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Farming Matters| March 2010 | 1

Friendsorfoes?

Insects on

a farm

MATTERS

03|2012-28.1

Small-scaleagricultureforasustain

ablesociety

Insect conservation Preparing for Rio+20A new section on agro-biodiversity

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2 |Farming Matters| March 2012

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FARMERS IN FOCUS

Water, and more

farmer members, all of whom work to maintain,rehabilitate and expand the irrigation infrastructure.The Societys objectives extend beyond irrigation,and it also provides the necessary support for all themembers to market their products. As no financialinstitution is willing to give them loans, membersare now seeking to establish a local Savings andCredit Cooperative (SACCO). Working togetherwith projects and programmes, such as those runby the Hope Empowerment and DevelopmentOrganisation (HEDO), a local NGO working in thearea, they are sure to be successful.

Text:Eunike L. Kuzwa Photo: Jorge Chavez-Tafur

Lekitatu, a village near the northern Tanzaniancity of Arusha, is known for its paddy fields.These days, up to 6 tons per hectare are

harvested twice a year from more than 400 hectares significantly higher yields than the 1.5 tons/hawhich were common a few years ago. This is largelythe result of the regular availability of water which,in turn, is the result of the River Basin ManagementSmallholder Irrigation Improvement Project(RBMSIIP) and of the efforts of the local farmersorganisation. Vincent Hugo is one of the membersof this organisation: the UWAMALE IrrigatorsMarketing Cooperative Society Ltd. Starting with15 members in 1997, the Society now has 175

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CONTENTS

Agrobiodiversity@knowledged

Farmers in Florida have broadened their IPM effortsby not only focusing on those species we recogniseas pests, nor only on the (reduced) use of pesticides.Those who have expanded their management ac-tivities, and are attracting beneficial insects to assistthem with the pollination of their crops, can, as aresult, benefit enormously.

Later this year the worlds gaze will return to Brazil forthe Rio+20 Conference. Will the event have any posi-tive results? Jean Marc von der Weid is somewhatsceptical. While not believing that there will be posi-tive outcomes from the official meeting, he does be-lieve in the political impacts of civil society mobilisa-tion on international public opinion, and on the posi-tive effects this can have in the medium to long term.

Insect conservation in

the U.K.

610

1434

We need to convincecivil society

Managing for higher

yields

Farming practices which use and enhance biodiver-sity are common, yet agriculture can also be thegreatest threat to biodiversity. Hivos and OxfamNovib have started a programme that aims to de-velop the concepts and ideas concerning agricul-tural biodiversity, small-scale farming, rural liveli-hoods and climate change. This is the first of a seriesof articles presenting the results.

Relatively few insect species cause damage to crops,whereas many more are beneficial predating or para-sitising crop pests, pollinating crops, breaking downorganic matter (so helping nutrient recycling) andacting as prey for other wildlife, especially birds. Withso many potential benefits, how can we enhancetheir presence? Farmers and researchers in centralEngland have identified four essential requirements.


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Edith van Walsum, director ILEIA

AND MORE

3 Farmers in Focus

7 Letters

8 Theme overview: Insects, farm-

ers and farm management

17 Opinion: John Wightman looks

at our slow reaction to todays

disappearance of bees

18 Mulch, a home for insects

21 Learning about All you need

to know about bees22 Knowledge management within

IFAD: Training the trainers

24 Zambia: Abuzz with bees

26 Special section: Rio + 20

28 Special section: A farmer-driven

programme to reinforce advo-

cacy capacity

30 Mind! New in print / More on

land grabs

32 Locally rooted: Ideas and initia-

tives form the field

37 Opinion: The worlds different

food movements need to work

together, argues Eric Holt-

Gimenez

38 Globally connected: What is a

green economy?

Ask a person (a farmer, an agrochemical vendor, anextension worker or a scientist) what she thinksof the role of insects in agriculture, and you willquickly learn about that persons perspective onagriculture and ecology. Fear of insects is wide-spread, and based on an incomplete or distorted

understanding of what insects do in an agro-ecosystem. This fear hasbeen fuelled by agrochemical companies, the global seed industryand more generally by the type of thinking that underlies modernindustrialised agriculture. Small-scale farmers have been made

to believe that all insects are evil creatures and that the only ef-fective way to deal with them is to kill them all by spraying themwith pesticides. Or by using genetically modified seed that has anin-built resistance to certain (but not all) insect pests, such as Btcotton. Modern agriculture has estranged farmers from their naturalenvironment, and from their own knowledge about this environ-ment. This is one of the main causes of increasing impoverishmentof small-scale farming communities around the world.This is why knowledge about insects is important. Knowledge aboutagro-ecosystems the crops and their larger environment empowersfarmers to think beyond short-term solutions. Insects show us how allparts of the system are interconnected and how deadly the consequences

can be if we unnecessarily tamper with them. There are effective waysto deal with pests and diseases that do not destroy ecosystems but workwith them. They are well-known but do not get sufficient policy support.The message to be taken to Rio+20 is that a green economy canonly exist with an agriculture that respects people and ecosystems including insects! Einstein (quoted in this issue of Faming Mattersby John Wightman) had it clear when he said that the bee is thebasis of life on this earth.Its time to think, and to act. Now.

The bees

EDITORIAL


message to Rio

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is that existing policies are often perceived as inadequate,

or even conflicting, while the lack of technicalknowledge was rarely mentioned as a constraint. Theoutcomes of this initial exercise were discussed at aworkshop in Kenya, which sought to identify areas whereimprovements could be made. One image that emergedfrom the discussions was that of a glasshouse that islimiting the scaling up, institutional embedding andhorizontal extension efforts of an approach to agriculturethat promotes biodiversity and resilience.

Can we break through the walls and the ceiling of theglasshouse around agro-biodiversity? During the comingthree years we will share experiences, information and

knowledge around this topic, and develop a network ofexperts and practitioners. As part of this programme, thenext 8 issues of Farming Matterswill carry provokingarticles, challenging debates, opinion pieces and generalinformation, for which we welcome your contributions.You can post your ideas and comments on our website,or send an e-mail to the editor ([email protected]),to Gine Zwart ([email protected]) or Willy Douma([email protected]). In 2014 we will invite you to join usin harvesting the results, with a full issue of this magazine.T

his is the basis of a knowledgeprogramme that has recently beenstarted by Hivos and Oxfam Novib.It aims to develop concepts andideas about agricultural biodiversity,smallholder livelihoods and climate

change, building on and adding value to existingresources, and also leading to change. This is a

three-year programme that includes action research,network development and the establishment of aplatform for public debates.

Preparatory steps Over the past fewmonths, the Stockholm Resilience Centre hasbeen working to provide us with an overview of thetheory and praxis with regards to agro-biodiversityand smallholder resilience, and to identify possibleknowledge gaps. One of their main observations wasthat farmers knowledge and experiences in agriculturalbiodiversity have not (yet) been adequately translatedinto the policies and strategies relevant to developmentorganisations working in the South. A related constraint

Biodiversity is important for

the resilience of our planet.Smallholders depend onbiodiversity for their livelihoods

and survival, and they areits main guardians. Farming

practices which use and enhancethis diversity are common, yet

agriculture can also be thegreatest destroyer of biodiversity.

Can we add insights andevidence to the debates?

Agro-biodiversity@knowledged

Academics and practitioners, participants at the

first knowledge programme meeting. The meetingwas hosted by PELUM at the SACDEP Training and

Conference Centre in Thika, Kenya.

