The farmers’ KAP with respect to insecticide application
was generally very poor as revealed in this study. This is in
line with earlier findings.12 One of the factors responsible for
this was the literacy level of the farmers, which was found
to be very low. The lack of education and literacy amongst
nearly half of the farmers might have contributed immensely
to their low level of awareness about proper pesticide usage.
Some of the farmers who claimed to read insecticide labels
were only able to read those written in Yoruba, the local language,
but most labels on insecticide formulations are printed
in English. A low level of education had similarly been observed
to predispose the Culturama agricultural community
in Brazil to a high risk when using pesticides, possibly due
to difficulties in understanding instructions and safety procedures
written on the product labels.18 The cacao farmers
did not show sufficient awareness about the hazardous nature
of insecticides; only about half of them claimed to have
a clear perception of the hazardous nature of the insecticides
they handled. Some agreed that there are negative side
effects, especially for new entrants into spraying operation
who become familiar with the chemicals only after beginning
work. However, claims of awareness of the danger of these
insecticides did not translate into safer insecticide handling
and spraying practices