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Stellenbosch, South Africa – In a landmark moment for agricultural reform and environmental justice, the National Department of Agriculture, convened a historic Colloquium on Pesticide Policy Framework last week, bringing together government departments, farmer associations, scientists, civil society, industry, labour, farm workers, and human rights organisations in an unprecedented, multi-sectoral dialogue on pesticide policy reform.
The colloquium marks a serious effort to modernise South Africa’s pesticide governance, especially the Farm Feeds, Fertilizer, and Agrochemical Remedies Act 36 of 1947, signalling a shift from a fragmented and outdated regulatory framework toward a unified, science-based, and socially accountable system.
The event sought to reignite national commitment through a One Health approach, integrating animal, human, plant and environmental health to evaluate pesticide risks in a holistic and interconnected manner, and to finally modernise and implement the 2010 Pesticide Management Policy, which has remained unimplemented 15 years later.
“For the first time in history, civil society was not merely in the room, but at the table,” said Anna Shevel, network coordinator of UnPoison.
Among the civil society, farm worker and human rights organisations present were Women on Farms Project who were well represented in numbers and demanded a voice in the discussions, the South African Human Rights Commission and other participants from the South African People’s Tribunal on Agrotoxins.
Academia was represented by University of Pretoria’s Plant Sciences Department, while the University of Cape Town’s Divisions of Public Health Medicine, as well as Environmental Health; the Poison Information Centre from the Red Cross Children’s Hospital; and numerous experts, academics, and impacted citizens aligned through the UnPoison network.
Read Full Press Release below.
Press Release_ Historic Pesticide Policy Framework – Colloquium Aug 2025