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Regional food systemsI was really delighted to read theSeptember issue of Farming Matters.All the articles in this issue madevery good reading: I really liked read-ing about food sovereignty and food

security in the context of a globalisedfood system. I see many good reasonsfor developing and strengtheninglocal farming systems, producingmultiple local crops and avoidingmonoculture patterns. This seemsbetter than introducing foodstuffs,which almost always seem to disturband destabilise culturally sound foodhabits, and introduce a large degreeof vulnerability into the food chain.Giridhar Kinhal, Sustainable Livelihoodsand Poverty Reduction Programme,

International Center for IntegratedMountain Development (ICIMOD),Kathmandu, Nepal

Land grabs 1The themes and scenarios outlinedin the different sections of your De-cember issue are visible in our coun-try, where there is a myriad of prob-lems concerning land ownership including land grabbing by powerful

actors and insecure land ownership.A new escalating scenario is current-ly emerging: big chunks of land arebeing sold or leased to big multi-na-tional companies for tourism andhorticultural enterprises and the lo-cal population cannot see the social,economic or environmental benefits.This problem is especially affectingour area, the Laikipia district (in theRift Valley Province), a semi-aridarea where many invaders are tak-ing advantage of the local populationand seizing their land through cheap

Farming Matterswelcomes comments, ideas and suggestionsfrom its readers. Please send an e-mail to [email protected] or write

to P.O. Box 90, 6700 AB Wageningen, the Netherlands.

societies in Indonesia to work on thelands of their ancestors.Charles van Santen, Bogor, Indonesia

Rio+20 sectionYour website information on the com-ing Rio conference is very relevant tothe work I am doing in NorthernGhana. I am happy you have includ-ed the implementation of financialmechanisms to support green econo-my initiatives. Sustainable initiativesare not just happening in the Westernworld, but also on the ground here.There are several projects encourag-ing the usage of new sustainable agri-culture practices and technologieswhich are as effective, if not more so,

as other practices used. Yet at thesame time there are other projectsthat often contradict these initiatives,confusing small-scale farmers aboutwhich practices they should best use.Hopefully soon we will see somemore co-ordination and consensus.Siera Vercillo, Engineers WithoutBorders (Canada), Kpandai, NorthernRegion, Ghana

Its the economyYour magazine reaches me regularly.It is very thoughtful and it helps usprofessionals who work in agriculture.But would you consider adding mate-rials related to co-operatives and alsoabout economic issues? According toour government, yields are high andwe are exporting lots of agriculturalproducts. But all we see is huge scar-cities everywhere. How can we makesure that macro-economic policiesbenefit farmers? And how do we copewith very high inflation rates?Degu Assefa, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia

transactions. Let me pay tribute toyour magazine for highlighting theseproblems.Bernard Nderitu Kamwaro, Nanyuki,Kenya

Land grabs 2As a long time reader of FarmingMatters/LEISA MagazineI am verymuch concerned about the recenttrends in some countries in the trop-ics, where large-scale businesses areinvited to develop a region withlarge-scale plantations or with tim-ber and mining operations. Unfortu-nately, this is also the case in Indo-nesia, but it is not a new develop-ment. The One million rice farms

scheme was started in 1994 in Kali-mantan and has been going on sincethen. Though officially meant toassist small-scale farmers, this hasbeen a way for timber companies toobtain cheap wood, and has resultedin thousands of traditional farmersbeing evicted from their land andthe loss of more than one millionhectares of traditional forest on peatlands.A number of similar schemes were

recently announced, following lawswhich promote the development ofmining, large-scale farming and tim-ber industries but which will giveno benefits to the traditional popula-tion of these areas. Implementationof these schemes will again lead tothe eviction of many traditionalfarmers from their lands and tolarge-scale companies making hugeprofits. Most surprising is that thesenew laws are all in conflict with theAgrarian Law of 1960, which pro-tects the rights of traditional rural


LETTERS

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&THEME OVERVIEW > FRIENDS OR FOES?

Insects are closely related to many differenthuman activities. Among these, agriculturalproduction is probably the one that gets mostattention, as insects can cause significant losses.Millions of dollars are spent every year in orderto minimise the presence of insects in the field

and avoid such losses. However, farmers are usuallyunaware of the huge diversity of insect species to befound on their farm, and their functions within theagro-ecosystem. Most farmers react to insects bylooking for ways to eliminate them. This simplisticbehaviour has contributed to the ever-growing use of

pesticides, with all their attendant side-effects. Theneed to control the presence of insects is also one ofthe main arguments used by those promoting GMOs.Insects play many different roles within an ecosystem:some are phytophagous species, others pollinate crops,other species feed on detritus. Farmers are most familiar

with the phytophagous species. Yet only a small part ofall phytophagous insects (less than 3%) occur as pests;the rest are regulated naturally by entomophagous spe-cies and entomopathogens and other natural factors. Allspecies are linked to each other as part of a complexfood chain, and have different relationships with eachother, acting as parasitoids, predators and hyperpara-sites. As a result, in a natural ecosystem, the populationof the insects we think of as pests is generally kept inbalance, and remains stable. In contrast, in agriculturalsystems involving a high degree of human modification,this natural balance is disturbed and lost, with some

phytophagous insects coming to predominate.

From insects to pests and backThe intensification of agricultural production has beenthe main reason why some insect species have becomepests. This occurs through a co-evolutionary process,driven by two main factors. First, the reduction of afarms biodiversity, with one crop (or only a few species)being grown over large areas, often year after year. Thisprovides the perfect environment for one or a few spe-cies of insects to thrive. Second, conventional agricul-tural production helps drive the evolutionary selectionof new populations of phytophagous species, as the useof pesticides, fertilizers or the soil preparation system,


Insects,farmersfarm-

managementInsects can be seen as one of the manycomponents of an agro-ecosystem.

Yet farming has a strong influenceon the population balance betweendifferent insect species: it helps somemultiply exponentially by increasing thequantities of a species preferred host,or reduces their presence with the useof pesticides. Alternative agriculturalapproaches show that farmers can alsomanage a farm in a way that combinesa stable diversity of species with highyields and production levels. Insects donot just combine well with high yields:a larger insect population can actuallyhelp achieve these objectives.Text: Luis L. Vzquez Moreno

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16,000 hectares of these crops, reducing the presence oftwo of the main pests that attack these two crops.It can be equally beneficial to simply encourage the pres-ence of a wide variety of insect species within a farm bypaying attention to factors such as the presence of weeds.

Often maligned, weeds can play a positive role on a farmby regulating a farms microclimate and reducing soilerosion. They can sustain large populations of phytopha-gous insects, but also their natural regulators, anotherimportant role in the cycle. Farmers in the western re-gion of Cuba tolerate the presence of the weed known assour broom (Partenium hysterophorus) in their fields,and even encourage it in the borders and other areas, asthese plants provide an important habitat for predators ofthe Coccinellidae family (like parakeets or ladybirds)which feed on several species of aphids. The shrubknown as pin florido (Gliricidia sepium) serves as a

host to seven species of phytophagous insects (of whichonly one, the bean aphid orAphis craccivora, is a pest)but also hosts 21 species of entomophagous insects, ofwhich 19 are known to regulate populations of phytopha-gous pests in vegetables and grains. The Ministry of Agri-cultures Programa de Agricultura Suburbanais thus pro-moting the wider use of pinas live fences in all urbanand peri-urban agricultural plots. These different ap-proaches are further described by Holland (p. 38).The evidence shows that insects provide many benefits.Isnt it only logical to change the way we look at agri-culture and encourage their presence?

Luis L. Vzquez Morenoworks as a researcher at Cubas Institu-

to de Investigaciones de Sanidad Vegetal(INISAV), in Havana.

E-mail: [email protected] ; [email protected]

gives rise to populations that are tolerant and resistant tothese external factors.The increasing difficulties that farmers face in con-trolling insects could be the best argument for a dras-tic change in the worlds agricultural production sys-

tems. An alternative approach, however, should notjust seek to minimise the damage caused by pests, butrather to enhance all ecosystem services in order toachieve higher and more sustainable yields. Thus,there is a need to unlearn the old approach of pro-tecting or defending crops by focusing on pest con-trol, and to adopt an approach that looks at the system,the interactions that take place within it and thebenefits that farmers do, and can, get from insects.Insects play a very important role in every farm system.Bees and apiculture are perhaps the best known exam-ple. Honey is produced and consumed throughout the

world, and this contributes to the income of millions offarmers and the diets of millions of people. Bees also areimportant pollinators. As Sanagorsky (p. 10) shows, bees(and other insects) play a crucial role in the sexual re-production of plants something we only seem to ac-knowledge when it is not happening. Sam Adams (p.18) describes another role of insects which is generallyoverlooked: their contribution to improving the soil.Again, this may be difficult to quantify, even if there isno doubt that better soils directly contribute to higheryields. As predators and parasites, insects also play a keyrole in controlling the populations of other insects.

