KHAN YUNIS, Gaza Strip — Nemacur is one of the agricultural pesticides that the Ministry of Agriculture in the Gaza Strip warns against on its website. On April 19, I headed to visit the companies that import and sell agricultural pesticides in Gaza City, and in less than two minutes was able to buy Nemacur without a permit from the ministry. Another store did refuse to sell it without a permit.
The pesticide shops are located next to one another in the old market in the Gaza Strip. Ibrahim Haboush, the owner of one of the shops, told Al-Monitor, “The Ministry of Agriculture periodically controls the goods in the shops, but it does not cater to the farmers’ needs.”
The pesticide Temik is one of the dangerous and banned pesticides on the ministry’s website, according to a trader who sells his goods in the shops. “We have managed to smuggle a shipment of 50 barrels of the US-made pesticide Temik from Egypt,” he told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, noting that the price per kilo is about $75.
A 2010 report by Al Mezan Center for Human Rights confirmed that these pesticides and fertilizers cause food contamination in Gaza, especially when used without taking into account the advice of agricultural engineers. The report also read that these pesticides cause diseases such as blood cancer, breast cancer and prostate and congenital malformations.
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