Access HHP-related resources here (access restricted to SAPReF members)

The project was initiated in 2021 and is supported by various partners including the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the University of Cape Town (UCT), the Swedish Chemicals Agency (KemI), the Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention (CPSP) - University of Edinburgh, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) and the Centre for Environmental Justice and Development (CEJAD). 

To date, a draft strategy has been developed and reviewed by SAPReF members in two physical meetings in Johannesburg, South Africa, and virtual meetings. The strategy aims to provide a harmonised regional guidance for identification and phasing-out of HHPs in the SADC region to protect human health and the environment. 


The TWG meeting was attended by delegates from supporting organisations and 12 SADC Member States, namely: Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The draft strategy has been endorsed by the members of SAPReF and is awaiting approval by relevant SADC decision-making organisations. The meeting was also attended by resource persons drawn from supporting organisations, including CPSP, CEJAD, FAO, KemI, UCT and SADC.

 

The strategy aims to provide a harmonised regional guidance for identification and phasing-out of HHPs in the SADC region to protect human health and the environment. 

 

All the member countries that participated in the meeting (both physically and virtually) endorsed the draft SAPReF HHP Strategy developed during the meeting.

 

 

"The HHP strategy for the SADC member states and harmonising the HHPs being used in the SADC member states is a huge step forward that will facilitate transboundary trade across the region and facilitate the phasing out and/or banning, in some cases, of HHPs. The SADC HHP database, that all member states have access to, allows them to see which HHPs are used in most if not all the member states and this will facilitate their banning. The SADC HHP’s database, if used in conjunction with the biopesticides database can provide alternatives to some of the HHPs in the SADC member states."

- Debbie Muir Pr. Sci. Nat. Biodiversity Officer Control, Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, SA, and a member of the Technical Working Group on HHPs.