What’s on our Plates? Pesticide Residues in Nepal’s Food System
Farmers across Nepal use synthetic pesticides to protect their crops from pest attack. However, these agrochemicals have found their way to our food plates. Swastika Shrestha of Welthungerhilfe (WHH) partner organization ANSAB examines the growing presence of pesticide residues in Nepal’s food system and the associated health and economic implications.
Alarming reports about pesticide-laden vegetables flooding our agriculture markets have become a frighteningly common occurrence. Between January and April of 2025, 32kg of long yard beans from Chitwan and 600kg of leafy vegetables were discarded at Kalimati wholesale market of Kathmandu, after failing safety checks. Exposure to these harmful pesticide residues has been linked with both chronic and acute health hazards.
Risks of synthetic pesticides
Nepal’s growing dependence on synthetic pesticides poses increasing risks to human health, and the economy.
- Around 35% of production lost to pests, farmers increasingly rely on pesticides to protect crops and income.
- Around 580,000 farming households use pesticides, with application intensity rising sharply from 50g to 600g of active ingredient per hectare between 2002 and 2022.
- Pesticide intensity has more than doubled since 2010, with plant protection now accounting for 7% to 40% of total crop production costs.
These financial costs are substantial, but the social and health impacts are even greater.
The visible cost of pesticides in the national budget
In 2023/24, Nepal spent a total of NPR 2.43 billion importing 1,664 metric tons of active pesticide ingredients through formal trade. This represents a 43% increase from NPR 1.69 billion the year before. This amount was equivalent to nearly 4% of the total budget of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, that could otherwise have been invested in promoting safer and more sustainable food systems
Pesticides translating into a public health concern
Pesticides are self-harming and are the second most common method of suicide in Nepal. Between 2017 and 2020, a total of 2,535 pesticide poisoning cases and 62 deaths were recorded, commonly used chemicals involving organophosphates, pyrethroids, and phosphides. Beyond these cases, routine pesticide continues to harm farmers health and financial strain. In 2022, a study conducted in Bhaktapur district, found that within 48 hours of pesticide use about 64.9% of small-scale farmers reported acute or delayed illness symptoms.
In 2008, in Kavrepalanchowk district, farmers spent NRs. 1.1 million annually on pesticide-related health costs, nearly half the local government’s total budget at the time. On an average, the costs for pesticide- exposed individuals were eight times higher than those for unexposed in the same family. A study from same district found that with each additional year of exposure to pesticide, increases chronic health conditions including t respiratory disease, cancers, metabolic disorders, birth defects, and neurological complications increased by 30%.
Global evidence shows that pesticide exposure causesneurotoxic effects in children, impairing growth, and increasing risks of behavioural, and neurological disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Pesticides and cancer: The silent crisis
Long-term pesticide exposure was linked to cancer, with farmers facing a 20% higher risk of brain cancer than non-exposed populations. Commonly associated cancers include multiple myeloma, bladder cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, prostate cancer, leukemia, and breast cancer.
In Nepal, cancer have risen significantly over time. Between 1990 and 2017, major cancers rose sharply, with increases ranging from 37.6% (leukemia) to 258.1% (prostate cancer). Between 2015 and 2020, 57,486 new cancer cases were reported across five major hospitals, with leukemia being the most common among children and adolescents. Exposure to pesticides during pregnancy, is increasingly linked to childhood leukemia.
Cancer imposes a heavy financial burden, with patients paying an average of NRs. 3.86 lakh, often through loans or asset sales. Government support of up to NRs. 100,000.0 adds pressure to Govt public health spending (5.42% of GDP), treatments abroad can cost up to NRs 2.5 million.
Porous border and regulatory challenges
The Pesticides Regulation Act 2019 prohibits the import, export, manufacture, usage, purchase, and sale of unregistered pesticides. However, enforcement remains weak. A study in Chitwan in 2025, found that 24% of pesticide traded were unregistered––out of which 64.4% were imported from India. This shows weak border enforcement and regulatory monitoring. Concerns also extend to food imports. Vegetable products imported from India often show higher than the maximum pesticide residues(MRL) limit ( GoN, MRL Standards 2023), where the reports reflected potato (18.38%), tomato (29%), bean (32.52%), brinjal (39.25%), and bitter gourd (14.37%). This informal trade through a porous border with India enables unregulated trade bypassing certification processes.
Nepal has several policies to regulate the trade of pesticides in Nepal, however, the implementation remains weak due to limited infrastructure and testing capacity across the food system. Nepal has only two pesticide residue testing laboratories with international accreditation.
From crisis to solution: embracing agroecology
The costs of synthetic pesticide use and consumption of contaminated foods are already unbearable for the people and the government of Nepal. Weak regulations, minimal testing, and the free flow of pesticide-laden imports signify that we are only few meals away from chronic illness, including cancer.
However, regulation alone is not enough. A strategic shift towards agroecology––a sustainable, and systemic approach is an urgent need to justify the reasonable use of taxpayers’ money for human, environmental health.
We call on all three tiers of governments of Nepal to:
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