Pesticide use is a common practice to control pests and disease in farming system, however pesticide cause environmental and human health if not handled properly. The objective of the present study was to assess pesticide use, practice and environmental effect in East Badawacho, Southern Ethiopia. A cross section of agricultural farm workers was asked to fill in a questionnaire on pesticide use, practice and health impact in the East Badawacho. 81% of the house hold respondents involved during this study were males and 44% of them followed primary school level. The most commonly used types of pesticide were herbicides (55%) followed by fungus/molds/rust (28%) in the study area. Farmer’s awareness towards protective device utilization showed that 54% of the farm workers use normal clothe followed by boots (17%) during pesticide application. 38% of the farmers do not follow instructions during pesticide application and 55% reuse pesticide containers for storing food and water in the home. Farmers’ responses when interviewed for possible health effect of pesticide include 336 (93 %) of the respondents justified pesticides cause health problem on the human. Itching and skin irritation was the commonest symptom (74%) followed by headache (68%) during pesticide application. Pesticide handling practice of farmers engaged in agriculture was poor. Educational status, knowledge, and attitude were identified as the factors having association with pesticide handling practice among farmers working pesticides. Awareness creation should be given to the community to minimize the effects of pesticide on human health.

Keywords: Assessment, Pesticide, Farm workers, Practice, Health