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Increasing IPM Knowledge Through FFS in Benin

Trine Lund,Hafizur Rahman

Published 2011 in Unknown venue

ABSTRACT

Over the next two generations 4 billion more people will live in cities, increasing the proportion of the urban population from 50 to 80 per cent of the total world population (NRC, 1999). Thus a sustainable development needs to focus on meeting the needs of an increasing human population, reducing poverty and hunger while at the same time sustaining the life support systems of the planet (NRC, 1999). While the Green Revolution technologies enabled extensive monocultures and higher yields through improved seeds, chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, biodiversity in and around the agro-ecosystems have been reduced, causing the loss of natural pest and disease control (Gallagher et al., 2005). This has increased the need for synthetic pesticides in the agricultural sector to the current global use of 2.56 billion kg yr−1 (Pretty, 2008), with associated negative effects for humans and the ecosystem becoming evident. While the externalities of pesticides in rice systems in China cost $1.4 billion per year through adverse effects on biodiversity and people’s health (Norse et al., 2001), the annual mortality rate due to pesticides in the remote Ecuadorian highlands is among the world’s highest, 21 per 100 000 people (Sherwood et al., 2005). On the other hand, in the Philippines, agricultural systems that do not use any synthetic pesticides experience higher net social benefits due to reduced illnesses among farmers and their families, and associated lower medical costs (Rola & Pingali, 1993, Pingali & Roger, 1995). According to FAO and ILO estimates, 2 to 5 million agricultural workers yearly experience severe pesticide poisoning and related illnesses of which 40 000 are lethal (FAO & ILO, 2009). However, pesticide poisoning incidents are often underreported, as indicated by a study among farmers in Senegal, Mali and Benin, where over 80% of the respondents faced adverse effects after spraying pesticides, to the extent of blurred vision, unconsciousness or severe dizziness, but only 2% sought medical attention for these symptoms (Thiam & Touni, 2009). Thus recent studies, where 4% to 9% of the surveyed farmers reported poisoning incidents the last year, estimate a yearly 25 – 45 million poisoning cases (Kishi, 2005). Africa only accounts for 4% of pesticides used globally, an estimated 75-100 metric tons of pesticide active ingredient (compared to 350,000 tons in Europe), and average pesticide use per hectare cultivated land in Africa (1.23kg/ha) is very low compared to Latin America and Asia (7.17kg/ha and 3.12kg/ha respectively) (Thiam & Touni, 2009). Still, the risks and impacts associated with synthetic pesticides are not necessarily lower in Africa as many of the pesticides used in the continent are adulterated, poor quality and unlabelled and application and handling practices are often highly unsafe (Thiam & Touni, 2009, Lund et

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2011

  • Venue

    Unknown venue

  • Publication date

    2011-10-21

  • Fields of study

    Agricultural and Food Sciences, Geography, Environmental Science

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.5772/17009
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

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