William Nelson Mwakalasya, Ana Lorena Ruano, Simon Henry Mamuya, Bente Elisabeth Moen, Aiwerasia Vera Ngowi
{"title":"怀孕、育儿和杀虫剂:了解坦桑尼亚小规模园艺中妇女和儿童的健康风险。","authors":"William Nelson Mwakalasya, Ana Lorena Ruano, Simon Henry Mamuya, Bente Elisabeth Moen, Aiwerasia Vera Ngowi","doi":"10.1177/10497323251342176","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Women play a significant role in agriculture worldwide, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where they form a large share of the workforce in horticulture. Horticulture work may expose women to pesticides during pregnancy and childcare, posing serious health risks to women and children. This study explores the experiences of women working in small-scale horticulture in Tanzania during pregnancy and childcare, to understand exposure risks and suggest safety-enhancing interventions. Using the theory of planned behavior framework, five focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with women aged from early 20s to mid-40s. The inductive thematic analysis was used for the analysis of the FGDs. We found that gendered roles in horticulture theoretically assign pesticide spraying to men, with women typically handling lighter tasks. However, when men are unavailable, women, even when pregnant, take on all duties, including pesticide spraying. Financial pressures force many women to work during pregnancy and postpartum, sometimes bringing infants into the horticulture environments. Despite some protective efforts reported by women, inadequate safety practices persist due to a lack of formal training on pesticide use. Therefore, traditional gender roles, poverty, and pesticide exposure intersect to create an occupational health challenge for women in small-scale horticulture. The absence of women-centered training on pesticide safety increases health risks both for women and their children. This study recommends gender-sensitive health training, improved access to protective equipment, and economic empowerment for women to help reduce these risks.</p>","PeriodicalId":48437,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Health Research","volume":" ","pages":"10497323251342176"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Pregnancy, Childcare, and Pesticides: Understanding the Health Risks of Women and Children in Small-Scale Horticulture in Tanzania.\",\"authors\":\"William Nelson Mwakalasya, Ana Lorena Ruano, Simon Henry Mamuya, Bente Elisabeth Moen, Aiwerasia Vera Ngowi\",\"doi\":\"10.1177/10497323251342176\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><p>Women play a significant role in agriculture worldwide, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where they form a large share of the workforce in horticulture. Horticulture work may expose women to pesticides during pregnancy and childcare, posing serious health risks to women and children. This study explores the experiences of women working in small-scale horticulture in Tanzania during pregnancy and childcare, to understand exposure risks and suggest safety-enhancing interventions. Using the theory of planned behavior framework, five focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with women aged from early 20s to mid-40s. The inductive thematic analysis was used for the analysis of the FGDs. We found that gendered roles in horticulture theoretically assign pesticide spraying to men, with women typically handling lighter tasks. However, when men are unavailable, women, even when pregnant, take on all duties, including pesticide spraying. Financial pressures force many women to work during pregnancy and postpartum, sometimes bringing infants into the horticulture environments. Despite some protective efforts reported by women, inadequate safety practices persist due to a lack of formal training on pesticide use. Therefore, traditional gender roles, poverty, and pesticide exposure intersect to create an occupational health challenge for women in small-scale horticulture. The absence of women-centered training on pesticide safety increases health risks both for women and their children. This study recommends gender-sensitive health training, improved access to protective equipment, and economic empowerment for women to help reduce these risks.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":48437,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Qualitative Health Research\",\"volume\":\" \",\"pages\":\"10497323251342176\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.4000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-06-13\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Qualitative Health Research\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"3\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1177/10497323251342176\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"医学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Qualitative Health Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10497323251342176","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
Pregnancy, Childcare, and Pesticides: Understanding the Health Risks of Women and Children in Small-Scale Horticulture in Tanzania.
Women play a significant role in agriculture worldwide, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where they form a large share of the workforce in horticulture. Horticulture work may expose women to pesticides during pregnancy and childcare, posing serious health risks to women and children. This study explores the experiences of women working in small-scale horticulture in Tanzania during pregnancy and childcare, to understand exposure risks and suggest safety-enhancing interventions. Using the theory of planned behavior framework, five focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with women aged from early 20s to mid-40s. The inductive thematic analysis was used for the analysis of the FGDs. We found that gendered roles in horticulture theoretically assign pesticide spraying to men, with women typically handling lighter tasks. However, when men are unavailable, women, even when pregnant, take on all duties, including pesticide spraying. Financial pressures force many women to work during pregnancy and postpartum, sometimes bringing infants into the horticulture environments. Despite some protective efforts reported by women, inadequate safety practices persist due to a lack of formal training on pesticide use. Therefore, traditional gender roles, poverty, and pesticide exposure intersect to create an occupational health challenge for women in small-scale horticulture. The absence of women-centered training on pesticide safety increases health risks both for women and their children. This study recommends gender-sensitive health training, improved access to protective equipment, and economic empowerment for women to help reduce these risks.
期刊介绍:
QUALITATIVE HEALTH RESEARCH is an international, interdisciplinary, refereed journal for the enhancement of health care and to further the development and understanding of qualitative research methods in health care settings. We welcome manuscripts in the following areas: the description and analysis of the illness experience, health and health-seeking behaviors, the experiences of caregivers, the sociocultural organization of health care, health care policy, and related topics. We also seek critical reviews and commentaries addressing conceptual, theoretical, methodological, and ethical issues pertaining to qualitative enquiry.