EU to fund organic pest control project

The European Union has pledged almost one million euros (about US $897,400) to fund an innovative organic pest control-farming project in Ethiopia. Millions of farmers in the north of the country are expected to benefit from the scheme, which was set up by Save the Children Fund UK (SC-UK). The three-year project, which uses naturally-found, environmentally friendly pesticides rather than chemicals, has won plaudits worldwide. The EU pledge comes just days after the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned of a “toxic time bomb” facing Africa from highly poisonous chemicals currently used by farmers. Under the scheme – known as Integrated Pest Management - SC-UK has been teaching farmers in rural areas how to use natural pesticides to control pests and improve soil fertility. These include fermented cow’s urine and sisal juice, which have proved to be very effective against pests like the endemic bush cricket. Juice from wild onions drives away rodents, and plants like the crocodile climber kill weevils, which attack stored grains. In all, 15 pests and plant diseases which normally ravage crops have been brought under control by applying local, environmentally friendly alternative methods. Local farmers have hailed the pilot scheme - which was adopted over nine months in several rural villages of Amhara region - as a success. Agriculture officials in Amhara now plan to develop the programme across the whole region – after SC-UK received the financial go-ahead from the EU. John Graham, head of SC-UK in Ethiopia, told IRIN the idea was to use this successful model "and to scale it up across the entire Amhara region". “This will equip the Bureau of Agriculture to be able to develop its own farmers' field schools and to conduct integrated pest management throughout the region,” he said. The total population of the region is about 18 million, of whom some 90 percent are dependent on subsistence agriculture. “It is fair to say that millions of people could benefit from this,” Graham added. “This is something that could go countrywide in Ethiopia particularly with the concerns that are being expressed regarding chemical pesticides."