SOIL FERTILITY INITIATIVE MAKING STRIDES IN NORTHERN AND EASTERN PROVINCES

 By HAPPY MULOLANI

“ONE of the concerns for a long time is that farmers have concentrated on feeding plants without feeding the soil,” National Coordinator for the National Innovation Platform on Soil Fertility, and Dean of the School of the Agricultural Sciences at the University of Zambia, Benson Chishala disclosed.

Dr Chishala’s sentiments comes amid concerns in the decline in food production and food security which is attributed to the high soil acidity levels.  

“What is key is to understand is that soil fertility is closely tied to food security, hence the need to better nature the soil through improved approaches” he noted.

Over the years, this challenge has culminated in poor soil fertility levels leading to low production and food security.

With this identified gap, a project on restoring soil fertility was initiated in 2015. The first National Innovation Platform on Soil Fertility was held in December, 2018. It tabled some of the concerns, challenges and wayforward of addressing soil fertility management, resulting in the development of one key component, which entails properly managing the soil through appropriate approaches.

Dr Chishala emphasized that efforts to address the poverty levels through improved soil fertility practices is apparent. The status quo has culminated into the Organic Resource Management for Soil Fertility (ORM4SOIL) project with funding support from the Swedish. This project has been work collaboratively with research institutions, Ministry of Agriculture and University of Zambia and other agriculture development partners.

The project identified Chipata and Kasama districts in Eastern and Northern provinces as pilot districts to have trials and demonstrations on improved soil fertility practices in order to better their yields and contribute to increased food production and security.

He explained that this presents the opportunity for key players in agriculture development on fostering and bettering the soil fertility approaches to enhance farmer yields.

At a recent second National Innovation Platform on Soil Fertility heled in Lusaka, Acting District Agricultural Coordinator for Chipata, John Chuba highlighted that the innovation platforms were key in fostering communication campaigns which has played a significant role in creating awareness to farmers and more collaboration has been enhanced.

Mr Chuba finds traditional leaders has playing a critical role in encouraging farmers to adopt farming practices which improves.

“A lesson learnt from the projection intervention in the district is that the local leadership has been helped in educating farmers, noting that it is not easy to interact with chiefs and influence subjects,” he revealed.

He further explained the innovation platforms serve to enhance not only collaboration being also better presents strengthening of the existing linkage.

The beauty of these innovation platforms is that it has provided available options for farmers to use in improving the soil.

Loyce Banda, a farmer from Chibuvungwe in Chipata, says she has learnt how to use manure and Agroforestry practices which have significantly improved her yields.

Francis Mwenya, a farmer in Chilongoshi agricultural camp, is one of the farmers, who has drawn vital lessons learnt from useful from the innovation platform- the traditional of Fundikila, which is basically the use of grass, leaves and ridges. These approach has turned out to be different and effective from chitemene system.

Mr Mwenya Farmer appreciates Fundikila more than Chitemene because it was restoring soil nutrients and yields were better than using the Chitemene system.

The role of the sustainable soil fertility champion needs to influence policy advocacy and search for opportunities especially at expert platforms.

With the realization of improving soil fertility and boosting food production and security, the need for a soil fertility champion is key to influence appropriate policy decisions as a contribution to the agriculture sector.

Soil Fertility Champion, Venon Chinene stressed that as a nation, there is need invest in low input agriculture.

“We need to ensure we make right investment into low input agriculture because it will potentially have a high return on investment,” said Professor Chinene.

Professor Chinene emphasized that adequate research into soil fertility and related issues has been conducted on low input agriculture.

“What is required is to commercialization low input agriculture and showcase research initiatives through agriculture shows and related platforms,” he said.

The project interventions have contributed to knowledge in promoting low input agriculture technologies and practices among farmer communities. In all, a myriad of opportunities are imminent given the anticipated increase in the world population to nine million by 2050. This is a glimmer of hope for farmer communities to re-think and look at the great demand for technology and practices which should be able to sustain and feed a lot of people.

For this to happen, there must be concerted efforts and appropriate policy to improve the soils and land management in championing the ever increasing food demands globally. 

