Weed Control Plagues African Agriculture
13 December 2011 Only 5% of smallholder farm acres receive herbicide applications, according to the latest Outlooks on Pest Management publication.
In the report, the CropLife Foundation, which addresses international developments in crop protection and agricultural biotechnology, detailed the problems facing smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and possible solutions to help growers obtain herbicides in a study titled “Overlooking the Obvious: The Opportunity for Herbicides in Africa.”
The root of the discrepancy between smallholder and larger plantation application lies within the distribution channel, says Leonard Gianessi, director of the Crop Protection Research Institute, a research unit of CropLife Foundation.
“The problem is not regulation. The herbicide products needed by smallholders have been registered for years,” he says. “They are widely used on large commercial and government farms. They are available at a low price. One problem is distribution of products to thousands of small shops, training of applicators and development of spray services.”
Broadleaf weeds and grasses dominate the weed spectrum in Africa, according to CropLife. Weed problems are more severe in African tropical regions than in Europe and North America because of the continent’s torrid climate and light intensity, causing weeds to proliferate at a faster rate.
“Governments and international aid organizations are not focused on weeds or on herbicides. While the parasitic weed Striga has their attention, they have not made farm field weed control a focus – choosing instead to focus on crop breeding, fertilizers, irrigation, etc.,” Gianessi says.
There are two reasons for this, he adds, related to gender roles and pesticide volumes. Weed removal is considered “women’s work,” which the government considers low-priority. In addition, the staffs of international aid organizations are opposed to projects that would lead to an increase in pesticide use.
Organizations such as CropLife Zambia have taken the forefront on educating farmers on herbicide application. With a small grant, they trained herbicide applicators who, for a fee, hired out their services. The demand from farmers has been so great that the country has run out of herbicides the last two years, according to the organization.
Weed science also receives little funding in comparison to plant pathology and entomology, Gianessi says.
By reducing the labor required for weed control, herbicide use could allow additional resources to be invested in food crops to the benefit of food security in the region, according to the Outlooks publication.
Along with food security and better nutrition, one of the potential benefits of herbicide use includes an increase in incomes. In addition, children and women would be able to spend more time receiving an education rather than weeding.
“The adoption of herbicides by smallholders is going to happen from the ground up, not from the top down,” Gianessi says.
To read the complete Outlooks on Pest Management report published by Research Information Ltd., click here.
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