Helping those who help usAcknowledging the many benefits that insects bring isthe first step. But farmers, together with many otherprofessionals, can help ensure and increase thesebenefits. One widely used strategy is biological control:the selective breeding and release of species thatregulate the populations of phytophagous insects. Thisis widely practiced in Cuba, where there are more than200 Centros de Reproduccin de Entomfagos yEntomopatgenosrun by the Ministry of Agriculture.These centres produce 9,000 million Trichogrammawasps every year, which are then released (in doses of

30-50,000 individuals per hectare) in order to regulatethe presence of pests in pastures, rice, sugarcane,vegetables and other crops. On a smaller scale, thereare also production units that breed specific types ofparasitoids (Braconidae, Chalcididae, or Eulophidae)and predators (Coccinellidae, Anthocoridae orReduviidae) that can be released to control variousinsect pests. Some farms have on-farm reservoirs, asource where insects can be collected and taken toother fields. For example, the remains of banana plantsare used to encourage the multiplication of colonies ofa predatory ant (Pheidole megacephala), which are thentaken to sweet potato or banana fields. A recent surveyfound that such reservoirs are used to protect some

Not minimising the damage, but rather enhancing

all ecosystem services. Photo: Luis Vzquez.

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10 |Farming Matters| June 201010 |Farming Matters| December 2010

FRIENDS OR FOES? > PARASITOIDS, PREDATORS AND POLLINATORS

for higher yieldsManaging

Photo:Laura

Sanagorski

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IPM, or Integrated Pest Management, is widelypresented as an environmentally friendly and sus-tainable method. It relies on scouting activities andthe setting of action thresholds, which together withregular monitoring, are used to prevent pest anddisease outbreaks. Farmers and agriculturalists can

use these techniques to identify the risk of pest and dis-ease outbreaks at an early stage, which allows for the useof less toxic and less severe management options. IPMrejects the idea that the mere presence of any insects war-rants control measures. IPM incorporates the principleof managing the presence of insects, in contrast to

completely eradicating them, so that populations remainbelow a particular threshold level.As in many other parts of the world, farmers in the UnitedStates are harvesting the benefits of this approach. Farm-ers in the southern state of Florida produce approximately40% of the tomatoes consumed in the whole country.This high value crop is threatened by very many pests anddiseases and has historically been protected by high dosesof chemical products. IPM techniques are proving to be avery useful alternative to this. Statistics show that theadoption of IPM in tomato production has led to an 82%reduction in pesticide usage. More surprising, however, is

that the farmers have seen their yields increase from anaverage of 29,000 to 36,700 pounds per acre in just 8years. This increase is directly related to this more sustain-able approach and to the resulting biological diversity.

Planting diversity Diversity refers to thevariety of plant species, types, and ages within an (agro)-ecosystem. Plant diversity adds stability to an agro-ecosystem. The more diverse an agricultural system is,the more resistant it is likely to be to the damage causedby pests, diseases, or severe weather. We know thatmonocrops are risky in many ways: some of the mostsevere disasters in agricultural history have been theresult of plant monocultures. Consider the Irish Potato

Famine of the 1840s. The particular variety of potatothat was so widely planted and so heavily dependedupon as a food source was a vegetatively-propagatedclone. Each potato plant was genetically identical,and the lack of genetic diversity meant that there wasno resistance when potato blight began to infect cropsthroughout the country.Planting one single crop may seem, at first sight, to bethe most productive and profitable option. But mostpests prefer a single specific plant host, so diversity canreduce the amount of damage that they can do. Equal-ly important, plant diversity has the added advantage

of attracting beneficial insects. Diversity in crops pro-vides more plant types with more blooms at differenttimes of the year, something that attracts a more di-verse population of insects.

More bees, more yields Less than 5percent of the worlds insects are harmful to humansor crops. This means that more than 95% of the

We tend to think of insects and bugs synonymouslywith words like harmful and pests. However, onlya very small fraction of the worlds insect populationcause damage to crops or harm humans. There are farmore insects that can help in some way. Farmers can usetechniques to attract beneficial insects to assist with pestmanagement and pollination and benefit enormously.Text: Laura Anne Sanagorski

Farming Matters| December 2011 | 11

Hand pollination is hard work, expensive, and not

really necessary. Photo: Laura Sanagorski

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insects killed by indiscriminate management tech-niques, such as blanket applications of pesticides,are not pests and may even be beneficial. The loss ofbeneficial insects through such activities is detrimen-tal in different ways. This is particularly evident in

the decline of bee populations around the world, aphenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder.Researchers believe that this phenomenon is relatedto some combination of environmental disruption,diseases and excessive pesticide use.As many other insects, bees are critical to Floridasagriculture. Approximately one-third of all of Flori-das vegetable and fruit growers hire pollinatorservices for crops such as citrus, avocados, water-melons, cantaloupes and squash. This is becausehoney bees have been shown to increase crop yieldsby anywhere between 20 and more than 60 percent.

Floridas citrus industry benefits greatly frompollinators. Bees ensure adequate fruit size and set,and the citrus blossoms provide nectar that makesfor a very high quality honey. This creates a valu-able relationship between beekeepers and citrusgrowers: beekeepers want to raise their bees nearcitrus groves and citrus growers benefit from thepollination. (Florida has such mild winters thatsome beekeepers from colder parts of the countryoverwinter their bees in parts of the state.) Some of


Parasitoids, predators and pollinatorsThe actual percentage of insects that are consideredto be pests is very low: the majority of insects areactually helping farmers, in different ways:

Predatory, or insectivorous insects, eat other insects:pests that would otherwise feed on important cropsand plants. Lacewings feed on the eggs and juvenilestages of a number of agricultural pests, such assome types of thrips, mites, whiteflies, mealybugs

and the caterpillars and eggs of numerous pestmoths. Ladybirds feed on aphids, mealybugs,spider mites and the eggs of some beetle and boreragricultural pests.

Parasitoids live out most of their lifespan attachedin some way to another insect or being, and ultimatelykill their host. The Braconidae family, made up ofover 1000 species of tiny wasps, represents onlyone of the many examples: these wasps feed on,reproduce in, and eventually kill some very harmfulcaterpillar pests that damage agricultural crops,such as hornworms. The female braconid wasp laysher eggs just under a hornworms skin, rendering it

unable to continue feeding and damaging crops.After the wasp eggs hatch, the juveniles feed onthe living hornworm. When the juveniles are readyto become adults, they will chew their way out ofthe hornworm and spin cocoons that protrude fromits body. Once the adult wasps emerge from theircocoons, the hornworm perishes.

A number of insects, including different types

of bees, butterflies, wasps, and some ants, areresponsible for pollinating plants around the world.They transport pollen from the male stamen of aflower to the female pistil of another flower on thesame plant or another within the same species,allowing for the combination of genes, fertilisation,and sexual reproduction. Some plants, including atleast one-third of the worlds agricultural crops, andan estimated 90% of all flowering species, are relianton pollinators. It is a mutually beneficial relationshipthat ensures the survival of both plants and insects.Plants rely on pollinators to ensure reproduction,fruit set, and seed dispersal. Pollinator insects relyon plants for food and habitat.

Small but powerful: Braconid wasps on a tomato

hornworm. Photo: Laura Sanagorski.

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Floridas citrus varieties, such as Mandarin andPummelo Orange, are self-incompatible, meaningthat they require cross-pollination. Bees are the mostreliable, economical, and efficient method of pol-lination for these varieties.A blanket application of a pesticide can actuallymake a pest infestation worse if it also kills the pestsnatural enemies alongside the pest, as the absence ofpredators gives the pest an opportunity to re-infest acrop. But there are even greater risks, as farmers in

the Chinese province of Sichuan have found out.The use of pesticides has led to a drastic reduction ofnaturally occurring insect pollinators, something thatin turn has created the need for them to hand-polli-nate their crops in order to achieve a satisfactoryyield. It can cost a farmer eight times more to pro-duce hand-pollinated fruit than insect-pollinatedfruit. And it is difficult for farmers in this area to rentbee colonies for pollination as beekeepers are wary ofrelocating their bees due to the high use of pesticidesin the vicinity.The same fear is sometimes felt by producers and con-

sumers in Florida, where bee populations are alsothreatened by the overuse and misuse of pesticides.Millions of bees died rapidly and mysteriously in Sep-tember 2011. The cause was later found to be the mis-application of a pesticide commonly used aroundhomes. Everyone is affected by the loss of pollinators;yet this is avoidable.