MITIGATING MEASURES FOR FALL ARMYWORMS

By HAPPY MULOLANI

“PREVIOUSLY, my maize fields used to be affected by Fall Army Worms resulting in low maize yields,” said Nyambe Mweene, a small-scale farmer in Mungule village in Lwimba agricultural camp in Chongwe district.

Mr Mweene shared his experiences that despite cultivating maize and beans on a relatively higher scale, the prevalence of Fall Armyworms in his field became worrisome given that a bigger part of his hectarge was getting affected and recording crop losses.

He revealed that he depended on purchasing pesticides to spray his field but the cost implications were too high as he had other family obligations.

This gloomy picture began to change when he was selected to be among one of the farmers to participate in on-farm trials on the use of low cost farming methods that supports agro-ecological approaches to pest management.

“In 2019, which was the first year of the project when I was selected as one of the 12 farmers to do trials in Lwimba agricultural camp, I intercropped maize with beans and managed to harvest 15 bags by 50kilogrammes in one lima which was better than preceding years when I would only harvest 10bags,” disclosed Mr Mweene.

Despite the dry spells encountered in 2020, the harvest increased to 20 bags by 50kilogramme in one lima. This, Mr Mweene says is a positive stride in his maize fields as compared to past years when he relied on spraying against Fall Armyworms. While this year, with the good rains experienced so far, he expects to harvest 25 bags by 50kilogramme in one lima, which is a significant gain in his crop production.

Another beneficiary farmer, Cephas Mvula of Kanakantapa explains that, as one of the farmers participating in on-farm trials of maize and beans, he has learnt that intercropping and mulching is a better approach than using pesticides, as most pesticides are destructive and costly.

Mr Mvula explained that it was very useful to learn the best possible ways of mitigating Fall Armyworms through the use of natural economy with low cost, as it improves productivity and livelihoods.  

Kanakantapa Resettlement Scheme, Extension Officer, Fridah Kasamika explained that farmers have learnt practices such as conservation agriculture tillage, with some selected cowpeas and maize, maize and selected legumes.

Ms Kasamika says in her camp, 12 farmers were selected to participate in on-farm trials. So far, farmers have been using these demonstrations plots to learn and share experiences on the approaches to fight Fall Armyworms and improve their yields.  

These trials are supported by a five year project, which is a partnership between the World Agroforestry-(ICRAF) and the Ministry of Agriculture through its research department, the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute at Mount Makulu. It seeks to alleviate the impact of Fall Army Worm on smallholder farms through the use of low-cost pest control strategies based on ecological approaches. The project is also supported by other partners such as NORAD.

The project through its experts, encourages farmers to avoid using a variety of pesticides in their fields because they are not only toxic but dangerous to use. Instead, promoting agro ecological approaches to offer alternative solutions which is “cheaper, safer and better for the environment.” Some of the Agro-ecological approaches to pest management such as conservation farming which focuses on promoting practices such as crop rotation, minimum tillage, mulching and composting. Others include intercropping, diversifying crop types in order to protect natural habitats and enhance biodiversity in farmers’ fields. And the identification of specific interventions which encourage natural enemies such ass “providing nest sites for predatory insects.”

Since inception, the project has witnessed farmers’ yields slowly but surely improve through the application of ecological approaches meant to mitigate Fall Armyworms and boost maize yields.

Senior Researcher at the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute, Gilson Chipabika explains that trials are being conducted on how to mitigate Fall armyworms. The researchers collect data on infestation rates, damage and yields to examine the cost effectiveness.

Mr Chipabika said that during the research, farmers will gain knowledge on Fall Armyworm and its natural enemies.

He says that the project targets to make pesticides redundant and use nature to address the impact of pests through the use of Agro ecological approaches such as inter crop, mulching and crop residue among others which are cheaper, safer and better for the environment.

 

According to ICRAF Project Lead Investigator, Rhett Harrison, “The target is to make chemical pesticides redundant and the use nature to do the work us.”

Professor Harrison further discloses that most pesticides are highly toxic and dangerous to use. Agro-ecological approaches offers alternative solutions, which is rather cheaper, safer and better for the environment.

He emphasizes the need for government to ensure farmers are offered with solutions which are long-term. Other than, natural solutions, if they are to use pesticides its better for them to utilise biological and botanical pesticides which are safer though costly for many small-scale farmers. What is required is to offer subsidies to lower the cost of pesticides.

