Making a difference

Globally agriculture uses around 70% of water taken from rivers, rising to 95% in arid countries such as Pakistan. The majority of this is used on 4 -5 water intensive crops – cotton, sugarcane, rice, wheat and pasture for cattle. Some 2.3 million tonnes of pesticides are used annually and this figure is increasing. In Pakistan pesticide use for cotton farming accounts for 50% of all pesticides used with major health impacts on cotton farming families and water carried downstream for social and environmental use.

In many developing countries farming is typically carried out by a large number of small-scale farmers who own less than five acres of land. The vast number of farmers makes it difficult for agricultural extension services to provide technical support to everyone. Coupled with a lack of formal education this means farmers have little awareness about the environmental and health impacts of pesticides or knowledge about better ways to growing their crops using less water.

It’s hard to imagine farmers abandoning their traditional dependence on pesticides in favour of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach. However, WWF – Pakistan and EC’s joint venture has not only successfully managed to float the idea but also mobilize thousands of cotton farmers to switch over to sustainable agriculture production particularly in Bahawalpur district. The Punjab government too has also been a great support in this regard. The initiative will help farmers to employ pesticide-free methods that not only protect their crops but also their health. Increase in profits and less impoverishment are additional benefits to the farmers.

WWF – P has established Farmer Field Schools (FFS) in the cotton districts of the Punjab Province. FFS is one of the core activities of the project which help build the capacity and enhance income of small-scale farmers whilst reducing the environmental and social impacts of heavy water and use of pesticides and other agrochemicals.

Farmer Field Schools (FFS) are centres where farmers from the same village come together to learn about Better Management Practices (BMPs) – how to reduce pesticide use and water use, the safe handling of pesticides, the value of good seed and organic fertiliser and business skills such as managing accounts and reliable credit facilities.

FFS training is carried out by a member of the village who has been selected for the Training of Trainers approach; one farmer from a number of villages will be trained about Better Management Practices (BMPs) so he or she can run a similar school in their village. This builds capacity in the farming community and perpetuates the dissemination of knowledge from one farmer to another.

The farmers tell their own story throughout this brief about the impacts of pesticides and how FFS have benefited them and their families.

“We now know what to use and in what quantity. We also know when to use it. Before, we were doing everything blindly! We also know how to use water judiciously. The overall cost of production has lessened. For example, before we would spray our fields 8 times – now only 3-4 times per season. We would also irrigate the fields 6-10 times – now just 4 times each season. We are also encouraging farmers to keep more cows and introduce farmyard manure in the fields, which was the traditional method of fertilizing them,” says farmer Abdul Latif.

The schools brought the farmers of the village together and they learnt from one another.

As farmer Ghauri points out: “The activism is now coming from the communities. We all had this fragmented knowledge that we shared once we got together. Our survival lies in our unity”.

When the farmers have been trained, farmers from one village group together to establish a farmer organisation. This provides a network of support for one another and allows cost savings as seed and other inputs are purchased in bulk and the costs of harvest and delivery to the market are shared. One such organisation is the Kissan Welfare Association (KWA) in Bahawalpur.

The FFS approach is one which allows farmers to learn from one another and to build a network of support. It is also an approach which enables the capacity building of a large number of farmers without needing to approach each individual farmer. WWF – P advocates this approach and encourages extension departments to adopt this method of investing in farmers for the benefit of the community at large.