It is important that the farmers be taught about the safety and health-hazards in the field. It is essential to teach the farmer’s organic farming as an alternative method of using chemical pesticides and inorganic fertilizers. Peer-based interventions involve a form of didactic provision of health information. Peers may be particularly well suited to deliver tailored health information and thus facilitate the translation of knowledge into changes in motivation or beliefs. This study was done to determine the effect of a peer health education on health hazards of pesticides and use of organic farming on the knowledge and practices of farmers in Barangay Coloran, Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay. This is a pre and post interventional study participated by selected farmers in Barangay Coloran, Siay, selected through convenience sampling. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used before and after one and two months after the intervention. A checklist was also utilized to determine the actual practices of the respondents in the field before and after the intervention. The questionnaire was divided by two categories: Knowledge and Practices. The intervention was conducted by the selected peer health educator who did a lecture and return demonstration on organic farming as an alternative to pesticide use. Two way anova was used to analyzed the knowledge, Wilcoxon Signed Test was used to analyzed the theoretical practices and McNemars Sign Test was used to analyzed the actual practices of the farmers. The findings clearly revealed that there was a significant increase in the knowledge after the intervention. The mean score of knowledge before the intervention was 23.4 out of 30 items. The mean knowledge score after the intervention increased to 27.03 with a P value of 0.000. The theoretical practices of the respondents have also improved significantly. Also, majority of the actual practices of the respondents have dramatically changed and improved. One of the local farmers has stopped using chemical pesticides and shifted to the use of organic. The use of peer health education as an intervention on the hazards of pesticide use and organic farming was effective in improving the knowledge and practices of farmers in Barangay Coloran, Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay.

Keyword: health hazards occupational safety siay