The project is working with 180 small-scale farmers in Zambia and Malawi and is conducting on-farm trials. At inception of the trials, farmers were supplied with inputs which includes maize, soyabean, cowpea, groundnut and common bean seeds. To effectively manage these trials, technical support is being offered to the farmers by researchers.

Deputy Director at Zambia Agriculture Research Institute, Ivor Mukuka observes that the effective utilization of technology is feasible as can be seen from research findings of the trials located in various farmers catchment areas.

Mr Mukuka emphasized that farmers need to really use technology to help them improve their yields and food security.

“From the research findings, appropriate information will be packaged and shared with the farmers. This information is meant to assist farmers improve their productivity and production as it is in line with the mandate of the government and its partner ICRAF,” stressed Mr Mukuka.

It is expected the knowledge generated from these research findings will be useful in developing national pest control strategies across Southern African countries. Such an approach is endeavours to boost productivity, production and incomes of small-scale farmers.

AGRA AND MOA PARTNERSHIP TO BOOST THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR

 By HAPPY MULOLANI

TO better support the agriculture sector, the necessity to build strategic partnerships is key, especially with organizations that are already engaged in investing in the agriculture sector in order to improve livelihoods.

Amidst an array of struggles, farmers in Zambia grapple with unproductive soil, unreliable water supplies, low-quality seeds, and scarce markets for their crops. This situation resulted in the Government of Zambia signing an agreement with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) recently in Lusaka.

AGRA is an organisation which started in 2006 with the aim of investing in agriculture as a way of contributing towards poverty reduction and hunger in Africa. It supports millions of smallholder farmers across the continent. Ideally, smallholder farmers comprise 70 percent of Africa’s population and the intention of AGRA is to ensure these smallholder farmers efforts are enhanced by increasing their productivity and incomes. It is encouraging that AGRA has supported over 400 projects, and this has included offering interventions such as developing and delivering “better seeds, increase farm yields, improve soil fertility, upgrade facilities, improve market information systems, strengthen farmers’ associations, expand access to credit for farmers and small suppliers, and advocate for national policies to benefit smallholder farmers.”

AGRA plays a pivotal role in transforming the agricultural sector in Africa and its food system- which is suitable to the conditions in Africa and areas whose emphasis safeguards the environment. This position has enabled AGRA to build an alliance of partners, comprising of farmers and their organizations, governments, agricultural research organizations, the private sector, local non-governmental organizations, and civil society. The involvement of these key players is to significantly improve the productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers, majority of these are women.

Following calls by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s for an exclusive “green revolution”, AGRA was birthed to improve smallholder farm productivity at the same time preserve the environment. It is an independent organization based in Africa and has representation of leaders at all levels which includes influential African political, business leaders, scientists and international experts in agriculture and economic development.

An AGRA Report indicates that “AGRA’s strategy is to facilitate the creation of an efficient African food system through grants and capacity-building assistance to institutions needing to improve their productivity of smallholder farmers.”

It supports activities in 16 countries in Africa, with more prominence to Ghana, Mali, Mozambique and Tanzania. Their aim is to improve production of staple crops in “breadbasket” in places deemed to have relatively good soil, adequate rainfall, and basic infrastructure. Whatever approaches work in specific places can be adopted in other areas and countries with comparable conditions. Besides the 16 countries, AGRA also offers its support to Sudan, Sierra Leone and Liberia. These countries are considered post-conflict locations and require support to resuscitate their agriculture prowess.

Zambia becomes the 17^th country to be a member country of AGRA. AGRA is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya and promotes African led interventions meant to boost agriculture interventions.

In a recent signing ceremony with the Government of Zambia, President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, Agnes Kalibata highlighted the deliberate efforts directed towards supporting agriculture interventions given the apparent need to increase productivity and food security among smallholder farmers.

Through this partnership between AGRA and Zambia, it is expected that more effort will be directed towards transforming food systems in order to benefit the citizens. It is also hoped that mechanisms which promote resilient and stronger sustainable food systems will be strengthened in order to address poverty and hunger.

Minister of Agriculture, Michael Katambo hailed AGRA for responding to a request made to AGRA, to enable Zambia become its member.

Mr Katambo explained that prior to signing this agreement, AGRA was still supporting key areas in the agriculture sector.

