This research article was published by Elsevier B.V., 2022
Pesticide exposure is becoming a public health concern in Tanzania. This review highlights
the existing information on pesticide exposure, health effects, knowledge, and awareness
on pesticide handling and management and in the current pesticide regulations in Tanza-
nia. There was a significant increase in pesticides importation of up to 4.5 million liters’
in 2017 and registration of 1,114 pesticides in 2018. Food, water and soil are subjected
to unacceptable levels of pesticide residues. Inadequate awareness of the effects of pes-
ticides among the population of Tanzania was observed. Even though there are existing
regulations governing pesticides, the inadequate management of pesticide in Tanzania was
identified to contribute the malpractices in pesticide usage. Persistence of the malpractice
in pesticide handling has been observed which argues for immediate intervention. Limited
information concerning pesticide poisoning and adverse health effects has been reported
but the magnitude of the health effects is not well known. There is scarce data on the
association between pesticide and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Tanzania. This
review is informative to the policy, practices, and intervention towards the existing situa-
tion of pesticide in Tanzania. In addition, it calls for further investigation of the absence of
data on pesticide exposure and NCDs