Managing habitats While IPM practicescan bring many benefits, managing the presenceof insects should not be limited to those specieswe recognise as pests, nor to the (reduced) use ofpesticides. Different species of flowering plants canbe established among or close to crops to attract

beneficial insects. The provision of plentiful nectarwill attract beneficial insects and increase theirlifespan and the number of offspring they produce.This means more pollinators, higher crop yieldsand more predator and parasitoid insects that helpreduce the presence of pests. Even a simple patchof undisturbed land, allowed to remain in its natu-ral state next to a cultivated field, can attract andnurture populations of beneficial insects of all types.There are many opportunities to protect and attract

beneficial insects in agricultural operations, regardlessof a farmers location. It is our responsibility, as stew-ards of our planet, to participate in the sustainablemanagement of pests and beneficial insects. In returnfor our stewardship, we can enjoy the assistance thatbeneficial insects afford our agricultural operations.

Laura Anne Sanagorski is an environmental horticulture

extension faculty member at the University of Florida /

IFAS, Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service,

531 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach, FL 33415, U.S.A.

E-mail: [email protected].

More informationAizen, M.A., L.A. Garibaldi, S.A. Cunningham and

A.M.Klein, 2009. How much does agriculture depend on

pollinators? Lessons from long-term trends in crop produc-

tion. Annals of Botany 103: 1579 1588

Caldwell B. et al., 2005. Resource guide for organic insect

and disease management.New York State Agricultural Ex-

periment Station. Geneva, New York.

Partap, U.M.A., T.E.J. Partap and H.E. Yonghua, 2001. Pol-

lination failure in apple crop and farmers management

strategies in Hengduan Mountains, China. Acta Horticul-

ture 561: 225-230.


Managing the presence of insects should not be limited to those species we recognise as pests.Photos: Don Rice / Laura Sanagorski.

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INTERVIEW> JEAN MARC VON DER WEID

Twenty years after Rio de Janeiro was the stage forthe United Nations Conference on Environment andDevelopment, the worlds gaze returns to Brazil for theRio+20 Conference in June this year. The sequel to this firstinternational meeting on sustainable development may wellhave important implications for the future of family farmers.Jean Marc von der Weid founded and works with AS-PTA,a non-governmental organisation based in Rio, supportingcapacity building and institutional policies in favour of familyfarming and agro-ecology.Interview: Laura Eggens

radicaltransformation

Weneed toconvincecivil

societyof theurgencyfor a

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Farming Matters| June 2010 | 15Farming Matters| March 2012 | 15

E

ven though Rio+20 holds many promisesfor changing the worlds perspectives onsustainable agriculture, it is important toremain realistic about the limited possi-bilities of it leading to serious political

commitments. Jean Marc von der Weid isa Rio+20 realist he does not expect much from theofficial meeting, but he is very positive about the politi-cal impacts that civil society mobilisation can have oninternational public opinion, with positive effects in themedium to long term.

How are the preparations forRio+20 going?Preparations in Brazil areprogressing at a snails pace. The facilitating commit-tee is too large and has strongly conflicting views. Onegroup of organisations gives more importance to lobbying

government representatives, and are more receptive tosome of the green economy proposals. A second groupis more focused on organising external demonstrations todenounce the anticipated failure of the official confer-ence. This group is looking to mobilise opinions aroundthe issue of peoples exclusion from development andthe negative impacts of development. A last group rejectsthe whole framework of the official document that willprovide the basis of discussions at Rio+20. These organisa-tions criticise the documents inadequate diagnosis of thecauses of the multiple and interrelated ecological crises.They denounce the green economy proposition as alure to make people forget about the promises made at the

1992 conference that were not kept. This group criticisesthe very concept of development and proposes alternativepathways and policies to change the present situation.

How did the 1992 conferenceinfluence small-scale farming?I think that conference consecrated the concept of sus-tainability, even though the definition of the concept isstill subject to intense debate, with everyone, from Mon-santo to Via Campesina, considering they have the righttake on it. From a practical point of view, since 1992there has been a strong expansion of industrial agricul-

ture, with more use of pesticides and chemical fertiliz-ers, as well as the launch of GMOs. The conference didtry to address this trend, but most of the decisions takenthere to try to control the onslaught of conventional in-dustrial agriculture were eroded at further internationalnegotiations.

What would be your desiredoutcome from the Rio+20 confer-ence?Desires in this case are more like dreams.We need a clear anti Green Revolution resolution,a condemnation of chemical inputs, and most of all,of GMOs. We need resolutions in favour of agrarianreform. We need resolutions in favour of fair trade

and food sovereignty. Internationally, in relation tosustainable agriculture and food security, there is apaper signed by some 130 organisations called Timeto Act. Its main message is to condemn conventionalagricultural development and push for strong support

for agro-ecological development, centred on familyfarmers. The document seeks to push the agricultureissue to the forefront of the Rio+20 debates as themost important single cause of many of the presentecological crises. I have participated in the formu-lation of this document and in the discussions inWashington last summer to build a consensus aroundit. Agro-ecological farming has made great progress,and we can now present hard evidence of its suc-cesses, and demonstrate its potential as a solution tothe evil effects of industrial and corporate agriculture.However, all these advances cannot hide the fact that

family farming is being destroyed all over the world,and that public policies at a national and at an inter-national level have been biased to support unsustain-able forms of industrial agriculture. This situation issimply a result of a rapport de forcesor balance ofpower. Corporate money, plus government powerand policies, plus a supportive international frame-work (CGIAR, WTO, etc.) have been more powerfulthan small-scale farmers and the environmental andconsumers movements.

So do we need another Rioconference?We do need an environmen-tal conference, but not of the kind that is offered bygovernments and the UN system. Governments andinternational UN organisations have shown themselvesto be unable to implement the dramatic changes in na-tional and international environmental policies that areneeded. They have consistently watered down whatevergains were achieved in 1992 in the series of negotia-tions and conferences that followed that event. I do notbelieve any amount of lobbying will be enough to bringabout the international and national policies needed topromote sustainable agriculture based around familyfarming and agro-ecology. Civil society organisations in

Brazil are divided on these issues, even though my feel-ing is that most organisations are critical.

What do you believe will makea difference for small-scalefarmers?I guess we may have more successby denouncing the official meeting as irrelevant andconvincing civil society of the urgent need for a radicaltransformation of the present food and agriculturalsystems. Of course, I dont believe that civil society byitself can substantially change the status quo. We needappropriate national and international policies, and assuch we need governments and international institu-tions to act responsibly. However, I think that a change

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in the latter will not occur without a very strong pres-sure from the public opinion and social movements. Itwill be hard to succeed in pressing the conference toadopt the needed reforms, but demonstrating againsttheir conduct will be a step for further changes in thefuture. Unfortunately, I think that the crisis will haveto become even more pronounced before the actions

needed are adopted. Let us hope it will not be too late.

Do you think that the voicesof small-scale farmers will beheard?There has been very little participationof small-scale farmers organisations up to now. Inthe facilitating committee there is Via Campesina

and FETRAF (the National Federation for Fam-ily Farming) which both represent farmers. Weare missing the biggest (and more conservative)small-scale farmers organisation, CONTAG (theNational Confederation of Agricultural Workers).There are also several NGOs who work in support ofsmall-scale farming, including ourselves, that havenot yet been involved in the committee. This canbe changed once a clear call to arms is launchedby a significant group of organisations. We hope toencourage such a mobilisation. We think that thechoice of civil society activities during the confer-

ence will provide a starting point for other socialmovements to identify where and when they canparticipate. At a national level we believe the farm-ers movements will become more engaged as theconference date approaches. As for the internationalfarmers movements, I dont have a clear view oftheir intentions. We know Via Campesinawill gath-er an international group at a camping site at thePeoples Summit, but I dont know how big this mo-bilisation will be. I believe that the most importantpositive effect of this event will be the education ofthe general public: publications, like Farming Mat-tersandAgriculturas, will reinforce our case through

examples and studies. This is most welcome.

AS-PTA and Rio+20AS-PTA is the Brazilian regional partner of theAgricultures Network: they produce Agriculturas Experincias em Agroecologia. Since 1983, AS-PTA has been working to strengthen family farmingand promoting sustainable rural development inBrazil through the application of agro-ecological

principles.

