05 September 2024, Uganda: In the evolving landscape of pesticide regulation and safety, well-crafted training manuals are indispensable tools. They ensure that people who use pesticides can effectively navigate and implement risk reduction strategies. These knowledge resources can become a blueprint for changing behaviour around pesticides.
Chemical pesticides play an important role in increasing agricultural productivity. Yet, they are also linked to a range of environmental and human health risks. For example, in 2015, after eating flatbread contaminated with organophosphate pesticide, three students in Tororo District, Uganda, died. A 2019 paper investigated the poisoning. It stated that organophosphates are one of the most common agents of poisoning worldwide. Globally, an estimated one million organophosphate poisonings occur each year. Several hundred thousand result in fatalities. However, knowledge sharing among stakeholders can help to reduce risks associated with chemical pesticides.
Take agro-input dealers (or agro-dealers) for example. They play an important role in pesticide risk reduction, advising farmers on pesticide products and use. With the right training using carefully curated knowledge resources, such as manuals, they can boost their knowledge and practices in lower-risk pest control. This can help to reduce risks associated with the use of chemical pesticides. And it can help to increase the uptake of non-chemical alternatives such as bioprotection products.
What are the challenges to pesticide risk reduction?
Relevant training in pesticide risk reduction can pose a challenge. Many agro-dealers in Uganda have not received the necessary training or accreditation from regulatory bodies. This is despite certification being a prerequisite for selling pesticides in the country. A 2023 paper revealed that almost half of the sampled agro-dealers were unaccredited. Furthermore, only 16% of agro-input shops sold biopesticide products. This was largely due to a lack of awareness, access and demand from farmers.
Conversely, certified agro-dealers are up to 12% more likely to know about biopesticides and integrated pest management (IPM). This is an ecological approach to pest control that combines biological, chemical, cultural and physical approaches. These methods minimize harm to animals, the environment and humans. Moreover, they are up to 10% more likely to sell biopesticide products than their non-certified counterparts.
Agro-dealer certification courses play an important role in raising awareness about pesticides. They can also help to stimulate the supply of environmentally-friendly pest control products. Training and accreditation are critical for pesticide risk reduction. And this means developing tried and tested training materials to help share knowledge.
Developing Uganda’s agro-dealer training manual
Over the past two years, PlantwisePlus has collaborated with Uganda’s government to develop a module for its agro-dealer training, including a manual. The training focuses on raising awareness of lower-risk plant protection products. This includes bioprotection products within Integrated Pest Management (IPM). A series of workshops were held in Kampala, starting in October 2022, to explore enhancing the existing training programme. Participants included the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries (MAAIF), Ugandan Agro-input Dealers Association (UNADA), Makerere University, industry and NGOs.
In March 2023, stakeholders agreed on the content for training, focusing on lower-risk plant protection products. CABI was tasked with developing the course materials, including a manual and curriculum. By July 2023, a joint review led to the creation of a two-day training curriculum. It also included a shorter module for incorporation into the existing curriculum. The manual was revised. CABI held a pilot training session for 30 participants in November 2023. Of these, 26 earned certification as official agro-dealers. The training manual was also updated, with plans to integrate it with a previously developed manual from Makerere University.
What information does the agro-dealer training manual contain?
The manual covers two main subjects: (1) recognizing pesticide risk and (2) reducing risk through the use of bioprotection products. In the first section on recognizing risk, the manual includes information on defining highly hazardous pesticides. It highlights risks to humans and the environment, and it defines routes for reducing risk. It also describes steps for moving to lower-risk plant protection products.
The second section of the manual describes reducing risk through the use of bioprotection products. It describes what bioprotection and its associated products are. They include macrobials – such as predatory insects like ladybirds, and predatory mites – as well as parasitoid insects, and microbials such as bacteria, fungi, nematodes and viruses. These are important organisms for controlling harmful and unwanted crop pests naturally.
The next section looks at accessing and selecting bioprotection products. What is the regulatory framework governing their use? How can trainees use the CABI BioProtection Portal to find and use the correct non-chemical pesticides? How can pests be matched to bioprotection products? This section also describes safety information and how to interpret product labels. It includes knowledge about how to transport, apply and store bioprotection products. It also incorporates a section on IPM.
Focus and aims of the course and manual
The course module and accompanying training manual have been developed primarily for agro-dealers to support them in understanding the concept of highly hazardous pesticides. It also allows them to advise farmers on lower risk alternatives for crop protection. The manual aims to raise awareness about bioprotection products, what they are, how they work and how they are used.
In addition to agro-dealers, the course and manual will be useful to anyone who provides advice to farmers, such as extension staff. It can also support farmers themselves who wish to find out more about selecting and using lower risk plant protection products (synthetic chemical or biologicals) for pest management. Much of the information used to develop the course and this manual has been drawn from CABI source material.
Next steps
The finalised short and two-day modules, training material and manual will be formally delivered to MAAIF and Makerere University to incorporate into the main agro-dealer training course. Following the positive reception of the training approach, which incorporates a lower risk module, MAAIF and Makerere University are keen to adapt the main course into a more formal curriculum with a similar participatory approach. This will be discussed and hopefully initiated by the end of 2024.
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