When exposure to pesticides is likely, workers in
industrialized countries are provided with protective
equipment. In developing countries this is rarely the
case (Bull, 1982). Even if such equipment were
commonly available and affordable it has generally
been designed for use in temperate industrialized
countries, and consequently is impractical in the higher
temperatures typically encountered in tropical developing
countries (see O’Neill and Whyte, 1985). This
problem is exacerbated by the higher human energy
expenditure associated with carrying and operating a
knapsack sprayer compared with tractor-based spraying
operations.