Environmental Justice and Pesticides in the Global South–A Scoping Review

Abstract

Pesticide exposure is an urgent environmental health issue in the Global South, where structural inequalities, weak regulation, and the export of banned chemicals from the Global North create disproportionate risks for marginalized populations. While environmental justice (EJ) frameworks are increasingly applied in environmental health research, their integration in pesticide research and interventions in the Global South has not been reviewed. This scoping review maps how EJ is conceptualized and operationalized in studies on pesticides in the Global South, identifying justice dimensions, methodological approaches, and interventions. Fifty-four peer-reviewed and grey literature sources (1995 to 2024, English language) were reviewed using a five-dimensional EJ framework: distributive, procedural, recognition, capabilities-based, and epistemic justice. Distributive justice dominated, procedural and recognition justice were inconsistently addressed, and capabilities-based and epistemic justice were rarely applied. EJ applications varied regionally: Central and South American studies had a pluralistic approach to EJ. Sub-Saharan African (SSA) research emphasized acute exposure disparities but lacked epistemic justice. Southeast Asia focused on gender and caste-based inequities, and the Middle East and North African (MENA) region was notably under-represented, highlighting a significant geographic gap. Interventions included pesticide bans, litigation, advocacy, user training, and household adaptations, yet most reinforced individual responsibility rather than addressing structural drivers of pesticide use. Additional gaps include limited gender-specific analyses, scarce epidemiological evidence, and co-production of knowledge with affected communities. Pesticide-related EJ scholarship in the Global South remains uneven, with major regional, methodological, and epistemological gaps. Advancing EJ requires rights-based, community-led, gender-sensitive and epistemically inclusive approaches, strengthened regulations, and a global ban on prohibited pesticides.