As a member of the political co-ordination groupof the National Agro-ecological Alliance (ANA),AS-PTA is immersed in a dialogue process with theBrazilian government over how to elaborate theNational Agro-ecological Policy, an official initiativeto be launched during the Rio+20 conference.ANA brings together movements, networks andorganisations engaged in the construction ofalternative sustainable rural development. AS-PTAand ANA are organising a set of regional seminarsaround Brazil in order to engage civil societynetworks and movements in this process. Thetwo organisations are also involved in laying thefoundations for the debates about agriculture thatwill be held at the Peoples Summit, the side event

of the Rio+20 conference. Our future role will beto co-ordinate the activities around the agricultureissue surrounding the conference at the nationallevel with the rural social movements, Jean Marcexplains. AS-PTA and ANA are discussing the launchof an initiative to unite all the organisations involved

in the multiple issues surrounding sustainableagriculture and food security and to put together aparallel event just before the beginning of Rio+20.

The outcome will be a document based on anupdated and expanded version of the Time toAct document. This document will be taken togovernment representatives, published throughvarious media and (if agreed with the facilitatingcommittee) be presented to the conference. Onbehalf of ANA, AS-PTA will also contribute toorganising the Sustainable Agriculture debate. PauloPetersen, executive-director of AS-PTA, elaborates:In coherence with our methodological principles,we will propose activities that will be based onconcrete experiences and cases. Our magazinesprovide a strong voice for our political proposals.

A step towards greater changes. Photo: Gabriel

Fernandes / AS-PTA

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Based in Australia,John Wightmanpromotes land-

scape development and the enhancement of natural

control as the basis of sustainable pest management.

He has worked on rearranging farming systems across

Africa, South-East Asia, and the Pacific.

E-mail: [email protected] ; [email protected]

Goodbye

bees andthanks!

OPINION

Honey bees are amazing creatures. They can navigate,communicate, air-condition their hives, detect andsegregate contaminated pollen, repel invaders... and

collaborate. They pollinate about 90 kinds of crop plants and of course there is also the honey. But they are dying bythe millions.

I wonder if the teachings of Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahne-man can help us understand what is happening. He highlightsan unfortunate facet of our psyche: that we react to challeng-es or threats in two ways. First is a fast response, which

basically involves (a) denial(Oh, that cant be right...), ( b)doing nothing and hoping the problem will go away, or (c)applying a solution that may have worked for another prob-lem. A second or slow response may follow: it is called ra-tional thought. It involves time and effort and the collectionand analysis of evidence. Guess which category the majorityof decisions fall into.

I have been telling myself that the world population of honeybees just cannot be under threat. Bees are just too importantand cannot disappear (= denial). But all the time, more evi-dence is coming in from all around the world saying thinkagain. Beekeepers inspect their hives one day and find thebees have gone. What we now call Colony Collapse Disorderkeeps on happening. And more location-specific bee chal-lenges keep on being reported: another species is displacingthe honey bee across the Pacific Region; there is a beetlefrom Africa that destroys honey in Australian hives; a newbee parasite was reported in California this year.

But what exactly is happening? There are so many fast re-sponses. Some say that the parasitic Varroa mite and/or thepathogens it transmits have mutated. Plausible, but thesepathogens have been around forever and are not pandemic.It must be insecticides: the neonicotinoids (such as imida-

cloprid) are certainly implicated. But these products havebeen available since the 1980s. Why are they only now havingan effect? Hives are often moved long distances to pollinatespecific crops. Do the bees get pathogen-induced travelstress? Such bee movements have been normal for manyyears. So it must all be due climate change then...?

Please someone is there an international organisation thatcan apply slow response thought processes to integrating asearch for global solutions? If the bee disappears from thesurface of the globe, then man would only have four years oflife left. That is what Einstein said, and he was a real slow re-sponse thinker.


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One of the ways in which farmers can protect their soils isthrough the use of mulch. When the soil is covered with athick layer of organic matter, it is protected from extremerainfall, winds or drought. Mulch also serves as a home for

insects, helping attract many species which significantlyimprove soil texture and soil fertility.

Text and photos: Sam Adams

FRIENDS OR FOES? > MULCH AND SOIL

the farmers greatest asset. This is where mulch canhave a significant beneficial impact.

A significant impact Much of my workinvolves teaching farmers and home-scale gardeners touse mulch, presenting it as a solution to the problemsmentioned above. Running workshops and teachingorganic and conservation farming practices in the CapeTown area, South Africa, I challenge farmers to bepart of a mulch revolution. In October last year, weran our first agricultural academy with nine students

from across South Africa. Students saw at first-handhow to prepare and apply mulch, and had discussionswith farmers who regularly mulch their fields, and whohave experienced massive increases in soil health andtherefore in yields and profits.So what is mulch? Put simply, it is the name given toany covering of the soil. Some call mulch Godsblanket as it can be observed naturally occurringbeneath plants and trees in wild areas. Naturalmulches are made of straw, grass, leaves, crop resi-dues, wood chips or bark, although some farmers useartificial mulches (such as plastic sheets, which areused by strawberry farmers in the municipality ofStellenbosch). In Khayelitsha and other South Afri-

The greatest resource that a farmer hasis the soil. It is the soil that gives life.It provides the nutrients for plants togrow, which in turn feed humans andanimals. One can confidently say that,without arable soils, human populations

would find it impossible to survive. With this inmind, it would be logical to assume that farmersdo their utmost to protect their most precious asset.Tragically, this is not the case. Bad farming practicesare devastating soils around the world. The long term

negative effects of this are yet to be fully realised, butif this continues one can anticipate widespread foodshortages.While ploughing makes the soil easy to plant, it weak-ens the soil structure. Repeated ploughing breaks thesoil down into fine particles, which are easily blown orwashed away during wind and heavy rain. Researchsuggests that Africa is losing soil to this form of erosionat a rate of 30 tons per hectare per year. It is sadlyjoked that soil is Africas biggest export. In the UnitedStates of America the situation is not much better:researchers have estimated that the annual losses ofsoil to erosion are worth US$ 300 million. This is nosmall matter. Erosion is quite literally washing away

Mulcha home for insects

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can townships, it is common to see old cloths andcarpets being used.In the Cape Town area the hottest months of the yearare dry, often with strong winds some reaching 50km/h. The Mediterranean climate is a harsh environ-ment for farming food crops. This is why many farm-ers focus on grapes and olives that are processed intojuice, wine and olive oil. Those farmers who decide togrow vegetables and grass crops have a difficult time inthe hot and dry summer. On our training farm, as else-where, the soil looks like the sand on a beach. This iswhere mulch is most valuable as it adds mass andbody to the loose particles of sand. As it decomposes,we find the soil is full of valuable humus and organicmatter. Einstein Sibanda, one of the farmers we workwith, comments that mulch keeps the temperature

equal, so it keeps the ground warm, but not hot andit preserves the water for a long time in the ground.The mulch ensures water retention in the soil, as itinsulates the soil from the dry wind and hot sun.

An insect reservoirIn addition to thebenefits generally seen (see box), mulch contributesto farming by repelling certain pests. Snails and slugs,for example, like to crawl along smooth surfaces, suchas exposed soil. Covering the soil with dry and coarsemulch, such as crushed shells, oak tree leaves or woodchip, discourages these pests.In addition to repelling pests, mulch also attracts benefi-cial insects. As mulch forms a warm, dark and damp


Different benefits

Farmers recognise six major benefits in using mulch.Firstly, mulch protects the soil from erosion. Heavy rainis absorbed by the mulch, slowing down the water sothat it can penetrate the soil gradually. This means thatmore water is absorbed by the ground and to a deepersoil depth. Plants then receive more water. Secondly,mulch protects the soil from temperature extremes andevaporation in hot weather. Mulch insulates the soilfrom both hot and cold temperatures. By using mulch,farmers can decrease the evaporation rate by as muchas 40%, a huge saving.

Thirdly, the mulch protects the soil from baking in hightemperatures and forming a hard crust. This means thesoil always remains loose and friable, making ploughing

less necessary. Mulched soil is light and rich in humusand organic matter. Fourthly, as mulch stops lightfrom reaching the soil, it discourages the germinationof weed seeds. This means there are fewer weeds toremove from the ground, again ensuring water andnutrients go straight to the crops and that there is lesswork to be done on the farm.

Fifthly, natural mulches will slowly break down and feedthe soil with nutrients, increasing the soil fertility. It is likeapplying a layer of compost across the soil that slowlyreleases nutrients to the plants. Finally, mulch attractsinsects to the soil, as the insects enjoy the moist warmspace beneath the mulch that is rich in food.

Joining the mulch revolution.

