How is Zambia’s Youth Training in Fall Armyworm Biocontrol Production Addressing Food Safety and Security?
12 August 2024, Zambia: The 12th of August marks International Youth Day. CABI’s Youth Engagement Manager, Deogratius Magero, examines how young people in Zambia are learning new skills to improve food production and generate incomes while protecting the environment with natural pest control.
Farmers in Zambia face severe challenges from crop pests like fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda). Yield losses have led to economic losses of around US$159 million in the country. Resource-limited smallholder farmers, especially women, are most affected as they have limited access to agricultural advice and extension services. Furthermore, managing crop pests poses significant environmental challenges, as reliance on chemical pesticides can harm ecosystems, reduce biodiversity and degrade soil health.
At the same time, the country’s young population faces difficulties finding well-paid agricultural work due to limited opportunities. Creating meaningful employment for the growing young labour force is a critical issue for Zambia’s policymakers, as youth unemployment stands at almost 9%, which is above the national average of around 6%.
However, innovative training for young people in natural pest control, including biological control (or biocontrol), can help address both sides of this problem. Sustainable pest management products and services not only help to control crop pests without harming the environment. They also create job opportunities for young people in agriculture. Furthermore, they help create durable, resilient food systems, producing safer food for future generations. CABI is helping to find solutions to this crop pest challenge with an innovative new project called Village-based Biocontrol of Fall Armyworm in Zambia. The initiative is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). It is delivered in partnership with the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) and the University of Zambia.
Addressing fall armyworm in Zambia
The damage caused by fall armyworm has led to significant yield losses for Zambia’s smallholder farmers. At least 98% of smallholders in the country are affected by the pest every cropping cycle. While chemical pesticides can help to control the spread of fall armyworm, they can also cause overarching adverse effects.
To address this situation, in 2023, CABI launched the Village-based Biocontrol of Fall Armyworm project to increase food safety and security for smallholder farmers in Zambia by controlling fall armyworm. This project, which will run until 2026, aims to provide nature-based solutions to manage this devastating pest in maize crops. It will do this by testing and promoting a local strain of fungus, Metarhizium rileyi, and a commercial baculovirus, Fawligen, both specific to Spodoptera species.
Training the next generation in fall armyworm biocontrol
A core part of the project is training young people aged 18 to 35 in the biocontrol of fall armyworm. The project supports youth involvement in the production of bio-based, low-risk pest control products in local communities and the development of services to accompany their use. The project seeks to reach 5,000 farmers in four districts of rural Zambia.
In July 2024, CABI trained five young people from each of the four districts – 12 women and 8 men – in agribusiness opportunities and biocontrol approaches for fall armyworm. They are receiving a range of training, including:
● the science and process of producing biocontrol products
● setting up plots to produce and demonstrate the use of the products
● selling spray service provider services
● developing a business plan, and
● financial literacy and capital acquisition
Producing the fall armyworm biocontrol
Creating the biocontrol product is an innovative and science-based endeavour. This year, CABI will train young people to produce fall armyworm biocontrol products at a local village level. We will do this under the ACIAR and Plant Health Initiative projects, alongside our global programme PlantwisePlus. This rural community production of biological control products will help smallholder farmers to manage this devastating crop pest.
The young trainees take a commercial product called Fawligen, a virus that specifically targets and kills fall armyworm. The Fawligen is mixed with water and sprayed onto infested maize crops. The larvae then become infected with the virus. The trainees learn how to find and pick sick larvae. Selecting the right larvae is skilled work, and the training helps the trainees know which ones to pick. This is important, as once the host is dead, the virus stops multiplying.
The trainees then crush the larvae and mix them with water to create a concoction. They spray this liquid onto crops infested with uninfected fall armyworm, which then ingest the new virus, killing the pest. The trainees learn to create this concoction or product using Fawligen on ‘demonstration’ or ‘source’ plots.
The local strain of Metarhizium rileyi is still under investigation to be developed as a commercial product. This entomopathogen fungus – a fungus that can kill insects – is highly specific to Spodoptera species. It has shown to be effective naturally in the field but also when applied to maize whorls using a mixture of sand and spores. Lab and field trials with the fungus are ongoing. However, the research team in Zambia is confident that it can become a safe and effective way of managing fall armyworm in the country.
Building demand for fall armyworm biocontrol
Although the biocontrol product is effective, the young trainees must also build demand for it. It is one thing to be able to make the product, but another to be able to sell it. Farmers who have relied on chemical pesticides for years can be reluctant to spray their crops with the fall armyworm concoction or with a fungus. It can seem counterintuitive to spray their crop with the very pest that is destroying it. The young trainees will often be involved in changing the farmers’ minds about using this new, natural biocontrol product.
Therefore, part of the training is understanding how to sensitize farmers to the new eco-friendly approach. Each trainee develops a plan showing how they will grow their business by continuously engaging target farmers as their potential customers for the product. Learning how to build the value proposition is integral to the training. When we talk about value proposition, we mean explaining to the farmer the benefits and value of using biocontrol. And there are many benefits.
Sharing the benefits of fall armyworm biocontrol
Exposure to chemical pesticides can cause health risks. Helping farmers appreciate that biocontrol does not have health hazards to humans, the environment or the food they eat is essential. We are talking about safety for all – farmers, consumers and the natural world. Biocontrol does not harm farmer-friendly insects or the soil in which they grow produce. It helps to maintain balance in the soil ecosystem, keeping the soil healthy. Soil health is the foundation of successful horticulture and, therefore, critical for farmers.
Chemical pesticides do not offer the same benefits. However, farmers often stick to tried-and-tested approaches and use synthetic products. Nevertheless, there comes a point when chemical pesticides can stop working. Some farmers are experiencing this already with fall armyworm. The young trainees are learning to show farmers that new, natural approaches can work more effectively.
Through their training, the young people with whom we work are helping farmers to make the shift to biocontrol. The training empowers them to create employment opportunities and build businesses. The youths attend farmer field days and forums, meeting with smallholder farmers to raise awareness about new eco-friendly, safer pest control approaches. The networks they build help to create demand for their products and services resulting in income generation.
In July, several trainees even expressed a desire to reach out to and train farmers about biocontrol themselves using their demonstration and source plots. Thus, the trainees would become the trainers on production and application of the biocontrol solution to the fall armyworm pest.
Next steps
The training will continue in September 2024. The young trainees will apply their skills in real-life situations on demonstration plots, creating biocontrol products. At the end of winter, the training will continue on irrigated maize when temperatures start to warm up again.
Innovative training for young people in natural pest control, particularly through biocontrol, offers a multifaceted solution to global challenges like climate change and food security. By promoting sustainable pest management products and services, young people in Zambia can effectively help to control crop pests and generate incomes while protecting the environment. This approach not only supports the creation of job opportunities in agriculture but also fosters durable and resilient food systems. Ultimately, such initiatives ensure the production of safer, more sustainable food for future generations, contributing to a healthier planet and more secure food supplies.
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