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Vol.1,No.3 |
DSE-ZEL and DITSL wish to congratulate all members, friends and external supporters of NECOFA on the successful completion of one year of existence of the network on international/ African level as well of the established national NECOFA groups and organizations.
So far, some of the objectives for which this organisation was set up ,are systematically and successfully being realised.
We are glad to say that within one year of the organisation existence, several national network bodies have been set up. National workshop have also been organised in some countries while others have proposed such. More effort activities and studies have been made to improve on the renowned and the newly more acceptable approach towards agricultural sustainability, the ecofarming.
However,we acknowledge the fact that all these activities were not met without some problems, especially as it affects finance and logistics. We also appreciate the effort made by members to sensitise policy makers, government functionaries, researchers, teachers, farmers etc. in their various countries towards realising the goals of NECOFA.
We enter the new millennium, the year 2000, with high hopes and expectations. Ecofarming should be popularised as the most promising approach of sustainable agricultural management . The achievements so far made by members in their respective countries is a solid foundation upon which further efforts could be intensified. Ecofarming technologies should be developed, promoted and further adapted under specific local conditions in a participatory process, where farmers, extensionists and researchers work together to find joint solutions for still many unsolved problems.Ecofarming should reach the poorest farmer in the most remote village. Grass root level projects should be strengthened.
DITSL and DSE/ZEL will extensively continue to support NECOFA. However, due to restricted financial and personal capacities, both organizations will not be able to give all needed support in your efforts to make the vision of NECOFA a success.
We regard NECOFA as a self-help group,platform and forum of former DSE participants and other professionals in African countries sharing the same objectives.It is in no ways an instrument of DITSL or DSE. We hope, that by the presently undertaken extension of NECOFA webpages in INTERNET as well by newly opened posibilities of modern comunication,the internal experience exchange amongst all active members - and we hope all remain active- will substantially be increased.The sustainability of NECOFA highly depends on the quantity of active members.Therefor, DSE has invited other former participants and new participants from Africa in several events after the Ethiopian course to join NECOFA and to apply for membership.
Ecofarming is more than production and resource management. Ecofarming takes direct responsibility for the welfare of the farmers and rural comunities. For that task,NECOFA and its national groups need the cooperation and advice of all kind of specialists for example in plant protection, marketing of agricultural products and promotion of self-help organizations. We ask all coordinators of national groups and all members to enlist new members and to consider membership applications favourably.
We wish every member a happy entrance into the new millenium and a successful and joyous New Year.
Thanks
Hartmut Gast ( DSE/ZEL )
Sahle Tesfai ( DITSL )
An international follow-up seminar on Management and Extension in Plant Protection was held from 8th to 25th November 1999 in Morogoro, Tanzania.
This seminar of 3 weeks duration was conducted by the DSE-Food and Agriculture Development Centre (Feldafing and Zschortau) in cooperation with the Department of Agricultural Education and Extension (DAEE) of the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and the Plant Protection Division (PPD) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives (MoAC) in Tanzania.
The countries represented in the seminar were those of the NECOFA founder group like Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia and Cameroon. Other experts came from Egypt, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
The 23 participants being former DSE short course participants and well experienced experts in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and related fields were all acting as resource persons and gave their presentations on various topics concerning research results, plant protection measures and extension approaches. Apart from Dr. Heyer, entomologist from Germany, all other 17 invited lecturers are based in Tanzania. The intention of DSE was to offer an opportunity to Tanzanian institutions to present their knowledge, experience and local case studies.
The topics treated were ranging from certain pest problems (like rodents, insects and diseases) via extension approaches (like farmer field schools) to the role of government and legislation.
One session was dedicated to inform the participants on the Network of Ecofarming in Africa (NECOFA) as part of the Global Virtual DSE-CDG Information and Follow-up Network which DSE is going to install in internet in 2000. The participants stated that ecofarming includes many elements such as soil and water management, rural sociology, wildlife management, sustainable land use, agricultural economics, and last but not least integrated pest management. Most of the participants got very much interested in NECOFA, and used the opportunity to sub-scribe to it. As experts in plant protection, seed diseases and extension approaches they are interested in using NECOFA and contributing to it at the same time. One of the very valuable subscribers is the Inter-African Phytosanitary Council of OAU with responsibility for the plant quarantine and phytosanitary legislation in whole Africa.
The group wished that a note on the seminar should be placed in the NECOFA Newsletter. It is intended to make available some of the working results in the internet later in 2000.
Creating awareness and sensitization on Ecofarming and project- activities
by IMMACULATE LUWEDDE SEKITTO(MRS)
NECOFA - COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE
UGANDA
This is to express my sincere thanks for the efforts put in to establish and put in place the NECOFA NEWSLETTER. Thanks for the 2 copies (Vol. 1, No. 1 and vol. 1, No. 2) so far sent to me.
Thanks to all the NECOFA members who contributed articles towards the NECOFA NEWSLETTER.
I want to report to you the activities so far done in my country and the achievements made since the last International workshop on ecofarming , held in Ethiopia from 16/11-11/12/98. These include:
Planting high yielding varieties, resistant to pests and diseases, which enrich the soil with Nitrogen is in line with Eco-farming principles. It is in light of this that I wrote the above project and solicited for funding after the International workshop on Eco-farming . The project is a Mcknight Grant funded by Winrock International through AUPWAE(Association of Uganda Professional Women in Agriculture and Environment). Implementation of project activities started in April 1999. A total of US$5000 was approved for financing the project. Funding is for 1 year but it is expected that farmers will continue after expiry of the funding.
