Toxic Sensorium

Pesticides and toxicity are constitutive features of modernization in Africa, despite ongoing portrayals the continent as “too poor to pollute.” This article examines social science scholarship on agricultural pesticide expansion Sub-Saharan Africa. We recount rise agrochemical usage colonial projects that placed African smallholder farmers at forefront toxic vulnerability. then outline prevalent literature “knowledge deficits” unsafe farmer practices approaches can downplay deeper structures. Missing this literature, we argue, embodied sensory experiences they become users, even amid an awareness toxicity. Drawing ethnographic research Mozambique Burkina Faso, explore how “toxic sensorium” using agrochemicals intersects with farmers’ modern aspiration. Th is approach help elucidate why differently situated live pesticides, thereby expanding existing structural violence knowledge gaps.