Organic farming methods gaining ground

Farmer Abele Zewdu is well accustomed to the famines and droughts that blight Ethiopia. He witnessed at first hand the devastating effects of the 1984 tragedy, which claimed up to a million lives. But Abele is now turning his back on the western technology he was told would tame his harsh environment and put food on his plate. He has rejected chemical fertilisers and pesticides in favour of ancient methods of pest control to help his crops flourish. Under a pilot scheme being implemented by the international NGO Save the Children, he and a small group of rural peasants in North Welo have brought about remarkable results. Application of basic substances such as fermented cow’s urine and sisal juice have proved to be among the most effective weapons 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 ravaged crops in the region have been brought under control by applying local, environmentally friendly alternative methods. Highly reputable organisations such as the Natural Research Institute in the United Kingdom have been won over by the techniques. Moreover, local government officials plan to disseminate the know-how across the zone's entire rural population of 15 million, using literature, and farming schools set up by Save the Children. The use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides is a highly contentious issue in Ethiopia, and one which is entwined with the country's long journey from Marxism back to a mixed economy. Western economists have encouraged the use of fertilisers with a view to resuscitating the country’s flagging food production. The World Bank has been one of the strongest advocates, pouring millions of dollars in loans into schemes serving to encourage farmers to use chemical fertilisers. Since the overthrow in 1991 of the Marxist regime, it has been funding the National Fertiliser Programme, which has rendered more than three million farmers dependent on artificial fertilisers and pesticides. Western governments have also been eager to offload powerful chemicals which are increasingly falling out of favour in their own countries. Pesticides like Karate - one of the most popular for killing the bush cricket - are restricted in the Western countries which make them, but freely available in Ethiopia. Farmers are seduced by interest-free credit into buying such expensive chemicals, and by the promise of high crop yields. The attendant potential dangers were, however, and remain almost unheard of. Meanwhile, what is being witnessed on the ground as a result is a tableau of farmers complaining not only that buying the pesticides has forced them into debt but even that these have damaged the crops instead of protecting them. The farmers also assert that children have fallen sick, pregnant women have suffered miscarriages, and livestock has suffered, all due to the effects of ingesting the chemicals. Abele has farmed his half-hectare patch ever since inheriting it from his father 15 years ago. His gnarled hands and weathered face belie his youthful 30 years, and testify to the harsh conditions obtaining in Ethiopia. Having sold all his livestock to service the loan he took out to buy fertiliser - amounting to over 10 per cent of his annual income - he has now turned, like many others in his village, to organic alternatives. "The chemical fertilisers have brought us many problems," he said in his village of Mesfena, 2,400 metres above sea level, where he grows teff (Eragrostis abyssinica), a wheat-like crop used to make injera - the country’s staple pancake-like bread. "They were very expensive, and if they were not used properly they would burn you. Our area is prone to famine and drought. It is very fragile. That means if we use chemical fertilisers, and our harvests fail we still have to pay back the money." Abele believes that the resurrection of the old environmentally friendly methods could serve to insulate farmers against future famines, because they would no longer be indebted to fertiliser companies. "We have extra money now, because we don’t spend it on the chemicals. We can use this money during the hard times. Farmers from other villages are now coming to us, wanting to use our ideas. They are starting to hear of the benefits." Abele, who has three children, earns about 1,000 Ethiopian birr a year (about US $117). He used to pay 150 birr ($17) for a year’s supply of the chemicals. He believes many of the farmers' problems stemmed from poor education - over 60 per cent of men are illiterate. "Many of the farmers here were ignorant of how to use the pesticides, and started to use them in their homes to treat malaria and kill insects. We are still not sure what the effects will be. Some children got sick. Women lost their babies." The related environmental effects deeply concern the local government. Teshome Wale, head of the North Welo Agriculture and Natural Resource Development Department, said they had tonnes of chemicals which no one would use, and no way of disposing of them. The area's 50,000 bee colonies have also been hit. The effect of this on the farmers is devastating. A single colony can produce 16 kg of honey a year, worth about 224 birr ($28). "In one area a third of the bees were killed. But there is also the impact on the land. We still don’t know what the effects will be, or if it will affect the water," Teshome said. "The organic methods have been very successful. There is a great problem of pests in the region, but these techniques have been much better than the chemicals farmers used to use. They are better for the environment and are cheaper. They are using the knowledge of their ancestors to solve today’s problems," he added. But already plans for developing the organic methods across the region could be threatened. An 800,000 pounds sterling ($1.12 million) grant from the EU to Save the Children-UK to expand the project was axed as the result of what was described as a "bureaucratic blunder". EU officials have admitted this, but due to strict donor guidelines cannot reverse the decision. Although the organic methods are a success, Save the Children is quick to point out this is not the answer to all their prayers - but maybe the start. John Graham, director of the charity in Ethiopia, said: "This is an area where the most vulnerable people in the country live. Food insecurity is endemic. If there is going to be a famine in Ethiopia, then this is where it is going to happen. "But with so many programmes directed to expensive pesticides, and so many concerns about the dangers of chemical pesticides, it is critical to promote practical, inexpensive and locally based alternatives for sustaining agricultural production." Biologist Dr Fantahun Asefa, who heads the project for the charity, said crop yields had also improved after farmers started using the organic methods. "The farmers seemed to have more trust in expensive foreign technology than their own experiences. Now they are seeing the rewards of their own solutions," he said.