Waste no more: Benin confronts long history of chemical waste mismanagement.

Thirty years ago, Emmanuel Avokpo, now 55, ran a lucrative farming business growing tomatoes, yam, maize and peanuts on land he rented. He sold his produce in Tchaorou and nearby Bohicon in southern Benin. 

But the land was destroyed when labourers working on a nearby road incorrectly disposed of chemicals they no longer needed. ”They dug a hole and we saw them bring some stuff and burn it" Avokpo explains, looking out onto what is now wasteland.

"The farm management came here to inspect. They said we could no longer farm on this land and that if people ate what we grow they will get ill."

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