual coefficients indicated that respondents’ age at 1% (p < 0.01) level had negative significant relationship with oil palm pesticide users’ awareness of pesticide safety measures. It is recommended that pesticide safety measure awareness should be intensified amongst young pesticide users.