Pesticides in Plant Protection

This project explores expert debates about the use of synthetic pesticides in plant and crop protection activities of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) during the 1950s and 1960s.

David Lubin Library, FAO, Rome © ebd

It examines how FAO experts approached the growing tension between the need for food security and the emerging awareness of the environmental and health risks associated with synthetic insecticides.

‘F.A.O.’s Technical Assistance to Ethiopia. A Galla farmer of Ethiopia cutting ripe wheat with a small hand sickle.’ 1953 [No exact date or location] - UN7489459, UN Photo/GG

The research is based on archival materials documenting expert debates, international campaigns, technical assistance programs, and country reports. These sources provide us with insights into the internal debates of FAO about environmental and health risks. They also help us understand the national interests and commercial lobbies around FAO and larger scientific debates of the time about plants and pests.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Reproduced with permission. Plant Protection Bulletin, Vol 5, No 2 (November 1956), p. 24