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blanket across the surface of the soil, it is an ideal habitatfor beneficial insects. Without insects, the mulch wouldstill have a beneficial effect through water retention, butinsects play a key role in breaking down mulch, convert-ing it into rich humus and improving the soil fertility,texture and structure. These benefits are clearer when


looking at a farm where pesticides are used. Farmerswho use chemical pesticides will find their mulch breaksdown very slowly, remaining as a separate layer abovethe soil. By killing the insects, the potential for mulch toenrich the soil is significantly diminished.

Together with earthworms (or annelids), the larva andadults of many insect species may be seen as a farmersgreatest ally. As they burrow down into the soil, theycreate tiny paths for water and air to travel to the plantroots, increasing aeration and water infiltration. Insectsalso create a system of tiny underground tunnels whichcarry rainwater down to the roots. These tunnels have apositive effect on the soil health, and help the develop-ment and growth of plants, particularly in heavy clay-based soils. In waterlogged clay soils, the tunnels helpdrain away excess water. The tunnels also carry oxygento plant roots and to aerobic bacteria in the soil.

At a micro-level, the insects are constantly turning thesoil and enriching it. One could argue that, after a fewyears of farming without artificial pesticides, the in-sects would be doing all of the fertilizing and plough-ing, saving farmers much hard work and money aswell as providing considerable environmental benefits.

A larger biodiversity Like insects andearthworms, centipedes are another beneficial groupthat live in the mulch. These tiny creatures eat cater-pillars, slugs and fly larvae, naturally protecting cropswithout using any expensive and harmful pesticides.Finally, mulch also encourages the growth of millionsof micro-organisms in the soil. These microscopic in-sects are constantly breaking down organic matter andenriching the soil. One example is a group of beneficialnematodes or non-segmented round worms whichoccur naturally (and which in some cases are also com-mercially available). These beneficial nematodes live inthe soil beneath the mulch and kill harmful insects suchas fleas, termites and cutworm.As part of our work we are looking at ways to measurethese benefits. There is no doubt, however, that mulchis critically valuable for farmers as it decreases erosion,

decreases water loss, and improves soil health. By cover-ing the soil with a layer of organic matter, farmers arealso creating a new habitat where beneficial insects canprosper. These insects, together with many other spe-cies of earthworms or centipedes, aid soil aeration, soilenrichment, and natural pest control. The Cape Townfarmers who adopt mulching experience increased soilhealth, higher yields and higher profits, while farming ina way that is harmonious with beneficial natural systems.

Sam Adams([email protected]) runs a food secu-

rity consultancy in Cape Town. He works across Southern

Africa teaching conservation farming and sustainable agri-

cultural systems to both rural and urban farmers.

Working together towards better soils in Lesotho

(above) and Uganda. Positive results are easy to see.

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LEARNING ABOUT

Bees for Development was founded in 1993 inMonmouth, South Wales, U.K. The standard pricefor Resource Boxes is 50, but those who cannotafford it can receive a Sponsored Resource Boxfree of charge. Further information about all thecurrent initiatives of the organisation is availableat www.beesfordevelopment.org.

Honey is probably the first association thatcomes to mind when we hear the word bee.Humans appreciation of this sweet productgoes back thousands of years. Yet, in a recentconversation with Elizabeth McLeod, ProjectOfficer at Bees for Development, she remindedus of at least two aspects of bees that peopleoften tend to forget. Firstly, bees can be animportant source of income for many people,especially in developing countries. Secondly,these black and yellow striped insects are the

major pollinators of flowering plants, whichmeans that they are essential for conservingbiodiversity.Text:Nicola Piras Illustration: Fred Geven

Although beekeeping can contributeenormously to alleviate poverty, MrsMcLeod pointed out that it is usuallyoverlooked as a marginal activity not

worthy of investment and attention. Bees forDevelopmentis an organisation that works to overcomethis lack of attention. Describing itself as the hubof a network of beekeepers all around the world, itencourages and promotes sustainable apiculture, andparticularly focuses on poor and rural areas. Bees forDevelopmenthas developed a series of educationaland training programmes that facilitate the spread ofknowledge about bees and profitable and sustainablebeekeeping methods: practices that increasebeekeepers incomes without jeopardising beepopulations and local biodiversity. Our organisationsview, Mrs McLeod says, is that the most important

thing for beekeepers is information. The organisationhas developed a huge, free-to-use, online databaseabout all aspects of bees and sustainable beekeeping their Information Portal. But, as we all know, thebest way to learn is by doing. Mrs McLeod explainsthat what commonly happens is that an experiencedbeekeeper is approached by others who want to getinvolved. Bees for Development also support training,workshops and meetings, offering Resource Boxes(packs of explanatory material such as booklets, postersand the Bees for Development Journal), the contentof which can be varied according to the needs andpurposes of those taking and running the trainings.Mrs McLeod went on to emphasise that the training

activities also aim to stimulate and strengthenbeekeeper organisations: When beekeepers canorganise themselves into co-operatives or collectivemarketing groups, they can improve the terms of tradewith other people. This is a significant element ofour training: teaching people how to form effectiveassociations to represent their own interests. Thisis all crucial for beekeepers, as demonstrated in arecent training programme in Uganda: When wegot to Kampala we noticed that, notwithstandingthe presence of many local beekeepers who produceexcellent honey, the majority of what is consumedhas been imported. The issue in Uganda is thatproducers cannot meet their national market. Beesfor Developmentstarted working with a co-operative,providing trainings for local beekeepers. Now, wecan proudly say that the co-operative we were working

with has been invited by a supermarket supplier inUganda to start supplying their stores and even toexport to Kenya. Their produce is being very wellreceived.


All you need to know about bees

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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT WITHIN IFAD >ASIA WORKSHOPS


The International Fund for AgricultureDevelopment (IFAD) and the Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO) areinvolved in many country projects thatseek to reduce rural poverty and foodinsecurity in Asia and the Pacific.

People working on these projects acquire valuableknowledge and a wealth of practical experience.However, their knowledge is often lost when projects

In April 2010, IFAD and FAOlaunched a joint programme to

provide people working on povertyreduction projects, with the skillsand tools required to gather and

share knowledge gleaned fromtheir projects. Different workshops

in knowledge sharing techniques,writing effectively for different

audiences, and systematisation wereheld in 2011. The last meeting was atraining of trainers session, which

specifically aimed to upscale thewhole process. Participants of this

workshop are now running their ownknowledge management processes

back home, training their colleagues.Text: Denise Melvin and Jorge Chavez-Tafur

Trainingthetrainersend. By developing capacities to share knowledge, theFAO-IFAD programme helped ensure that projectsbuild on proven successes and avoid repeating errors,that the voices of a wide group of stakeholders areincluded, and that knowledge is properly documentedand well communicated, so that it can have thegreatest impact.Working with regional organisations (such as, for ex-ample, ICIMOD in Nepal), the programme offeredhands-on workshops focusing on participatory tech-niques and tools for knowledge sharing, and on writing

skills. In total, more than 380 people participatedthroughout the year, representing projects being im-plemented in countries as diverse as China and theMaldives, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.Focusing on a methodology which facilitates the on-going description and analysis of the processes andresults of a development project, the programme paidspecific attention to a systematisation process. Thismeant presenting some basic principles (such as in-volving as many stakeholders as possible, or identify-ing the general conditions needed), and then actuallystarting a systematisation process for sharing knowl-

edge. The work of some of the participants, such asAbdul Qayyum Abbasi, describing and analysing theCommunity Development Programme in Pakistan,has already been published and shared.One of the most interesting lessons learnt was aboutthe use of videos. Participants discussed the challengesthat practitioners face in using images in a systematisa-tion process. This doesnt necessarily need expensivetools and materials hand held devices such as mo-bile phones can be adequate. Videos are not only use-ful as a way of presenting a final product: they can alsobe used for collecting information (e.g. in interviews),for highlighting someones opinion, and for askingfeedback from other participants.

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lead to some participating much less than others.The discussions paid special attention to the role of thetrainer, who plays an influential role in every systematisa-tion process. Trainers need to decide their level of engage-ment: will they just provide the necessary resources for a

process to take place, will they try to catalyse it, or willthey actually take charge of it all? Each of these choiceshas implications for the selection of participants, and maymean providing mentoring, apprenticeship or coachingpossibilities. Trainers also need to think about the differenttools or techniques they will utilise and what, if any, incen-tives to provide to participants.Finally, the participants looked at the steps that are com-mon to all documentation processes, regardless of themethodology followed, and at ways of addressing themost common problems:How to select the case to be documented, which

requires considering the audience who will benefitfrom the documentation process.