“AGRA has supported research development at the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) and seed development with the Seed Control and Certification Institute (SCCI),” he stressed.

Mr Katambo reaffirmed that Zambia had prioritised the agriculture sector as a strategic sector aimed at fostering economic growth and poverty reduction.

“Government intends to attain its objective of job creation, economic growth and human development through agriculture. To achieve this, government is promoting value-addition, irrigation development and export of agriculture produce, agriculture diversification, private sector participation and building resilience to climate change especially among small-scale farmers,” disclosed Mr Katambo.

He also pointed out that the country had recorded a bumper harvest last farming season. However, these gains achieved in 2019/2020 were overshadowed last year with the climatic shocks experienced, coupled with outbreaks of Fall Army worms and African Migratory Locust as well as the dreaded Corona Virus (COVID-19), which has proved to be a drain on government funds.

Despite these challenges which have affected small-scale farmers in various parts of the country, it is envisaged the admission of Zambia as a member of AGRA, will be beneficial to assist in upscaling agriculture development in the country. 

                                          

 INCUBATORS   ENHANCE   POULTRY   PRODUCTION

By HAPPY MULOLANI

THE need for smallholder farmers to engage in livestock production is apparent given that the livestock sector in Zambia is increasingly a vital component of Zambia’s economy. Admittedly, the sector has potential and capacity to contribute towards poverty alleviation thereby increasing the socio-economic status of most people to ultimately contribute to the economic growth of the country.

According to the Status Report of Smallholder Livestock Sector in Zambia, the smallholder sector makes up 80% of the country’s total livestock, with only 20% under the commercial sector.

In particular, poultry production is one of the enterprises smallholder farmers have aggressively taken up which has proved to be offering these farmers reasonable marginal profits.

Given the high demand for poultry products such as eggs, which is a product widely used for different purposes, the need to innovate is key to meet the already escalating demand for eggs among farmer communities, other key players and potential buyers. It is envisioned that the production capacity is enhanced; and also boost the livestock sector in Zambia

For this reason, an entrepreneur has made drastic strides in pursuing this niche of making incubator machines meant to hatch eggs at a high capacity, as it is a necessity if the ever increasing market demand is to be met.

Emmanuel Chisha, is a Lusaka based entrepreneur and recounts how he opted to identify a niche in the livestock sector. His idea was to contribute to innovations to enable both smallholder and commercial farmers’ boost their production capacities in the sector.

Mr Chisha narrates that he set-up Sebro Products, an Incubator manufacturing company in 2009 through establishing a network of successful relationships with clients, in this case smallholder farmers and other prospective buyers both locally and regionally. At first, this idea looked over ambitious but turned out to be workable as he manufactured 300 incubators, which he managed to promptly supply.

“The feedback l got was overwhelming as our farmers, who were potentially the targeted buyers were excited at the prospect of meeting the high demand of eggs on the market,” equipped Mr Chisha.

He explained that the incubator sizes vary depending on one’s production capacity.

“The smallest incubator can accommodate 520 chicken eggs while the largest can successfully handle 16,400 chicken eggs,” said Mr Chisha.

The incubators are not necessarily complex in their operation but quite user friendly technology which any user can easily adapt to.

“Our incubators have user-friendly technology which seamlessly automates the hatching process. Once the eggs are in place, the systems are activated to automatically control the humidity and turn the eggs. Besides, the technology installed also regulates the environment temperature. This enables a stress-free workflow throughout the incubation period which, for chicken eggs, is about 21 days,” explained Mr Chisha.

Clearly, the purchase of these incubators is not restrictive to any group but is offered to a range of potential buyers.

He adds that, “the incubators are purchased by small farming lobbyists, people testing the water of poultry farming to full-fledged hatcheries.”  

The incubators run at optimum capacity and supplies are not limited to Lusaka clients but cater for all provinces in the country.

“We are usually running at full capacity. Once an order is placed, our team delivers the customer’s order within seven working days. We have supplied to customers within town and in other provinces through our logistics partners,” he assures.

Mr Chisha observes that this innovation is a pioneer industry which has been birthed and attributes its rapid growth to the proliferation of the free range poultry industry. The internet is also one of the avenues that has catalyzed online learning as it offers a lot of available resources.

