Progress in Farmer Field School IPM in Ethiopia’s lowlands  

Participatory IPM training is helping more Ethiopian farmers to shift from reliance on pesticides to cheaper and environmentally benign pest management practices and reverse their deteriorating standard of living. Mulugeta Seyoum Ademe reports.

Members of the Gedo Ber Farmer Field School in front of their sorghum experimental field. Photo: Mulugeta Seyoum Ademe

The Kobo-Girana Valley Development Program (KGVDP) in the north-east lowlands of Ethiopia was established in 1999 to tackle the rising food insecurity in the Valley through integrated development projects. 
    The Valley ranges from warm temperate to hot semi-arid climate and crop production is cereal-based and subsistence oriented. Smallholders mainly grow sorghum, teff, maize and barley and crop yields are low. Shortage and uneven distribution of rainfall, pest and weed damage, inefficient pest control, lack of farmland and environmental degradation all contribute to chronic food shortages, even in good crop production seasons. IPM practices are known to those involved in agricultural development, yet chemical control of pests has been prioritised, especially for outbreak pests on cereal staples. The government’s national Participatory Demonstration Extension and Training System has encouraged the use of agrochemicals, as have donors and NGOs. As a result of reliance on chemical control strategies, 2,000 litres and 3,200kg of obsolete pesticides are estimated to have accumulated in stockpiles in the Valley. 
    Following successful pilot IPM training in Farmer Field Schools (FFS) in the highland zones of North Wollo by Save the Children UK in 1999-2000 [see PN52], the KGVDP was keen to collaborate. Staff in the KGDVP Agriculture and Irrigation Management Division requested assistance to start Farmer Field Schools in their area of operations and Save the Children agreed to help them set up 12 FFS groups.
    Training of Trainers in FFS methodology was carried out for 36 subject specialists, supervisory and field extension staff of the KGVDP in 2001, who went on to facilitate FFS groups with 288 farmers, 26% of whom were women. The training built up farmers’ knowledge about the main cereal pests (aphids, bollworm, grasshoppers, stalkborers and weevils) and their natural enemies. Farmers compared their current pest control practice on sorghum, maize and teff with a range of IPM alternatives based on botanical preparations from local plants, cultural controls from seed selection, seedbed preparation to harvesting and storage, and the use of fermented cattle urine. Farmers and extension agents tested the efficacy of 25 different plants and experimented with length of fermentation period, dilution rates and mixtures of plant preparations. Freshly-made extracts could easily be applied mixed with urine for immediate application when pest outbreaks were observed but well-fermented botanical preparations gave better and safe control results when applied diluted. For storage pest control, dried and ground leaves were more effective than fresh, chopped leaves, probably as the ground-up preparations were distributed more evenly and increased contact with target pests.
    Follow-up field observation and discussion with farmers and trainers indicated that pesticide use by FFS farmers decreased considerably compared with the previous season. One of the best FFS groups at Gedo Ber Peasant Association prepared over 400 litres of botanical extracts for their own use and for neighbouring farmers. Almost all of the farmers in this FFS group were able to produce their crops without any use of synthetic pesticides in the 2001 season. 
    Farmers, extension agents, pest control specialists and senior managers have changed their attitude towards the use of external inputs as the key method for pest control. One farmer from Gedo Ber reported that ‘ I am very much impressed with what the FFS group are doing to control pests using their own indigenous knowledge and cheap, local resources. Hereafter, I will never go to any suppliers to purchase agrochemicals because I realise that the solutions are in our hands’. FFS members have shared their experiences with over 230 other farmers and farmers in the surrounding areas are now interested to get involved in IPM activities The FFS project also gave women the chance to take part in farmer-led experimentation and decision-making processes to improve food security. 
    Despite successes in reviving indigenous knowledge and local resources, farmers identified several constraints and difficulties. FFS farmers need buckets, chopping and grinding tools to improve the scale and efficiency of botanical extract preparation and protective clothing to avoid irritation from certain preparations. Collecting and transporting plant material and urine was time-consuming and farmers considered that proper utilisation of botanicals (dose rate, frequency, time of application, handling and storage) is not an easy task to be managed by FFS members alone, especially with their current levels of understanding. Some of the valuable plant species for pest management are in scarce supply and not readily available so farmers should be encouraged to multiply and plant these around their homesteads. Further research is needed on refining the use of botanical and urine preparations, while the best FFS groups should be supported to become more self-reliant via opportunities for income generation and for collaboration in ecologically-sound technology generation and dissemination.

Mulugeta Seyoum Ademe was Head of the KGDVP Agriculture and Irrigation Management Division until 2002 and is currently at the Adet Agricultural Research Center, PO Box 1301, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. 

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 59, March 2003, page 15]