Nigeria, Aug. 27 -- When Monday Nweze left for his farmland on a cloudy Tuesday in late June, he had one thing in mind: to clear the grass that had grown on it. Not with any cutlass, but with some litres of uproot, a type of herbicide, he poured into his sprayer.

The farmer was engrossed as he sprayed the herbicide on his bushy land where he planned to cultivate rice in Ndiebor community in Ezza Inyimagu, Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, south-east Nigeria.

Aside from the sprayer strapped to his back, Mr Nweze did not put on any personal protective equipment (PPE) - not even a nose or face mask. Spraying herbicides and other agrochemicals without PPE has become a routine for him and many other farmers in the community.

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