Participatory assessment of the acaricide plastic waste management system among the livestock farmers in Mubende district, central Uganda.

Abstract

The study was conducted in Mubende district to investigate the prevalent type of acaricides and existing acaricide plastic waste management strategies used by the livestock farmers of Butoloogo sub-county, Mubende district. Acaricides are used to kill ticks and biting flies that transmit diseases and cause discomfort to livestock. Thus, the information was obtained through use of a questionnaire. Questionnaires were administered to obtain information from farmers about the major acaricide types they use, their level of awareness and how they treat their acaricide wastes after use. The results indicated that the commonly used acaricide was dudu accounting for 30% of the overall acaricides used by farmers in the study area. The results also indicated that 10 of the farmers were aware of the impacts of acaricide waste to the environment but they ignored proper waste handling practices while 45% of them had a relatively low awareness about the impacts of acaricide waste to the environment. Also, the result indicated that plastic waste management strategy that was highly used was collecting them in one place and burning them. There is need to implement comprehensive awareness campaigns aimed at educating livestock farmers about the potential environmental impacts of poor acaricide usage and its improper waste management such as soil and water pollution of acaricide usage and its waste treatment measures.