“This has been catalyzed by the ease of access to learning resources through the internet and other channels,” he said.

The government’s emphasis through the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP) on the importance of farmers taking farming as a business and increasing household incomes has witnessed the promotion of an entrepreneurship culture coupled with the awareness created on healthy eating habits, which has motivated households to breed their own chickens.

The realization of most households that free range chickens are a healthier option has also prompted farmers to opt for these chickens because their diet has little or no artificial or synthetic chemicals known to be carcinogenic, which tends to lead to health complications to human body once consumed for extended periods.

With the status quo, there are enormous business opportunities for incubator owners to gain from, such as providing a hatching service whilst clients who have their own eggs wishing to have them hatched are charged a fee per egg. And the other option is breeding stock of chickens together with the incubator.

“The breeding stock will lay enough eggs to grow your stock for meat as well as sell day-old-chicks,” notes Mr Chisha.

He echoes that incubator innovation is a lucrative business which has improved the livelihood of many households. From his own experiences and interactions in the industry, he testifies that many inventors have turned into successful Small Medium Enterprises (SME), after their humble beginnings.

One of the farmers in Chikumanino area in Kasama, Mirriam Gondwe purchased an incubator in 2016 from Mr Chisha, which has a capacity to hatch 2,500 chicken eggs.

Mrs Gondwe says that the incubator is used to hatch eggs for broilers, village chickens and quails.

 “The demand is overwhelming at the moment, when I purchased the incubator we had buyers outside Kasama such as from Lusaka, Copperbelt, Muchinga and Luapula provinces,” she disclosed.

Mrs Gondwe says presently she has a list of buyers, which has meant scheduling every thursdays as collection days for buyers in order to meet the high demand.

She reveals that she makes a minimum profit of K8, 000 per month and K15, 000 maximum per month which is a positive stride in her business.

The only setback is the high cost of power and feed which tends to lead to high operational costs in her hatching business. With this realisation, Mrs Gondwe has committed herself to putting in place a backup system and also purchase a generator to supplement the power and feed concerns.

“Purchasing a generator and having a backup system will greatly boost and grow the business further,” she reaffirms.

With an enabling environment and the supportive livestock policy framework, which takes into account the growth of the livestock sector through such innovations, it is hoped more support will be directed towards the provision of quality technology, which should be consistent. In this way, more technological improvements will support the already existing innovation and make it satisfying to more users.

ZAMBIA'S TOP VARSITY JOINS FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

By HAPPY MULOLANI

Climate change is on top of the agenda for most countries. Its devastating effects on productive sectors of some countries is immeasurable. Zambia is one of the countries affected by climate change as it has experienced droughts, pests, floods and deforestation. 

According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), this year alone, severe drought has negatively impacted 11million people in nine countries, which includes Zambia. This drought is considered the worst of its kind recorded in 35 years. Admittedly, these affected countries require immediate support to address this problem.

In Zambia, the agriculture sector remains key and is considered the second after the mining sector. This prompted the country to prioritise the agriculture sector through development plans such as the Seventh National Development (7NDP), which outlines the importance of not “leaving anyone behind” as a way of fostering the country’s economic growth.

Given the status quo, the University of Zambia is one of the country’s research institutions which has embarked on developing climate smart agriculture technologies to address climate change in order to assist smallholder farmers upscale their agriculture production and productivity.

University of Zambia Dean of the School of Agricultural Sciences, Benson Chishala explained that the University embarked on developing research initiatives aimed at addressing the country’s climatic shocks and boosting food security.

Dr Chishala underscored the importance of embarking on research aimed at immediately providing a panacea to the effects of climate change affecting especially rural farmers.

And Senior Lecturer in the Department of Plant Science under the School of Agricultural Sciences, Kalaluka Munyinda reaffirmed the need to mitigate the climatic shocks and avert food insecurity of most smallholder farmers in light of the drought which had hit the country, resulting in a decline of yields per hectare.

He explained that the institution has developed improved varieties such as Maize MGV640 and legumes which produce higher yields per hectare.

“These varieties record between 16 tonnes per hectare to 20 tonnes per hectare. This is in contrast to the initial 10 tonnes prior to developing these improved varieties,” disclosed Dr Munyende.