How to collect data and information, and the impor-tance of finding what information is already available,or of going to the field, and asking participants andstakeholders in situ.

The need to encourage participation and involve-ment: (i) before the workshop, by selecting the rightparticipants, (ii) during the workshop, by using differ-ent tools, defining peoples roles and responsibilitiesand defining and explicitly mentioning all expecta-tions, and (iii) after the workshop, providing incen-tives, or inviting participants to contribute to any sub-

sequent publication.The dissemination of the results, which starts by iden-

tifying the target audience and then deciding whattype of document is best (a policy brief, an article in ajournal, etc.). Such documents can always be rein-forced and made more accessible by using differentmedia tools, such as press releases, the internet, streettheatre, posters, or radio programmes.

The last step involved a short discussion about the need ofscaling up and sustaining these efforts and also every sys-tematisation process. This meant looking at the necessaryrequisites (support, resources), and at the steps to follow.

Jun Virola, from the Philippines, highlighted that thisworkshop was a systematisation process in itself. Welooked at where we are, what we have been doing, and wedescribed what we want to happen. At the end we wereable to prepare and share our action plans. The first stepshave been taken: many trainers are up and ready to starttraining their colleagues.

Denise Melvin, Communications Officer at FAO, worked as

Programme Coordinator on the FAO-IFAD Programme for the

Development of Knowledge Sharing Skills (e-mail: ks-asia@fao.

org). Jorge Chavez-Tafurfacilitated the training workshops in

the Philippines, Nepal and China. More information is available

on the IFAD Asia portal: http://asia.ifad.org/web/1179-fao

Training future trainers The pro-gramme also organised a three-day training of trainerssession, with the objective of scaling up and sustainingthe process. Some project staff who had attended theprevious training events were invited to a workshop in

Kathmandu, Nepal, in December 2011. The mainobjective was to present and discuss the issues thattrainers (or facilitators) should consider when organisinga systematisation process. Our discussions started byfocusing on the necessary logistics and the generalobjectives. Participants discussed the advantages thatsuch a process can bring in terms of advocacy, or simplyby helping to avoid re-inventing the wheel.We looked at the importance of carefully selecting partici-pants, in a way so that they contribute to and benefit fromthe process as much as possible. Beyond considering dif-ferent groups or stakeholders, and considering specific

criteria (such as being associated to an IFAD project), wealso looked at other regularly occurring issues: the difficul-ties of inviting and managing a large group, and thus theneed to to select those who represent a large community,and the difficulties when having different categoriesworking together (politicians with farmers, extensionagents with the director of an organisation) which can

This workshop was a systematisation process in

itself. Photos: SEARCA / FAO.

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FRIENDS OR FOES? >APICULTURE


production areas. While producers lack information

and short and longer-term finance options, marketstudies have shown that there is an unfulfilled demandin the local, regional and international markets.

Working together The countrys honeysector has developed substantially since an umbrellabody, the Zambia Honey Council (ZHC), was set upin 2003 with the mission of developing the capacityof members through market development, technicalinnovation, information networks, policy advocacy,and through the promotion of ethics and standards inthe honey industry. Membership has been open tobeekeepers from different regions, many of whom havebenefitted from the activities started by the Council:the organisation of training modules (in English and inlocal languages), the establishment of bulking centres invarious honey-producing districts, and the disseminationof information via mobile phones.In spite of the evident progress, a set of analyses carriedout by organisations such as the Organic Producers andProcessors Association of Zambia (OPPAZ) and the Agri-Business Forum (ABF) showed that a policy frameworkto govern and support the long-term development of thesector was still missing, and that the lack of co-ordinatedefforts were seriously limiting growth. These studies

showed that the positive results achieved at a local levelcould be scaled up with better links and co-ordinationbetween all the different actors. This led to a series ofmeetings between government agencies, non-govern-mental organisations (NGOs), business and trade associa-tions, beekeepers, exporters/packers, researchers and in-ternational development agencies, all of whom joinedthe Zambia Honey Council in establishing the ZambiaHoney Partnership (ZHP). ZHP was set up to address theconstraints and opportunities in the honey industry par-ticularly by increasing the possibilities to work together.Co-ordinated activities help farmers develop their capaci-ties to produce honey and expand domestic production,and to improve profitability, by adding value to all prod-

Honey has been produced in Zambiafor many years, particularly in thenorthern region, and according to

different statistics, the country is thelargest producer (and exporter) ofhoney in Africa. Beekeepers in the

North-Western and Copperbelt provinces harvest anaverage of 10 hives each, and each hive yields about10 kg per year. At current market prices, the sale of100 kg can generate more than US$ 5,000 per year.These are very high returns especially consideringthat the investment costs are minimal. At the sametime, however, a detailed analysis of the honey sectorshows many difficulties, aside from yields and returns.These include a non-commercial approach, or thelack of a clear strategy. Studies in different regionshave reported the possibility of hugely expanding the

Set up three years ago, the

Zambia Honey Partnership (orZHP) promotes the sustainable,social and economic growth

of the countrys emerginghoney industry. Known as the

platform, it seeks to representthe interests of all stakeholders.By enhancing their commercial

orientation, ZHP aims to help

translate the production ofhoney into higher incomes for allthose involved.

Text and photos: Nawa Mutumweno

ZambiaAbuzz with bees

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quantities are also being exported to South Africa andBotswana, and even to the United Kingdom, Germanyand the United States. Mr Munshimbwe Chitalu, theZHP Chairperson, proudly states that Zambia has

emerged as Africas largest exporter of honey and beeproducts to the European Union and the U.S., andthe supply to these markets will exceed 1,000 tons bythe end of 2012. The industry is showing tremendouspotential to help expand Zambias export base, foreignexchange reserves and, most importantly, broaden anddeepen the income levels of the rural population.It goes without saying that Zambian woodlands todayresonate with two kinds of buzz. First is the hum frommillions of bees gathering nectar from the surroundingdry forests. Second is the rising excitement among lo-cal villagers who see honey production as a rewardingand potential source of income.

Nawa Mutumweno ([email protected]) works

as Communications Consultant for the Zambia Honey Part-

nership, Lusaka.

ucts. Working together also offers the opportunity toscale up activities that support production and commer-cialisation (considering the necessary logistics, the provi-sion of credit options and marketing).The Partnership has put a set of strategic programmes

in place. One of these is to target specific trade fairs;another organises beekeeper field exchanges. A specialgroup is looking at the most important health issuesaffecting beekeeping and their potential implications,such as the trade barriers raised by South Africa(claiming there is evidence of the presence of Ameri-can Foul Brood) or the incidence of what is knownelsewhere as Colony Collapse Disorder. Neither prob-lem has been detected, but regular monitoring isneeded. The Innovation Grants Facility (IGF) alsodeserves special mention: grants will be made avail-able to beekeeper or producer associations or to proc-

essors wishing to develop or expand their post-harvestactivities (such as processing, quality control or mar-keting efforts). Grants will be used to complement andsupport innovations, and will be assigned under a costsharing arrangement. Applications have to go througha competitive process based on their project proposals.

Broad resultsAt the moment, the ZambiaHoney Partnership is working in the three mainhoney producing provinces, with a total of 8 honeyprocessors and more than 15,000 beekeepers.Although members recognise that there is still a lotto do, the quality of Zambian honey and packaginghas already improved, and new marketing possibilitieshave been developed. This is visible, for example,in major retail shops such as Melissa and Spar,where different honey products are now sold. Larger

Better links and co-ordination in order to tackle the technical and the organisational challenges.

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SPECIAL THEME > RIO+20

I

n January, the Zero Draft of the outcome docu-ment (which provides the basis on which thefinal resolutions of the conference will beagreed) was published on different websites.Even though this Zero Draft gives an impression

of what the outcome document of the confer-ence will look like, much can happen between nowand June, so the outcome is not set in stone. Govern-ments, UN agencies and civil organisations will con-tinue to negotiate over the text of the final document,and campaign to put their issues on the policy agenda.Many parties are still working hard to ensure thatsmall-scale sustainable family farmers are not left outof these discussions.

