Category Archives: News

The performance of Moroccan agriculture is the result, amongst other things, the know-how of growers and the use
of pesticides to protect crops from pests and diseases. The use of pesticides ensures abundant and quality agricultural production to provide important income to producers, while preserving the health of consumers and the environment. However, while plant protection products are necessary to all growers, they must be used safely and wisely by farmers, in order to guarantee and ensure their safety, the safety of the applicators, consumers, animals and preserve the environment which are the guarantee to sustainable agriculture.
The CropLife association, representing the plant science industry in Morocco, advocates ethical and responsible management of plant protection products throughout their life cycle, from the first phase of their design and manufacture, to the last phase of their use or disposal under conditions that meet the country’s standards and regulations. Unfortunately, in practice, plant protection products are not yet well applied and used according to the rules by some farmers who are not well informed about their safe use. Knowing the threats generated by the misuse of plant
protection products on the sustainability of the agricultural economy in particular and on the national economy in general, CropLife Morocco with the support of CropLife Africa Middle East is committed to partnering with the National Office of the Agricultural Council to conduct train of trainer sessions for agricultural advisors. Once this is done they can in turn train, advise Moroccan farmers and raise their awareness on good agricultural practices as well as on the responsible use of pesticides. All the training sessions were covered by the local agricultural radio station MedinaFM.

At the end of each session, participants received flyers, leaflets, booklets and posters on pesticide safe use

CropLife Cote d’Ivoire organized its first training workshop for the year on IPM/RU for pesticide dealers, applicators and counsellors. The 78 participants were individuals seeking certification for the first time or renewal of their expired certificates from the Pesticide Committee chaired by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Among the participants were three from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger who wanted to improve their knowledge in their handling of pesticides, as dealers in their respective countries. More than 10 sessions were covered during the four-day program in which 16 topics were discussed, ranging from basics on pesticides (definitions, formulations, terminology….), pesticide regulations, pesticide application, GAPs, pesticides and sustainable agriculture and economic development… A special focus was placed on the importance and correct use of PPE, empty container management and anticounterfeiting activities. These topics were referred to during the opening and closing ceremonies which were chaired by the Deputy Director of the Plant Protection Directorate (DPVCQ) as well as during the specific sessions devoted to these topics. The participants were frequently called on to give their expected contribution to any project or program related to the three issues. The workshop was supervised by the Bureau Norme et Audit (BNA) as CropLife Cote d’Ivoire is seeking certification of the training program. Such certification would provide an opportunity to engage in negotiations for conducting training for government, projects and development agencies involved in agricultural development. The closing ceremony was attended by the President of the Board of ANADER, the National Extension Service. This level of cooperation is in line with the commitment made between ANADER and CropLife CI to pursue and provide knowledge and support to the farming community through synergy raising as determined in their respective mission statements.

As far as one can see there are beds with vegetables; peppers, okra, carrots, but above all, tomatoes. We are in Ghana in the Volta region, around Keta. Thousands of farmers grow their vegetables here year-round thanks to irrigation systems. In early 2019, CropLife, in collaboration with the SNV HortiFresh program, selected and trained young farmers to become Spray Service Providers (SSPs). In just a few months’, 268 SSPs graduated of which 90 are in the Volta region.

During the graduation ceremony, all SSPs received a full set of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), a ledger for record keeping and an Identity Card which states that they are trained SSPs.

A year on, the 90 SSPs in the Volta region have so far serviced 1,506 farmers by applying pesticides for them on their vegetable farms. The price for the service provided is negotiated between the farmer and the SSP. The pesticides used can be purchased by the farmer or the SSP and is not included in the fees charged.

SSP Aaron Gadagbui, arrives on a brand-new motorbike. When he removes his helmet, he proudly points to it: “I have saved up all the money that I made with my spraying activities, so I could buy this motorbike. Now I can reach even more farmers and I can earn more money.”
Aaron lives in Kportorgbe, a small community in the Anloga district.He wanted to be trained as an SSP because he wanted, in addition to making some extra money, to help female farmers with the spraying of pesticides. He explains: “I see that for most female farmers the application of pesticides is not easy. They spend money on low quality chemicals that often do not give the expected results. When they hire me, they know I will only use good quality pesticides; they spend less money in the end and get higher yields in return.”

Before becoming SSPs, young farmers are selected by their community and CropLife according to strict selection criteria. At the end of a 4-day technical and 1-day business trainer, they need to undergo a theoretical and a practical exam. Only those that pass both exams will become SSP.

SSP Wonder Adukonu Gameli from Kportorgbe has happy clients. He says: “They see the advantages of good application. Already after a few days they notice they have less pests in their fields.” Wonder is also happy with the extra income he makes. “I produce seedlings and with the money I made from my spraying activities, I was able to lease more land to expand my seedling production area.”

The extra money is not the only advantage for Wonder: “I apply what I have learned on my own field which helps my seedling business. In addition, I came to realize the importance of always wearing my PPE. Before I was trained, I never wore any PPE and often had skin rashes. Now I have no problems any longer with my skin.”

After the initial training program, CropLife monitors the activities of the SSPs in the field. During these visits, SSPs can discuss any challenge they face. In addition, the ledgers are checked, and data is recorded to keep check of the performances of SSPs.

Another satisfied SSP is Richard Kofi Fiagbe from Anlago, although for the moment, he is not active as an SSP. He explains: “I have used the money that I earned as an SSP to enrol in a course at the Cape Coast University. I never thought I could make enough money to do this, but I managed.”

He admits that he learned a lot during the SSP course: “Especially the sessions covering spraying techniques and spray equipment which was really useful for me. I thought I knew these things, but our trainer Uncle Bob was able to teach me new things. Who knows one day, I will be able to train farmers to become SSPs.”

CropLife Africa Middle East was a consortium partner with SNV Ethiopia (Netherlands development organization) in Phase (I) of the Horti-LIFE project which ended in June 2019. SNV decided on a Horti-LIFE Phase (II) which includes the full support of CropLife Ethiopia by setting up a Project Management Unit (PMU) within the CropLife Ethiopia national association. In August 2019, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the partnership agreement covering the support of SNV- Horti-LIFE and operational costs of the PMU for Spray Service Providers (SSPs) & Kebele Pesticide Agents (KPAs) was signed between the two parties in the presence of the CLAME team. The term of this agreement extends from August 2019 to June 2023,.

The MoU defines the roles and responsibilities of both parties and one of the core responsibilities of CropLife Ethiopia is to ensure that its member companies continue with the commitment to avail their staff for the training of 300 SSPs and 150 KPAs.

By closely working with the project team of SNV, training programs started to be rolled out as per the workplan, by trainers from CropLife Ethiopia and member companies in the project regions. In February 2020, four trainings were planned and executed in the Amhara region at two sites where a total of 55 SSPs/KPAs successfully graduated after an intensive four days training. SNV fully equipped the SSPs and KPAs with the required PPE, knapsack sprayers, record logbook and technical manual.

The SNV training will continue on 16 March 2020 in the Tigray region where 36 SSPs/KPAs will be trained. Coincidently, CropLife Ethiopia is also running an awareness creation exercise in 4 regions and 11 woredas under the USAID funded, Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activities (FTFE-VCA) project. Areas to be followed will be by the selection of SSPs, training, provision of equipment, monitoring and evaluation activities. CropLife Ethiopia is the project subcontractor whereby an additional 165 SSPs will join the network in the country.

It is the vision and commitment of CropLife Ethiopia to continue serving the smallholder farming communities by encouraging them to engage in the safe and responsible use of improved inputs with due diligence to human health and environmental safety.