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Launched in 2001, FAO’s Integrated Production and Pest Management (IPPM) Programme is a multi-donor initiative that aims to improve agricultural skills of smallholder farmers and raise awareness of alternatives to toxic chemicals through the Farmer Field Schools (FFS) approach. Initially focused on West Africa, the programme has been implemented in nine countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia, training more than 200 000 farmers. Initially, IPPM training focused on the main crops with the highest estimated use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, namely rice, vegetables and cotton. Subsequently, it gradually evolved into a broader systems approach, incorporating training modules on cereals (maize, sorghum, millet, fonio) and integrating topics such as soil fertility management, seed production, processing, marketing and other practices. The programme builds social capital at multiple levels to ensure better implementation and sustainability of programme actions and empower communities.
In the village of Bla in central Mali, farmers have organized themselves into a network of coordinators they call the “Réseau GIPD” or “IPPM Network”; GIPD stands for Production and Integrated Pest Management— French version of Integrated Production and Pest Management.
Siaka Dioni, 40, who lives in Bla, is a member of the network. He attended the first Farmer Field School training in 2009 and became a facilitator two years later. “I decided to participate in the IPPM programme’s Farmer Field School because my neighbours said they had good results from it. I was curious and wanted to know more.”
Siaka is one of 42 counselors trained so far The FAO programme first started in the region in 2002, with the training of a small number of coordinators in Sikasso, more than 100 km from the main regional centre of Bura. Today, the GIPD network is growing at full speed, with training organized in Bura, making it cheaper and easier to build capacity in neighbouring communities. Since its inception, it has trained more than 4 000 farmers, and the number is growing. Thanks to support from the European Union and the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Secretariat (ACP), the programme continues to support the network through new and retraining of coordinators and institutional development.
Raising awareness through “learning by doing”
IPPM projects use a “learning by doing” or “action research” approach, working with farming communities to introduce discovery-based field trial methods to adapt and eventually adopt improved agricultural practices; for example, by using alternative methods to control pests and reduce the risks of pesticides. As a result, farmers become experts in their field and learn to make more informed decisions.
“Before IPPM started in Bla, everyone thought that pesticides were only toxic if swallowed”, says Gaoussou Coulibaly, President of the Bla GIPD Network. “Now, farmers who have been trained are well aware that pesticides sprayed in the air can also be toxic if inhaled”. The goal of IPPM is to raise awareness of practical alternatives, so that farmers and their communities can better protect themselves and the environment they live in.
Serving the Community
Siaka owns 10 hectares of land. Before receiving FFS training, he had only planted fonio grains on a small portion of his land, mainly due to poor yields due to deteriorating land conditions. After the training, Siaka decided to apply the learned methods to a portion of his fields. Since then, his progress has been impressive: he has expanded the area of IPPM practices year by year, from 2 hectares of cotton and half a hectare of sesame in 2010 to 3 hectares of cotton, 3 hectares of corn, 2 hectares of sesame, and 2 hectares of hybrid sorghum seeds in 2014. In four years, the harvested area has increased from 2.5 hectares to 10 hectares, with a significant increase in the diversification of plantings.
The benefits are clear: Siaka’s income has now tripled, thanks to increased yields and partly to reduced pesticide purchases. He used part of the profits to buy two motorcycles so he can get to and from the fields more quickly. With a diversified cropping system, Siaka can provide himself and his family with better nutrition and a higher probability of a good harvest despite climate challenges.
“But what makes me happiest is that I now have an accurate understanding of how plants grow and how to properly manage a field,” Siaka explains. “I can now give advice to people, and I have built a wider network than before.”
The capacities being developed by the Réseau GIPD and supported by the IPPM programme cover a number of topics, including: environmentally friendly solutions to pest problems; adoption of improved planting methods; adoption of early and resistant seed varieties; crop diversification; climate change adaptation practices such as soil and water management; and integration of animal husbandry and agroforestry. Today in Bla, these capacities are being further developed and are already serving farmers, while also contributing to the overall well-being of the community.
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