Zero or minus twenty?There hasbeen a truly mixed response to the Zero Draft docu-

ment. Generally, it is considered a major step forward,in that it talks about sustainable development indicatorsthat go beyond GDP, proposes a Sustainable Develop-ment Council, an Ombudsman for Future Genera-tions, and a reform of environmentally-harmfulsubsidies, including those for agriculture. Yet, manybelieve the document is too vague and open to toomany interpretations. There are also some important

omissions. The document does not mention sustain-able agriculture or family farming. How can a docu-ment seeking to set the direction of a future greeneconomy leave out 400 million farm families?So, what is a green economy, and what is the role of

sustainable family farming within it? There is a growingconviction that for the economy to become green, it hasto be totally redesigned. HansHerren,one of theau-thors of the IAASTD report, says that cosmetic changeslike climate smart agriculture and sustainable intensi-fication are not enough, and while the Zero Draft doc-ument talks about green jobs, there is nothing aboutbetter working conditions (and returns) for self em-ployed farmers. This suggests that a green economy isonly about the money economy. Vandana Shivapoints out that sustainable family farming is about muchmore than money. It is about decent rural livelihoods,

about the management of biodiversity and about democ-racy and freedom. La Via Campesinais arguing thatecosystems cannot be treated as economic goods. AndOlivier de Schutter is making the case to establish amechanism of accountability regarding the right to food.

RecognitionThe key message to be taken toRio is that sustainable family farming needs recogni-tion. This was the conclusion of a recent globalmeeting of small-scale farmers organisations at IFAD inRome. They are not alone. All over the world there is agrowing consensus among organisations of familyfarmers, scientists, civil society groups and influentialactors within the UN institutions that sustainable family

Twenty years ago, the first global conferenceon Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeirobecame a milestone, and there are high hopesthat Rio+20 will be an even more significant

event. In the previous issue of Farming Matterswe introduced Rio+20. Since then, the complexpreparations for the conference have beencontinuing.Text: Edith van Walsum and Marta Dabrowska

Sustainable faneeds recognition

The Zero Draft is a minus

twenty draftVandana Shiva, Indian scientist and environmental activist

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farming is key to the future of the planet. Major globalproblems hunger, climate change and environmentaldegradation cannot be solved without recognising andsupporting family farmers.The momentum of alliances that support this view isstronger than ever before. Yet, in spite of tireless

lobbying, campaigning and dialogues, it is not clearhow strong this message will come through in theoutcome document of the Rio conference. There isstill fierce resistance from numerous individuals andinstitutions who do not see sustainable family farmingas having any potential. Even within the UN institu-tions that do support sustainable family farming thereare very different perspectives. Some within theseinstitutions still see large-scale agricultural systems asthe best option, believing that low input, by defini-tion, means low output. Others attempt to subvertthe notion of sustainable innovation in agriculture byadvocating nanotechnologies and genetic modifica-

tion. Whom will policy-makers (at Rio and after) listento? And who will benefit from their political support?

In the fields and in the streetsThe Outcome Document of the Rio+20 Conferencewill provide a general policy framework for several

years. The outcomes of Rio will not be binding ongovernments, so the follow through will dependon the voices and actions of the people in the streetsand in the fields: farmers, consumers and civilsociety. Influential thinkers like Ulrich Hoffmann,Director of UNCTAD, believe that the needed

paradigm shift has already started: many positivedevelopments are happening in the sustainable andorganic agriculture spheres, millions and millions offarmers are practicing and developing sustainable

methods every day. But this shift requires moretime and more formal support. A Brazilian civilservant, involved in the organisation of the civilsociety event that will take place parallel to the mainconference, said this with conviction: the majordecisions are made in the streets. Many farmersalready made many decisions in their fields. Changeis under way, and we have to document and sharethe experience. Rio+20 has to be owned by the

people, not just by policymakers.

Your voice is importantSome of ourreaders may travel to Rio, but most of you will not bethere. Even so you can make an important contribu-tion. If you have a message to share please send it tous. We will compile and publish all the messages toRiothat reach us, and take them to Rio.And... do send us your best photos of family farmers,women, men and youth, in your area. We want toshow the many faces of family farmers to the peoplethat will be meeting in Rio. We hope to get thousandsof pictures and to paste them on a very long wall!Send your contributions to [email protected]

mily farming


Sustainable family farming isthe core of a green economy

but it is not mentioned in theZero Draft. Its really a joke

Ulrich Hoffmann, Director of UNCTAD

Joining those in the streets and in the fields. Photo:

E. van Walsum.

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FARMERS AND MARKETS > ESFIM

28 |Farming Matters| March 2012M

ost frequently, smallholders lacksufficient access to information,timely analysis and feasible,legal and technical proposalsthat can support their voice.As a result, their position is

weak especially when compared to other economicand political interest groups, such as agricultural

The Empowering SmallholderFarmers in Markets (ESFIM)initiative is a farmer-driven

research and policy developmentprogramme that started in June

2008. Its overall objective is togenerate demand-driven actionresearch that supports the policy

activities of farmers organisations.By helping to create an enabling

policy and regulatory environment,and more effective economic

organisations and institutions, thisinitiative will enable smallholders to

benefit more from markets.Text: Giel Ton

farmer-drivenA

programme to

reinforce advocacycapacity

companies, importers and exporters of commodities,agro-processors, retailers, or even consumers.Yet smallholder farmers are important. There aremillions of them worldwide, and they play a key role

in household and national food supply and economicdevelopment. At the same time there is a huge con-centration of poverty in rural areas. Decision-makingon agricultural and food security issues often favoursthe interests of consumers, and the interests of small-holders are rarely considered in regional and nation-al discussions. This reflects the way in which foodsecurity policies are usually responses to short-termproblems, rarely looking at the medium to long termdevelopment of the agriculture sector further ag-gravating a situation of food instability and insecu-rity. Strengthening the voice of smallholders canhelp to re-balance these policies and interventions in

ways that provide smallholders with incentives to in-vest in their farms and in value-adding activities,thereby structurally improving food security in bothrural and urban areas.

Defining the agendaThe ESFIM pro-gramme is designed to tackle this. It seeks to reinforcethe capacities of farmers organisations to articulatetheir members needs and interests, through a processof collaborative research. The identification of specificresearch priorities and strategies is determined at anational level, usually through a series of participa-

tive workshops, involving key organisations and theirmembers. These workshops are enriched with the inputof government officials and NGOs, helping participantsidentify critical and strategic issues.This process of setting priorities is designed to max-imise learning within all the participating organisa-tions. With funds from IFAD and the Dutch Ministryof Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation,AGRINATURA and local consultants have providedresearch support and helped participating organisa-tions to refine their proposals. Local research insti-tutes and independent consultants are subcontractedby farmers organisations to develop the thematicissues discussed in the national workshop.

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ences were recently presented at the Farmers Forumorganised by IFAD in Rome, and will be discussedextensively in an international seminar planned formid-2012. ESFIM wants to stimulate farmers organi-sations to exchange their experiences on advocacy

strategies that empower smallholders. This exchangewill not be restricted to the organisations that areworking with ESFIM funding, but will also includeother similar or complementary organisations, initia-tives and activities. We plan to use Farming Mattersas a platformto facilitate this exchange and outreach.More news in the coming issues!

Giel Ton([email protected]) a senior researcher in the Agricul-

tural Research Institute (LEI), part of Wageningen UR, is the

ESFIM Programme Coordinator. More information about

the programme and about the participating organisations

can be found online at www.esfim.org

At the moment, activities are in full swing in tencountries. In the Philippines, for example, the aim isto establish an Agricultural Commodity ExchangeSystem to improve the co-ordination mechanismsbetween stakeholders throughout the country. In Be-

nin, specific attention is being given to maize valuechains, aiming to make them more competitive,sustainable and inclusive. The National Smallhold-er Farmers Association of Malawi is working towardsimproving the seed supply system. The ESFIM web-site (www.esfim.org) presents news and results fromeach of the participating countries.

Coming upESFIM intends to scale-out itsapproach to other countries, and link these nationalexperiences in evidence-based advocacy at theregional and global level, through regional networks

of farmers organisations. Key findings and experi-

ESFIM in PeruPeru has a strong advocacy platform calledCONVEAGRO, an influential alliance of farmersorganisations, NGOs and research institutes. Themajority of the involved farmers organisations do notengage in collective marketing services, although someof them do. This group wanted CONVEAGRO to paymore attention to economic issues and to make themmore effective at advocacy. To this end they formed asub

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