Pesticides use and exposure among yam farmers in the Nanumba traditional area of Ghana Abukari Wumbei & Michael Houbraken & Pieter Spanoghe Received: 24 September 2018 /Accepted: 4 April 2019 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 Abstract Over the years, pesticides have become a dominant feature of Ghana’ s agriculture. In the past, pesticides usage was restricted to the cocoa, cotton, vegetables, and fruits sectors. Today, there is a wide- spread use of pesticides in the cultivation of yam. Since the introduction of pesticides into yam production, farmers have expressed satisfaction about the relief it has brought them with regard to labor and productivity. However, there has been public concern about the hu- man and environmental health impacts of pesticides. In this study, 100 farmers were interviewed through a structured questionnaire to determine their knowledge, awareness, and use practices of pesticides and to deter- mine their level of exposure. The study revealed that the common pesticides currently being used for yam pro- duction are herbicides. Although the farmers are aware of the risks associated with the use of pesticides, they use more than the recommended doses and do not pay attention to the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) thereby predisposing themselves to the potential health effects of pesticides. A significant percentage (20 to 40%) of the farmers reported to have never used these PPEs and over 44% of them use glyphosate above the recommended dose (between 1.5 and 2 L/ha). This resulted in an average farmer exposure to glyphosate of 4.2 mg/kgBW/day, well above the acute reference dose (ARfD) of 0.5 mg/kgBW/day. The government should develop and implement programs to train pesti- cides dealers, educate farmers, enforce the laws on pesticides, and support farmers to uphold protective measures. Keywords Pesticides use . Knowledge . Awareness . Yam farmers . Exposure . Ghana Introduction Yam (Dioscorea sp.) is a major source of food for millions of people in tropical and sub-tropical regions, especially in West and Central Africa where at least 60 million people depend on. It is also a major source of income and an integral part of socio-cultural life (Asiedu and Sart 2010). Yam cultivation is undergoing intensi- fication in many production zones, leading to challenges in the management of soil fertility and structure, increas- ing pressure of diseases and pests (including weeds) and requirements for new varieties better suited to the changing biophysical and socio-economic circum- stances (Asiedu and Sart 2010). The dominant zone for yam production in the world is West Africa, where about 48 million tons (about 93% of the world’s Environ Monit Assess (2019) 191:307 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7449-5 Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7449-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. A. Wumbei : M. Houbraken : P. Spanoghe Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Department of Crops and Plants, Ghent University, Coupure 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium A. Wumbei (*) Institute for Interdisciplinary Research and Consultancy, University for Development Studies, P. O. Box TL 1350, Tamale, Ghana e-mail: awumbe2003@yahoo.com