The hegemonic agrarian model in Brazil is based on crops for export that are intensive in mechanized technologies and in the use of pesticides. The country became the world largest pesticide consumer and is ranked as the market that will grow the most in the near future. The purpose of this article was to make a general assessment of the relationship between the Brazilian agrarian model and the impacts of pesticide use on health and environment. To confront these problems, we propose a research agenda that integrates the different sectors engaged in protecting health, environment, and also food safety and sovereignty. We evidenced and discussed the need to: give greater visibility to the impacts as well as socio-environmental and health costs of the predominant model, adopt economic instruments that will encourage the use of cleaner technologies and healthier production models compatible with family farming, discourage productive systems that offer more environmental and health risks, along with developing and implementing public policies based on advances in ecological economics and agroecology, with the participation of social movements, regulatory institutions, and research groups.
pesticides; public health; environment; agroecological transition; public policy
