http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/214049/icode/ Field schools that train farmers in alternative methods of pest control have succeeded in nearly eliminating the use of toxic pesticides by a community of cotton growers in Mali, according to a new FAO study published today by the London-based Royal Society. This presentation shows how new tools and farmer training implemented by FAO and its partners could revolutionize pesticide management in West Africa.

1. Reducing pesticide risks to farming
communities: adaptive management
through farmer field schools in the
Senegal and Niger River basins in
West Africa
William Settle* FAO /AGP Rome
Mohamed Soumaré FAOR Mali
Makhfousse Sarr FAOR Senegal
Mohamed Hama Garba FAOR Burundi
Anne-Sophie Poisot FAO/AGP Rome
ACHIEVING FOOD AND ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY-
NEW APPROACHES TO CLOSE THE GAP
THE ROYAL SOCIETY, DECEMBER 3-4, 2012
*UNFAO, Vialle delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome, 00153, Italy william.settle@fao.org

2. Objectives of this talk
i) Provide some background on issues
related to pesticide-use in programme
countries
ii) A brief description of Farmer Field Schools
iii)A context for two other papers presented
here today (Jepson and Sarr and Anderson
and Seck)

3. FAO Integrated Production and Pest
Management Programme in West Africa
(IPPM)
2001 – 2012
Funding:
Governments of :
The Netherlands
EU
Norway
Spain
Canada
Global Environment Facility (GEF/UNEP)

4. 7 Countries, 2 Major River Basins
Senegal River Basin
3.5 m people
Niger River Basin
20 m people
(outside Nigeria)
Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania
Niger, Senegal

5. Data from Human Development Report 2011, UNEP
Expenditure on public health (% of GDP)
HumanDevelopmentIndex(HDI)
Seven least developed countries

6. ...but targeted by industry to
reach 20% in next 10 years
Africa is only 2% of global market for pesticides

7. Pesticides in West Africa put at Risk
Highly Fragile Aquatic Ecosystems
Ecosystem services
Drainage sump
40% of European migratory birds visit
Inland deltas of West Africa

8. ...and the populations whose survival hinges on
limited water resources

9. Water resources are directly consumed

10. 1980 Senegal River
BHC against Senegalese
grasshopper Odaleus
senegalensis
Past history of pesticide use : still with us today?

11. PRESSURES:
STATES:
IMPACTS:
DRIVERS:
Reinforcing
Feedback Loops Loss of Overall
Biodiversity
Increased Outbreaks of
Plant Pests and Diseases;
Reduced Pollination
Loss of Consumable
Aquatic Fauna
Damaged
Aquatic Micro-
Fauna and Flora
Damaged Terrestrial
Biodiversity
Contaminated WATER Irrigation,
Drainage,
Wells, and Rivers
Applicators in direct
contact with toxic
chemicals
Contaminated Produce
(fruits, vegetables,
cereals)
Reduced Human
Health
Reduced International
Exports
Reduced Environmental
Social and Economic
Well-Being
Reduced Agricultural
Productivity & Profits
Growing use of toxic Pesticides
Population Growth and Perceived
threats to Global Food Security
Commercial Influence of
global
Agro-Chemical Industry
Lack of Awareness of
Negative Externalities &
Positive Alternatives
Lack of National Pesticide Monitoring
and Enforcement of Existing
Regulations

12. RESPONSES
Building capacity in Regional
Ecotoxicology labs
Monitoring Pesticide Use
Modeling impacts on
biodiversity and human
health
Monitoring impacts on
yields and farm-level
profits
Building capacity in local
communities (Field Schools)
Monitoring Pesticide
Concentrations in surface
waters

13. Field Schools : building
critical thinking skills through
social learning
> 90 countries
Farmer Field Schools

14. Field Schools and Adaptive Management
Building capacity for Adaptive Management
Three tenets (inspired by Norton 2005):
1. Promoting farmer experimentation
2. Building locally crafted strategies
3. Working with many partners at multiple
scales
"to help provide language, and habit of
mind and an adaptive experimental
approach for action“ Norton 2005

15. Season-Long Training of Facilitators (ToF)

16. Comparing
conventional and new
practices
Understanding
Mechanisms
Farmer Field Schools

17. Awareness– exploration/experimentation—adaptation
Farmer Field Schools – Addressing Heterogeneity
… adoption

18. 1. Begins with community participatory appraisal to
establish farmer priorities
2. 20-25 Farmers meeting once per week for the full
season
3. Curriculum based on crop calendar
4. Explores issues and ideas through observation
experimentation, presentation, and discussion
5. Promotes understanding mechanisms (economic,
ecological, social)
6. Foundation for building groups
7. Continues in subsequent seasons to explore new
topics
Farmer Field Schools (FFS)

