Ethiopian experience with pesticides
-no foundation for food security

Tsedeke Abate provides an overview of pesticide use and pest control. With 95% of food production dependent on peasant producers, he argues that the benefits of pesticide use may be over-estimated, and are inappropriate in this context. Research should be able to provide alternatives based on understanding how traditional pest management strategies operate.

Ethiopia is a country of huge bio-diversity and agricultural complexity. As in many developing countries, agriculture plays a key role in Ethiopia's economy. It provides employment for more than 80% of the population and contributes to nearly 50% of gross domestic product.
    The major crops produced include cereals, legumes, oil seeds, roots and tubers, vegetables, fruit crops, coffee, spices and cotton. About 95% of food production in Ethiopia comes from the peasant sector, where production technologies are primarily traditional. Land holdings range between 0.5 and 3 ha or less, depending on the geographical region of the country1. Land is prepared for planting by oxen drawing a local plough (the maresha) or by manually operated hand tools.  Sowing is done by broadcasting and weeding is dependent upon labour intensive practices. The use of irrigation, improved seed and other external inputs such as pesticides is minimal.
    Inter-cropping is a common practice. Patches of different crops (cereals and legumes, cereals and oilseeds, cereals and cereals, cereals and trees) are often grown side by side in the cereal-based systems of the central and northern Ethiopian highlands. Cropping patterns in the root crops-dominated southern Ethiopian highlands are characterised by even more heterogeneity.

Pesticide research in Ethiopia
The importance of crop protection research has long been recognised by the Ethiopian Agricultural Research and Extension System, and research on pesticides was  prominent, especially during the 1970s and early 1980s. Concerted efforts on pesticide research in Ethiopia started in the early 1970s. These included screening of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides; recommendations on pesticide use were based on the results of screening trials or on the basis of experience gained in neighbouring countries. Some work on screening of rodenticides was also initiated around the mid 1970s at the Holetta Research Centre of the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR).
    In general, pesticide research in Ethiopia concentrated on synthetic pesticides; little emphasis, until recently, was given to research and development on other groups of pesticides such as growth regulators, pheromones, microbial control agents, and botanicals.
    The  IAR and academic institutions, are responsible for conducting large and small scale screening trials to determine the efficacy of various pesticides. The Desert Locust Control Organisation for Eastern Africa (DLCO-EA), with its headquarters in Addis Ababa, also has its own pesticide importation and testing protocol.

Pesticide regulation
Although there is legislation governing pesticide registration, clear guidelines on the importation, testing, and use of pesticides have not been enforced effectively. To date therefore it is not uncommon for pesticides whose use is restricted in industrialised countries to be widely used in Ethiopia. Furthermore, no pesticide has been officially banned in this country although 16 African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, Sudan, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe) have officially restricted, banned or withdrawn use of the Dirty Dozen pesticides (as outlined by the Pesticides Action Network [PAN])2.
    For example, DDT (a Dirty Dozen pesticide) is used in Ethiopia for the control of the mosquito malaria vector and against agricultural pests. World-wide DDT is banned in 49 countries. In Africa it is banned in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Madagascar, Mozambique, Togo and Zimbabwe. Kenya, Mauritius, and South Africa have also restricted the use of DDT3.
    Recent action by the reactivated National Pesticide Registration Committee has meant that 25 products (17 insecticides, 5 herbicides and 3 fungicides) have been registered in Ethiopia. 

Pesticide formulations
At present, all agricultural pesticides used in Ethiopia are imported. However, construction of a new pesticide formulation plant has just been completed near the town of Adami Tulu in the Rift Valley, some 170 km south of Addis Ababa. According to Mr. Makonnen Tessema, project manager of the plant, it aims to produce liquid and dust formulations of the insecticides shown in Table 1. It means that the full projected annual production capacity of the formulation plant is about 3,000 tonnes. It is expected that the plant will operate at 85% capacity during the first year and 100% in the third year.

Pesticide imports
Based on 1983-1993 figures, Ethiopia's annual import of pesticides is estimated at more than 3,800 tonnes (figure 1), worth approximately US$21 million4. In addition, the crop protection wing of the Ministry of Agriculture receives (mainly as donations from the West) an average of about 203 tonnes per annum for controlling the African armyworm and locusts. About 72% of all pesticide imports are insecticides, 25% are herbicides, 2.6% are fungicides and 1.3% others such as rodenticides, disinfectants.
    Pesticide imports during the 1991 season almost collapsed (figure 1) owing to the shortages of foreign exchange created by the previous government that was in the process of being overthrown.
    The state sector has been the major user of pesticides in Ethiopia. Of the average 3,815 tonnes of pesticides imported between 1983 and 1993, the former Ministry of State Farms Development (MSFD) accounted for more than 37% (or nearly 1,350 tonnes), with the Ethiopian Seed Enterprise (ESE) and the Ethiopian Grain Enterprise EGTE) sharing roughly 1.6% (or 57 tonnes) and 0.1% (3 tonnes) respectively. About 70% of all pesticides used by MSFD are insecticides, with herbicides (22.5%), fungicides (7%) and rodenticides (0.7%).

Obsolete pesticide stocks
One of the major problems associated with pesticides is their disposal. Developing countries are often handicapped by the lack of trained personnel, facilities and funds to get rid of obsolete pesticides. As of May 19926 the total pesticide stocks in Ethiopia amounted to nearly 5,400 tonnes (insecticides 75%, herbicides 14%, fungicides 10% and others 1%) distributed among MOA (47.6%), MSFD (42.8%), the former Ministry of Coffee and Tea Development (5.5%) and the DLCO-EA (3.6%). Included in this stock are 652 tonnes of Dirty Dozen pesticides mainly DDT, lindane, heptachlor, aldrin, chlordane, paraquat7.

