The French pesticides buyers club

What this work is about

56,650 tonnes. It’s the sheer quantity of pesticides acquired by French farmers in 2017, Mediapart reveals . The number relies on fresh data now released by the French Agency for Biodiversity after they had faded away from the website of Ministry for ecological transition in June 2018 due to lobbyists’ pressure. Mediapart showcases the data through a heatmap that reveals in which local districts chemical products have been purchased the most. Also, by means of a set of square area charts and bar-charts, the analysis shows which regions feature the highest purchases per cultivated hectare. 

Why we like it

Mediapart claims the data set is the most detailed on the matter released to the public, so far. This is to due reasons, the authors of the story explain: on the one hand, precedent dataset focused on “sellers” instead than on “buyers” of pesticides. Consequently, it was difficult to understand exactly who uses those pesticides the most. On the other hand, precedent data were linked to provinces, therefore, enabling a less granular analysis.