CCL

Raising children's awareness on Pesticides

“Farmer Tuy’s Challenge” : A book that changes the awareness raising on pesticide issues

Children are particularly vulnerable to pesticide exposure, as their brain, nervous system and inner organs are still developing. In the Lao uplands, they can face different kind of exposures: from direct exposure when the pesticides are sprayed in the field or when playing with chemical bottles, to indirect exposure through consumption of food & water containing pesticide residues or while bathing in contaminated streams. These risks can be mitigated through actions, among which: an awareness raising campaign adapted to children that allows them to understand the risks to avoid them.

As future adults and potential future farmers, children have a key role to play to solve pesticide issues in Lao PDR in the long run. They also have a role in passing on knowledge about pesticide issues to their parents and relatives who might not have this knowledge yet, creating a ripple effect of better awareness about the topic.

From July to October 2020, CCL worked with the author-illustrator Joséphine Billeter, to develop a specific book: “Farmer Tuy’s challenge”. The book was developed through a participatory approach with project partners from SAEDA and Oudomxay authorities from Education, Agriculture, Health and Environment departments and offices. 2 workshops were organised to i/draft and rank the key messages to be included in the book, ii/discuss the storyline and the content of the book, iii/review the drawings, iv/discuss the use of the book at school level, v/review the Lao translation.

From July to October 2020, CCL worked with the author-illustrator Joséphine Billeter, to develop a specific book: “Farmer Tuy’s challenge”. The book was developed through a participatory approach with project partners from SAEDA and Oudomxay authorities from Education, Agriculture, Health and Environment departments and offices. 2 workshops were organised to i/draft and rank the key messages to be included in the book, ii/discuss the storyline and the content of the book, iii/review the drawings, iv/discuss the use of the book at school level, v/review the Lao translation

The children’s book mixes a mystery story with funny games and didactic pages. The different levels of reading the book facilitate the children’ understanding of key questions, such as i/what are the pesticides, ii/what are pesticide impacts on health and environment, iii/how they can protect themselves and their relatives from being exposed.

Published under Creative Commons licence (Attribution – Non-Commercial – ShareAlike), “Farmer Tuy’s Challenge – A day that change our village” can be used freely by any organisation to raise awareness on pesticide at both school and village level or even as a tool for training of trainers. Contact the editors (CCL & SAEDA) and/or the author (Joséphine Billeter – Oikeo projects) for more information.

900 children sensitized on pesticide issue so far