The bean multiplication project is located in Ntanzi, Ntenjeru subcounty, Mukono District. The inception of the project idea arose from a survey that had been carried out and showed low productivity of beans. On the analysis of the problem it was found out that the major causes of the problem was the low yielding varieties. Other root causes included lack of technical knowledge on proper agricultural practices, on pests and disease control, and high post harvest losses.
The project goal is to improve incomes and household food security of rural households in Ntanzi parish, Mukono District. The main objectives of the project are:
Ecofarming works with nature, within the sustainable ecosystems, rather than against it. It is thus beneficial for farmers to plant beans in order to sustain the crop land without spending money on chemical fertilizers. The role of NECOFA, is therefore to facilitate exchange of ideas and experiences from other people who have implemented similar projects.
Ecofarming emphasizes minimal use of chemicals. It has to be pointed out that during the trainings, there was a lot of experience sharing between farmers and facilitators especially on cultural control of pests and seed preservation.
Examples include:
1. Cultural control of Aphids on beans by use of red pepper and urine.
Red pepper:
-Get 1 full cup of tumpeco of red pepper
-Crush it and put it in a container or jerican
-Add 2-4 cups of ash and keep for 24 hours.
-Then filter and spray on bean
Cow Urine:
-Get one jerrycan of urine
-Add one bundle of couch grass and keep for two months.
-Remove and measure 5 cups of cow urine and add 20 cups of water and spray on beans.
2. Storage pests - The control of the bean bruchid:
The most notorious storage insect is the bean bruchid.
Farmers were told that when the bean bruchid attack the beans, it results in the following losses.
- Weight loss up to 10%.
- Quality loss (tainted food) 90%.
- Nutritional loss (protein and carbohydrates).
- Loss in seed viability .
- Other losses, economical loss i.e. low price in the market. Farmer may be forced to sell off his or her crops at a cheap price and later buy at a high price.
Farmers shared their experiences on how to control the bean bruchid, which included:
Storing beans with some trash and dust. These lessen the bruchid movements.
Mixing beans with wood ash. It repels the insects or irritates it.
Frequent drying of beans. The warm conditions are unfavourable to the bruchid.
Mixing Jobyo (local vegetable). Dried leaves, crushed and mixed with the beans. They repel the bruchid.
Mixing the beans with concentrated banana juice(kisubi juice called akaliga in local language ), then drying. This seals the seed against any attack by the bruchid.
Other cultural control practices included:
- Timely harvesting
- Storage hygiene
- Air tight containers.
Use of local materials such as:
- Neem tree
- Tephrosia
- Tobacco leaves
- Red pepper.
The leaves are dried, crushed and mixed with bean seeds.
From the foregoing explanations, farmers are slowly realising that ecofarming is an highly beneficial alternative especially for small farmers with scarce capital to buy expensive inputs.
With the sensitization and the implementation of the project on the ground,
a proposal has been worked out to conduct a national workshop on ecofarming in Uganda:
- to sensitize political and decision makers regarding issues of ecofarming,
- and/or to establish a NECOFA country network and develop an action plan.
Report by:
Immaculate Luwedde Sekitto,
Country representative, NECOFA Uganda
November 1999
Like in any other developing country, the majority of the population in Uganda(90%) live in the rural areas, on small holdings, and derive their livelihood from agriculture.
Agricultural production in these areas depends on the use of limited local resources, e.g. land. For different reasons, these agricultural systems are under pressure. The sustainability of agriculture is seriously threatened by losses in soil fertility, soil erosion, losses in the variety of species, extensive deforestation without replanting and environmental pollution. This is reflected by reduced harvests and low farm incomes.
Thus there is need to increase agricultural production under the aspect of resources conservation, local appropriateness and sustainability. This requires a common understanding on the concept of ecofarming by all stakeholders.
This training proposal is developed out of discussions and deliberations reached at during the International workshop on ecofarming: Ecologically and socially sustainable land management held between November 16th and December 11th in Ethiopia. The workshop attracted senior agricultural experts from Ethiopia, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda.
Based on their own experiences back home, joint findings elaborated and in-depth knowledge on principles of ecofarming, participants at the end of the workshop were convinced that ecofarming was the most modern, convenient, and sustainable way of farming in tropical and subtropical environments. As already proven in many countries and farming communities around the World, ecofarming is at least as productive , or more, than conventional farming, supporting food security at a high level, with fewer risks and costs involved. Ecofarming allows rural people to maintain their natural resources in good conditions, while even improving soil fertility. By applying ecofarming technologies, like use of green manures, multipurpose plants into site-appropriate crop rotations and mixtures, soil retention etc, even Africa's large areas of waste land can be brought back into intensive production at surprisingly low costs.
Participants at the workshop formed a Network for Ecofarming in Africa(NECOFA) to facilitate further exchange of experiences. They also decided to promote ecofarming within their institutions and organisations, as well as at the national level. It is aimed at sensitising all stakeholders particularly decision makers, planners, on the principles and concepts of ecofarming.
Modernisation and sustainability of agriculture and food security in Uganda is seriously threatened by applying improper technologies, causing soil infertility, soil erosion, deforestation, environmental hazards. These are causing social/economic problems which seriously affect mainly small-scale farmers.
Increasing agricultural production under the aspect of resources conservation, local appropriateness and sustainability requires detailed knowledge and skills in ecological and social-economic interrelations and appropriate technologies. Therefore the finding of this proposal will facilitate deep involvement of planners, researchers, extension agents and farmers in truly participatory planning and technology development process, sharing and combining each others' special knowledge and experiences.
This will involve: 38 participants from the following organisations:
Former participants of the international course on Ecofarming in Uganda.
Plan international.
The workshop is tentatively scheduled to take place during the 2nd week of January, 10th -12th, 2000 at the District Farm Institute, Mukono, Uganda.
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