Impact of - IDL-BNC @ IDRC - International Development Research ...

The successive and simultaneous relations of the three principal components
of the project (research, education, and epidemiologic monitoring);
and
The key importance of three results of the project (making self-diagnosis
accurate, changing the conduct of individuals and of the group, and
consolidating community organizations to ensure behavioural changes
and the effective operation of the monitoring program).
The multidisciplinary approach of the project is clearly perceived in its
research objectives. The medical, agricultural, and social sciences are jointly
employed in investigating the prevalence of pesticide intoxication and the
validity of self-diagnosis, the agricultural practices involving the use of pesticides,
and the social, economic, and cultural factors that affect these practices.
A multidisciplinary approach is essential for the educational process because
the content, interchange, and transfer of knowledge must address the diverse
dimensions of the pesticide problem.
The consecutive implementation of the project's phases serves to link its
objectives. The research component fuels the education process and this
enriches and feeds back to the research activities. By design, the monitoring
program is not formally implemented, but rather is initiated from, and conditioned
by, the first phase of research. The education component also provides
feedback and ensures that the population understands and is motivated to
participate in the project.
The three expected results of the project (accurate self-diagnosis, a change in
individual and collective behaviour, and the strengthening of existing organizations)
correspond to its design. The common basis of these results is the
education process, which allows the researchers:
To discover what the population knows about aspects of the problem;
to organize this knowledge and make people conscious of the magnitude
of the problem; and to detect adequate and inadequate practices;
To exchange information with the population and transfer knowledge
about the problem to increase knowledge and change individual behaviour
in the handling of pesticides;
To motivate collective changes in behaviour to prevent contamination
of the village and the environment; and
To initiate dialogue about self-diagnosis to improve it and create a
scientific instrument that can form the basis of an epidemiological
monitoring program.
The monitoring program, in particular, depends on the education process. A
successful monitoring program requires that the population participate
actively by taking precautions and notifying the local health promoter about
personal or rumoured cases of intoxication. Such involvement is possible only
after an improvement in self-diagnosis has been achieved. Health promoters
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