These developed varieties are expected to help farmers in engaging not only climate smart agriculture practices but also have better yields during the 2020/2021 farming season.

These sentiments come in the wake of the recent launch of the National Crop Planting season in Eastern province by Republican President Edgar Lungu.

The institution has on-going trials of seed varieties, which include maize and legumes in Lusitu and Chirundu to assess their suitable and production capacities.

But these initiatives have been marred by some challenges such as financing which would have seen more varieties developed for the betterment of farmer communities.

Assistant Dean of the School of Agricultural Sciences, John Shindano observes that the institution has been working with some partners in combating the effects of climate change amidst low financing. Of concern is that the fight against climate change requires concerted efforts if more farmers are to be assisted and improve food security.

Dr Shindano’s views resonate with a recent report released which argues that there has been low financing for climate change. This notion calls for increased financing from partners and stakeholders to contribute towards addressing climate change.

Most of the financing for research is externally sourced but the need to re-think this approach by local partners getting on board to help finance climate change in the local context is obvious. This approach is likely to promote more broad based solutions to curb the devastating effects of climate change

Earlier this year, IFAD is one of the international organization which has released US$12 million to assist rural small-scale farmers in adapting to climate change and reduce green house gas emissions. Equally, the Swedish government is also one of the cooperating partners of IFAD, which availed funds to effectively implement and contribute towards reducing climatic changes this year.

IFAD President Gilbert Houngbo expressed concern on the need to avert the severe climatic conditions. This resulted in the release of the funds towards supporting the fight against the effects of climate change of households and incomes of rural farmers.

It is notable that investment is key to address climate change as it will enable rural people and farmers take adaptation actions in their various agriculture value chains. 

Ultimately, research and financing are important catalysts which need to bring about positive changes through developing climate resilient varieties and also ensure farmers adapt to these initiatives aimed at promoting increased food security. Thus, support is required to be directed towards expertise to help devise mechanisms aimed at improving productivity within a competitive environment like Zambia.

PLANT CLINICS : A HELPFUL APPROACH TO ADDRESSING PESTS

By HAPPY MULOLANI

OVER the years, many approaches in the agriculture sector have been developed in a bid to enhance the public extension system. For instance, in 2013, an initiative called Plant Clinics was launched by the Centre for Agriculture Biosciences International (CABI) in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture.

Plant Clinics is an approach meant to service smallholder farmers. These Clinics are basically run by Plant Doctors. Plant doctors undergo a structured training to qualify to practice. This helps these Plant doctors to not only grasp the different modules they undertake to determine their suitability but also positions them in such a way that they are able to assist farmers in their value chains. 

Plant Doctors are expected to assess the problems that farmers encounter in their agriculture enterprises, then advise and offer recommendations on environmental friendly pesticides. This approach aims to equip farmers with appropriate information on various agronomic practices.

For this approach to work efficiently, various partners have come on board to support this cause since 2013 when the initiative was launched.

At a recent National Stakeholders forum at Sun Southern in Lusaka, Director in the Department of Agriculture, Moses Mwale explained that presently Plant Clinics are operating in 42 districts countrywide.  These plant clinics have been supported by various partners such as SNV, World Vision Zambia, Lamasha, Kasisi, Conservation Farming Unit, Golden Valley Agricultural Research Trust (GART), Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI), among others. Since the inception of these plant clinics, plant doctors have ensured significant contribution towards crop production and food security is enhanced.

“The aim  of this initiative was to help farmers, especially small-scale to minimize on the use of pesticides, in particular use least toxic pesticides, and use more of other components of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM),” said Mr Mwale.

At the outset, there were only 13 clinics and now the initiative stands at 153 clinics. These clinics are currently run by 389 Plant doctors dotted in 42 districts countrywide.

Mr Mwale emphasized that the success of the Plant clinics is through strategic partnerships with other actors already existing to provide support, network and nurture a “national ecosystem bringing together farmers, academia, policy makers, regulatory agencies and established companies.”

And CABI Representative for Southern Africa Centre, Noah Phiri says there has been great collaboration among partners to better support plant clinics provide service to farmers.

National Data Manager, Mathews Matimelo notes that some plant doctors who have erred in their duties, have to be re-trained.

