Key Takeaways
- A new report from the Paraquat Watch Nigeria Project (PWNP) documents 20 paraquat-based herbicide products still for sale across 19 retail outlets in Nigeria between May and June 2026.
- Seventeen of the 20 products were manufactured after Nigeria's total ban on paraquat took effect on January 1, 2024, or after a further regulatory directive banning the herbicide became effective on May 20, 2025.
- All documented products were manufactured outside Nigeria, with 60% made in China and 40% in Ghana; Ghana and Nigeria were listed as the distributor countries.
- Surveyed retail outlets sold more than 400 litres of paraquat-based herbicides in the past year, according to the report.
- The report's authors, the Agrocentric Creativity Initiative Platform for Agricultural Awareness Amongst Youths (ACIPAAY), issued 11 recommendations, including stronger border monitoring, supply-chain investigations and continuous post-ban market surveillance.
Paraquat Watch Nigeria Project Documents 20 Banned Herbicide Products Still on Sale
A new report published by the Paraquat Watch Nigeria Project (PWNP), a national scientific surveillance programme run by the Agrocentric Creativity Initiative Platform for Agricultural Awareness Amongst Youths (ACIPAAY) and authored by the project's team lead, Joel Emmanuel Benson, documents the continued presence and sale of paraquat-based herbicides in Nigeria despite the country's total ban on the chemical. Paraquat, also known as methyl viologen, is a highly toxic, non-selective contact herbicide used to control weeds; the report notes that exposure poses risks to human and animal health, as well as to food security, pollinators and ecosystems, agricultural trade and climate due to its acute toxicity and persistence.
Conducted during Nigeria's growing season, between May and June 2026, the market survey documented 20 paraquat-based herbicide products across 19 retail outlets in Gwagwalada Area Council, the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Kuje Area Council and Uyo Local Government Area. The products identified were sold under the brand names Paraeforce, Crownquat, Parafast, Blow Out, Parabest and Gramostrong, with Paraeforce and Crownquat the most frequently observed, each accounting for seven of the 20 documented observations.
Nigeria's Ban Timeline for Paraquat
According to the report, Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) began a planned, four-year phase-out of paraquat in 2020, citing public health risks and the need to ensure safer alternatives were available. NAFDAC set December 31, 2022, as the deadline to stop importing paraquat, followed by a 2023 moratorium period to allow existing stock to be exhausted, before the total ban and enforcement actions commenced on January 1, 2024. A further Regulatory Directive on Paraquat, effective May 20, 2025, extended the prohibition to cover the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of paraquat as a herbicide.
Of the 20 products documented in the survey, nine were manufactured between October 2024 and March 2025, after the January 2024 ban took effect, and eight more were manufactured between December 2025 and May 2026, after the May 2025 regulatory directive. The remaining three products were manufactured in August 2023, before the ban commenced. The report concludes that these findings indicate the elimination of paraquat from the Nigerian market, described as the most effective regulatory approach, has not yet been fully achieved.
Where the Herbicide Products Came From
The report found that all 20 documented paraquat-based herbicide products were manufactured outside Nigeria, with 60% manufactured in China and 40% in Ghana. Regarding distribution, 65% of the products listed Ghana as the distributor's country and 35% listed Nigeria. The report states that a review of publicly available information indicated the Nigerian distributor for the Paraeforce products, one of the most frequently observed brands, is a subsidiary of a United Arab Emirates-based multinational company. Sales data from the surveyed outlets showed more than 400 litres of paraquat-based herbicides sold in the past year.
Recommendations to Close the Regulatory Gap
The report's authors issued 11 recommendations aimed at eliminating paraquat from the Nigerian market, including strengthening import monitoring, border control and anti-smuggling measures; investigating the supply chains behind post-ban paraquat products; improving inter-agency collaboration among pesticide, customs, border security and agricultural authorities; and institutionalizing continuous, nationwide post-ban market surveillance. Other recommendations call for independent laboratory testing of herbicides marketed as paraquat alternatives to guard against relabelling or repackaging, expanded public awareness campaigns for farmers and retailers, and strengthened bilateral and regional cooperation with countries that export agrochemicals to Nigeria and with regulators across Africa to prevent the region from becoming a destination for banned hazardous chemicals.