19. Burkina Faso
Crop
diversity:
Incomes
Nutrition
Building
ecological and
economic
resilience
© FAO/William Settle
Building Groups (Social Capital)
Farmer Field Schools

20. Netting protects
seedbeds from birds
and insects
Farmer Field Schools
Post FFS : “Champs d’application”
Not just one season

21. Crop % Women
Vegetables 54,512 48%
Rice 42,293 18%
Cotton 44,624 5%
Mango 988 3%
Cow peas 1,821 57%
Sesame 1,534 27%
Millet / Sorghum 930 5%
Jatropha 300 0%
Karité 1,200 95%
Phase II Total 148,202 mean = 26%
Growing diversity of crops
(2002-2012)

22. A “demand-driven” philosophy  full system approach
Rice
Vegetables
Cotton Minor
Crops
Cotton-Cereals-
Livestock
Semi-Arid Savannas
Millet-Sorghum-Livestock
Agro-forestry Systems
•Sesame
•Cowpea
•Jatropha
•Karite
•Mango
•Forage
•Legumes
•Cover Crops
2001 2006 2009
CroppingSystems
2010
IPM
Soil Fertility
Management
Orchard
Management
Integrated
Soil Fertility
Management
Marketing Agro-
Forestry
Water-Conserving
Methods
Climate Change
Adaptation
Methods
Seed
Multiplication
Environmental
Monitoring for
Pesticides & Human
Health Risk AssessmentNursery and
Transplanting
2011 2012

23. NumberofFarmersTrained
IPPM West Africa
`
Number of Farmers Trained by Country
June 2012
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Niger
Mauritanie
Guinée
Senegal
Mali
Burkina
Benin
Phase I
148,202
Phase II
Phase III

24. Cotton production is responsible
for the highest consumption of
pesticides in West Africa
3.7m cotton farmers in Mali
Field Schools for cotton

25. Cotton – an “open door” for
highly toxic pesticides brought
into other systems
© FAO/William Settle
© FAO/William Settle

26. 4,346 cotton households
56 villages
Mali Cotton :
2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
Year
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Percentofpesticidespurchased
Benguene
Bla
Niala
Samabogo
Somasso
Tiemen

27.  4,324 households : 1,461 farmers
trained (34%)
Percent households trained
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Percentpesticidespurchased
0 2010 30 40 50 60
Mali IPM training: diffusion?

28. 0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
GrossincomepercommuneUSD
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Percent households trained
Mali IPM training: economic benefits?

29. Mali Cotton :
 47,000 litres synthetic insecticides not sprayed
= $470,000 savings
 Cost to train farmers : $146,000
 … what about the non-economic benefits?

30. • Clear benefits: economic and health-related
• Effective IPM technologies (neem-based with option
to use synthetic insecticides if needed)
• Effective training methods (FFS)—pragmatic
“discovery learning”
• Enhanced communication among farmers and
between farmers and technicians (social capital)—
facilitator/pest scouts
• High proportion trained (34% overall across the
sector).
Mali Cotton : why diffusion might take place

31. • 400 Ha rice polder 793 farmer plots:
• Yields from 2.1 T/ha to 5.0 T/ha in two seasons
• 66% reduction in fertilizer use
• 80% reduction in seed use
• Economic benefit approx. $400k
• Annual cost of entire programme Benin: approx. $340k
Benin Farmer 2008-9
Each country has potential for “big wins”
From Settle and Garba 2010

32. pre post pre post
Groups by period
0
10
20
30
40
InsecticideexpendituresperfarmerUSD
FFS Control
N = 136
Senegal Vegetable Production
pesticide use
reduced
93%

33. Senegal Vegetable Production Practices
Pre and Post FFS
0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
A. Commercial Pesticide L/ha
Pre-FFS Post-FFS
0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
D. Neem Extract L/ha
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
C. Bio-Pesticide L/ha
n = 68
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
B. Crop Net Value USD/ha **
Pre-FFS Post-FFS
Pre-FFS Post-FFS Pre-FFS Post-FFS
No difference
With control
group

34. CONCLUSIONS
1. The time is long past due to get the most toxic pesticides
out of the hands and homes of farmers and to get use down
to a level that is appropriate:
education—legislation—monitoring
1. Heterogeneity of ecological, social and economic systems
obliges investment in educating small farmers to be
proactive participants in adaptive research
2. Partnerships within and across multiple scales: Embed
promising social processes within, and empower the
“mosaic” of social and administrative structures at
decentralized (subdistrict-levels). Exchange lessons learned
and people across neighbouring countries.