“Of the trained Plant doctors, only a negligible error of 0.0017 was committed,” revealed Mr Matimelo.

Clearly, it is that refresher training of plant doctors which helps to reduce the minimal errors committed in the field to smallholder farmers.

Mr Matimelo explains that these plant doctors are playing a key role in ensuring that recommendations are based on low risk pesticides, besides other methods such as cultural and physical control of weeds.

While, CropLife Chief Executive Officer, Perry Ngoma notes that farmers need to be continually encouraged to use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to manage pests in a responsible way.

Mr Ngoma observes that plant doctors are cardinal in assisting farmers to manage damage to their plants to economical levels. They need to recommend pesticides and other avenues of addressing pests in farmers’ fields.

Zambia Environmental Agency (ZEMA) Principal Inspector, Christopher Kanema points out the institution’s critical role in addressing the toxicity of the environment and also offering recommendations to avert toxicity of the environment, hence the necessity to work with key stakeholders.

And one of the Plant Doctors in Mumbwa district, George Silungwe, says Plant Clinics aims to help farmers improve their yields and income while reducing use of toxic pesticides.

“In response, in 2019/2020, the Ministry of Agriculture increased the number of farmers, 17 plant doctors who are helping in pest management and this has reduced incidences of pests in farmers’ management of their fields,” explained Mr Silungwe.

Mr Silungwe says World Vision helped to train 17 plant doctors in Mumbwa, which has led to an increase in farmers crop yields.

“The major setback is as yields increase, the suitability of the market is what is key for them to register positive strides to increase farmers’ income,” said Mr Silungwe.

This approach seems to be working in transfer of agronomic practices, given that they are interacting through plant clinics

“They are also training lead farmers under farmer field schools, who play a key role in technology transfer to other smallholder farmers in the area,” disclosed Mr Silungwe.

An elated Silungwe, highlighted that the number of clinics has increased from three clinics to 17 clinics, which is a milestone. This idea has helped to increase the area of coverage in the farming community.

“It is encouraging that more farmers have become aware of pests that used to ravage their crops. They are also able to act by applying recommendations offered by Plant doctors,” said Mr Silungwe.

A farmer in Mumbwa, Bornlet Kampengekele, has been cultivating vegetables and tomatoes for 21 years, commended the Ministry of Agriculture and partners for supporting appropriate interventions in his farming enterprises. In particular, he is a vegetable and tomatoe farmer. He recounts how his rape and tomatoes used to be hit with diseases. Sadly, he did not have tangible solutions to address the challenges.

“In the past, I would get some recommendations from agro dealers which was not good. But ever since, I came to know about Plant doctors during the agriculture show, it has assisted me in my production of rape and tomatoes as well as other farmers in Mumbwa,” explained Mr Kampengekele.

Clearly, Plant clinics have been a useful approach of addressing pests and ensuring that farmers are empowered with appropriate information. What is required is to strengthen collaboration with various partners in order to increase the presence of Plant clinics to as many countrywide to enhance improved crop production and productivity. 

ZARI AND ICRAF DEVELOP AGRO-ECOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO CURB FALL ARMY WORMS

 

 By HAPPY MULOLANI

THE agriculture sector contributes about eight to ten percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and remains key to attaining food security in the country.

But the sector has suffered setbacks from devastating pests such as the Fall Army Worms (FAW). Fall Army Worms is a pest which was first reported in Africa in 2016. In the same year, it was also detected in Zambia. Notably, the pest predominately affects maize, which is admittedly the country’s staple crop grown by over 2.7 million households. However, the pest affects other crops such as sorghum, millet, cotton and soyabeans to a minimum level.

More importantly, maize contributes 56 percent of the total area of annual food crops. At the same time; its caloric consumption is estimated to be between 30 to 70 percent. The onset of this pest has culminated in various concerns which impact on food and nutrition insecurity especially in rural areas.

Sadly, the FAW has proved to be vicious in attacking maize in all the 10 provinces of the country, as the prevalence of FAW is high and most farmers have experienced its devastating effects of this pest on their maize fields.

Against this backdrop, Government released a whooping Three million United States dollars US$3,000,000 to purchase pesticides which included personal protective equipment and seeds for replanting during the 2016/2017 farming season as control measures aimed at containing the pest. This initiative was financed through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU).