The magnitude of pest problems
A large number of insect pests have been recorded on major crops in Ethiopia, but only a few of these are considered to be of economic importance. Examples include stalk borers on maize and sorghum; grasshoppers on small cereals; bean stem maggots on haricot beans; fruitworms and tobacco whitefly on vegetables; scale insects on citrus; and bollworms on cotton8.
    Crop yield losses due to pests and diseases in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa stand at 30-40%. Data on yield losses caused by insect pests in Ethiopia range anywhere between 0 and 100% and average: cereals 32-60%; pulses 19-63%; vegetables 24-49%; citrus 2-9%; and cotton 36-60%9.

Crop loss significance
Although the losses quoted are useful as indicators of the potential ability of a particular pest under the worst case scenario, they should be interpreted with great caution10,11.
    Firstly, most yield estimates are obtained from on-station experiments and therefore do not represent normal farm practices and cropping systems of the farmer.
    Secondly, such experiments are conducted in an artificial environment with increased pest pressure. For example, planting is synchronised with periods of peak pest population. Susceptible cultivars are usually employed as a test crop, and only mono-cropping is used. All of these factors under-estimate the ingenuity and accumulated knowledge of the farmer. The farmer is aware of when to plant his/her crop cultivars which are not as susceptible to pests and diseases. Most cropping systems under small-scale production are also rarely mono-crops either in time or space.
    Thirdly, most if not all, figures are obtained from limited areas and it is inaccurate to extrapolate information gathered at a specific location to the national or regional situation.
    Finally, the yield loss estimates do not take into account contributions of factors such as vegetation diversity and edaphic (soil) and climatic conditions. Crops in Ethiopia are grown under diverse vegetation conditions which may have profound effects on arthropod pest and natural enemy populations, In general, pests in diverse cropping systems become significant only when the proper cultural practices are not followed. For instance, the maize stalk (Busseola fusca), is considered a major pest of maize and sorghum in many parts of Ethiopia and elsewhere in the eastern Africa region. However, the work of Gebre-Amlak et al12 demonstrates that adjusting planting date alone can result in little or no yield loss. Yield loss figures between insecticide treated and untreated plots sown between early April and beginning of May (as practised by farmers) are insignificant. By contrast differences were observed in plots sown later than early May.
    The complex agricultural systems that dominate the farming systems in Ethiopia encourage natural enemies and hence natural biological control.  Therefore pest outbreaks of the magnitude seen in commercial agriculture do not occur under traditional farming systems (with the exception of migratory pests such as the African armyworm or locusts).
    All these factors mean there is a strong justification for not needing pest control measures in smallholder agriculture, as long as the traditional holistic technique is not disrupted by agricultural development initiatives that do not compensate for such complex systems.

Conclusion
Production in smallholder agriculture is characterised by a high degree of agricultural and biological complexity. Such  diversity means that pest and disease outbreaks on the magnitude experienced in commercial agriculture are rare (with the exception of migratory pests). Pesticide use in such circumstances is therefore uncommon. Current initiatives by the Ethiopian government to bring about food self-sufficiency and increased security may maximise the diversity, by way of agricultural intensification and extensification. This is expected to result in increased demand for pest control management. Pressure by interest groups supporting pesticide sales will also increase and farmers may then be persuaded that pesticide use is the only way to reduce crop losses due to pests and diseases. Research should be able to provide alternatives to pesticides; the basis for this will be understanding how traditional pest management strategies operate.
    Economic and environmental concerns about pesticides make them unsuitable for use in smallholder agriculture and therefore pest management in Ethiopian food crops  will rely on an IPM approach that will maximise cultural practices, natural biological control, and use of host plant resistance. Pesticides may constitute an important component of IPM in high value crops in commercial agriculture. Research focus under such circumstances would be on pesticides that are compatible with IPM programmes.

References
1. Stroud, A. and Mekuria, M., Ethiopia's agricultural sector: an overview, In: Franzel S, van Houten H (eds), Research with farmers: lessons from Ethiopia, CABI, Walingford, UK, 1992,  pp9-27.
2. PAN, Demise of the dirty dozen, Global Pesticide Campaigner, 1995, 5(3): 12-13.
3. Ibid.
4. Gordon H., Chiri A. and Abate T., Environmental and economic review of crop protection and pesticide use in Ethiopia. Winrock International Environmental Alliance, US, 1995, 117pp.
5. Abate T., Ampofo, J.K.O., Insect pests of beans in Africa: their ecology and management, Annual review of Entomology, 1996, 41:45-73.
6. Central Statistics Authority, Agricultural sample survey 1994/95, report on agricultural practices (private peasant holdings, main season), 1995, Vol. 3, Statistical Bulletin, 132, CSA, Addis Ababa.
7. Food production, food security and nutrition: subprogramme 4: pre and post harvest losses, October 1993, Addis Ababa.
8. Abate T., Integrated pest management in Ethiopia: an overview, At: workshop on IPM in smallholder agriculture, 9-13/10/95, CTA/IAR, Addis Ababa.
9. Ibid.
10. Op. cit. 8.
11. Op. cit. 5.
12. Gebre-Amlak A, Sigvald R, Pettersson J, The relationship between sowing dates and maize stalk borer, Busseola fusca (Fuller), infestation and damage on maize in Awassa, Ethiopia, Tropical Pest Management, 1989, 36:279-281.
13. Op. cit. 4.
14. Ibid. 

Tsedeke Abate is an agronomist at  the Institute of Agricultural Research, Nazareth Research Centre, Ethiopia.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 33 as part of the Focus on Food supplement, September 1996, pages 12-13]