Government further engaged research initiatives through one of its key institution, the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) has partnered with the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF). ICRAF is a renowned centre of science and development, which also focuses on excellence in order to enhance multiple benefits trees offer to agriculture, livelihoods, resilience and the future of the plant.

These institutions embarked on rigorous research and formulating solutions for the smallholder farmers countrywide which ought to be affordable and sustainable in the long-term.

In a recent stakeholder meeting held at Cresta Golf View, Ministry of Agriculture Permanent Secretary Songowayo Zyambo explained that these partners undertook a whole year of research and collected data on the use of Agro ecological approaches in the management of the Fall Army Worm pest among smallholder farmers in Zambia.

Mr Zyambo disclosed that the meeting aimed at information sharing on the research gathered so far to further inform policy interventions developed in combating Fall Army Worms which has affected and disadvantaged smallholder farmers in the maize production value chain.

He expressed concern that the chemical control method is “expensive and environmentally damaging and unsustainable. It also poses severe health risk to many poorer farmers.”

Given this status quo, what is appropriate is to pursue other control methods. He hailed staff at ZARI and ICRAF for pursuing alternative methods in order to examine the effectiveness of Agro ecological control options for Fall Army Worm Management. This will enable the development of Comprehensive Insect Pest Management (IPM) strategies.

And Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) Director, Peter Lungu applauded NORAD for being one of the funding partners supporting ZARI’s and ICRAF’s research in developing farmer friendly pesticides and other affordable technologies meant to curb the spread of Fall Army Worms.

Speaking on his behalf, Dr Mukanga Mwenshi highlighted that what is required is developing ecological control of the Fall Army Worm for smallholder farmers in Zambia and Southern Africa as a whole.  

“Trials have been undertaken in Chongwe, Kawambwa, Kazungula and same number of districts in Malawi,” said Mr Lungu.

He added that a multisectoral approach of dealing with the Fall Army Worms will be more effective and ultimately contribute to food security being addressed.

And ICRAF Country Representative, Professor Rhett Harrison, explained that the problem of pesticides besides their high cost and destructive nature to natural enemies, they are inappropriate because even if governments opted to give to farmers at a low cost, more farmers could acquire the pesticides but such an approach is unsustainable and merely leads to dependence.

“The best solution is to embrace Agro-ecological approaches which are low cost and key to IPM for Fall Armyworm technologies which are accessible by many smallholder farmers in the local context,” said Professor Harrison.

And University of Zambia Professor Philip Nkunika observes that there is need to find a systematic way of disseminating these low cost technologies.

Professor Nkunika pointed out that one of the problems of information packages developed, the information mostly remained with experts while the targeted beneficiaries who smallholder farmers rarely accessed this vital information, which is key to better inform them in their value chains.

He noted that it paramount to find appropriate ways of packaging research information in easily accessible and available formats to better inform the farmers on some of the risks and solutions in their agriculture activities.

Professor Nkunika also said the University of Zambia has now engaged in a critical mass of controlling Fall Army Worm through working collaboratively with the Departments of Crop Science, Biological Sciences and Computer as well as research institutions such as ZARI and IITA. Such collaboration promotes team work and concerted efforts towards coming up with appropriate solutions.

“We are on a progressive trajectory in dealing with the Fall Army Worm than before,” equipped Professor Philip Nkunika. 

National Union for Small-Scale Farmers President Ebony Lolozi disclosed that so far especially interactive forum ZARI AND ICRAF, important and commend players for their stakeholder involvement.

Mr Lolozi pointed out that for a long a time now, there has been a gap existing between farmers and researchers in the provision of information. To bridge this gap, it will be prudent to find appropriate ways of sharing information and increased networking between farmers and researchers.

“It is necessary to consider providing publications in local languages to ensure farmers understand the messages. In the foreseeable future, as a farmers Union, we would like these stakeholder forums to continue to give various insights in various low cost technologies and also develop publications in simplified formats so that findings of research are broadly disseminated,” he said.  

Ultimately, Fall Army Worms can only be addressed through developing low cost technologies that are affordable and sustainable farmers. And also efforts need to be directed towards strengthening information sharing of developed control measures of the pest to farmers, as doing so is likely to yield tangible results in the long-term.