Goal

Improving access to good quality pesticides and judicious application of these products

Objectives

1. Providing access to professional spray services for 4,000 vegetable farmers.
2. Increasing access to crop protection products for 4,000 vegetable farmers.
3. Improving food safety of vegetables and the environmental conditions at farm level for 4,000 vegetable farmers.
4. Offering business opportunities and increasing the income of 255 vegetable farmers younger than 35 years (SSPs).
5. Promoting Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools and the Pesticide Selection Tool among SSPs.

 

Proposed Activities

To set up a functioning network of 255 SSPs in the Brong Ahafo, Greater Accra and Volta region, several activities need to be implemented, including:

1. Awareness creation in communities and the selection of candidate farmers
2. Training of SSP trainers
3. Training of SSPs in technical and business skills
4. Linkages with member companies of CropLife Ghana
5. Distribution of equipment to the SSPs
6. Promotion of SSP activities

Coaching and monitoring of the SSPs

The mobilization of the selected communities is the first step towards a network of SSPs. CropLife Ghana will inform grassroots actors about the SSP project, sensitize them on expected benefits, and explain the importance of well selected farmers or farmers’ sons to become a SSP. During the sensitization process, the selection process for SSPs will be clearly explained. A good selection of candidates is key to the success of the SSP program. In general, a good candidate is:

• Male (females are not allowed on the spray teams).
• Between 20 and 35 years old.
• In good physical condition.
• Knowledgeable on vegetables; preferably someone who is farming vegetables himself or has grown up on such a farm.
• Literate in English (to be able to read and understand pesticide labels).
• Willing and available to sell his services to fellow farmers, i.e. entrepreneurial skills.

A few years ago, Ghana introduced a domestic certification scheme for fruits and vegetables called Green Label. The scheme was introduced by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) in collaboration with GIZ. At the moment there is a total of 1,000 farmers in Wenchi (Brong Ahafo), Keta (Volta) and Great Accra region who are certified by Green Label. CropLife would like to select farmers from these groups to guarantee compliance with all requirements. Green Label will also serve as a market avenue for SSP service provision.

To ensure that farmers receive the best training possible, a training-of-trainers will be organized to ensure that SSP trainers are up to date with their knowledge. SSP trainers are normally staff from CropLife Ghana and its member companies. In previous SSP projects, extension officers and field officers from projects or crop buying companies were included but most of them did not pass the technical tests.

Therefore, SSP trainers will only be selected from industry to ensure a sufficient level of knowledge on pesticides. Because of previous SSP activities in Ghana, a pool of SSP trainers exists already. Therefore, the training program will focus on new knowledge especially on Fall Armyworm. At least all 3 field officers of CropLife Ghana, the Project Manager and national Project Coordinator will be trained.

Staff of CropLife Ghana and member companies will train selected candidates as SSPs who will follow a practical 4-day technical training. Each SSP will undertake a written and practical test at the end of the program to assess if he is capable of doing the work required of an SSP. If a participant succeeds in both tests, CropLife Ghana officially approves him as an SSP for a period of two years. Each SSP will receive a badge which states the period of approval, so farmers can easily recognize if someone is still approved or not. To stimulate the SSPs to actively sell their services, each SSP will also receive a one-day business training. In this training, they will learn how to see their spraying activities as a business, how to calculate the price for their services, how to keep records and how to actively approach potential clients. SSPs will also learn about promoting their activities to help farmers to get certified, for example by Green Label.

Wageningen University has recently developed a Pesticide Selection Tool which is an online tool to select pesticides based on the pest or disease to be controlled. The results are an overview of available products according to mode of action group, toxicity, efficacy, active ingredient and brand name. For the moment, the tool is only available online and might not be accessible to most of the SSPs. During the project, CropLife will discuss with HortiFresh if and how it would be possible to introduce the tool to SSPs. Throughout Ghana, Fall Armyworm has destroyed crops with devastating consequences for farmers. CropLife Africa Middle East has developed a 1-day training program with a focus on the identification and control of FAW. The program is very practical and is written specifically for SSPs. In addition to the training manual, a special poster has been developed for easy identification and control measures. In the second year of the project, all SSPs will receive a 2-day IPM course in they will learn about different methods other than pesticide application to prevent and control pests and diseases. During the program, SSPs also learn how IPM skills can help them to further develop their business with farmers and generate funds in addition to application services.

To ensure that every SSP has access to good quality pesticides, they will be directly linked to member companies of CropLife Ghana. In cases where an SSP is able to purchase pesticides on behalf of several farmers, he can negotiate with the companies on price, delivery to the community, etc. Only those products that are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be recommended.

To ensure that all SSPs will be well protected to avoid any direct exposure to pesticides, each SSP will be supplied with a full set of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including overall, gloves, boots, nose mask, goggles and hat. In addition, the SSPs will be motivated to buy their own application equipment via the member companies of CropLife Ghana. Also, every SSP will receive a ledger for record keeping. During the training, the SSPs will learn about the importance of record keeping and how to keep track of application activities.

To promote the services of the SSPs, a graduation ceremony will be organized in which approved SSPs will “officially” receive their badge that shows that they are an approved SSP, and the full set of PPE. The event is an excellent way to introduce the SSPs to the community and to show to farmers that SSPs are not just any applicator offering his services. During the ceremony, officials from HortiFresh and local government can be invited to give a bit more weight to the event.

When SSPs start selling their services, farmers will have the freedom to select their own SSP and change if they are not satisfied with the services they receive. This will encourage competition among SSPs to deliver good service. Farmers will negotiate a price directly with the SSP, although some groups prefer to set a fixed price that is accepted by their members.

In previous SSP projects it became clear that it is not enough to offer SSPs a one-time training program and leave them on their own in the field. For many SSPs it is the first time that they are exposed on how to handle and apply pesticides properly. To ensure that SSPs apply good practices and implement what they learned, their activities need to be closely monitored. In addition, SSPs need coaching in the field to fine-tune their application skills. It is important that every SSP be visited at least once within 3 months after the initial training program and that regular contact be made (via mobile phone or other ways).

All SSPs that are trained will be entered into an SSP-database managed by CropLife Ghana and during field visits, information on application activities will be collected. CropLife has developed special monitoring forms to follow the application activities of SSPs and to interview farmers that have made use of their services. The ledgers will be checked by CropLife staff and will be used to collect data to measure results in the field. The results of the data collection will be gathered in a comprehensive report.

To increase the number of products registered for fruits and vegetables, CropLife would like to organize a 1-day round table discussion with member companies and the regulatory authorities to discuss the negative consequences of a limited choice, the need for a variety of products and challenges in the registration process. CropLife would like to organize the program in the beginning of the project so SSPs and farmers might benefit from new registered products during the project period. A second program would be organized in the beginning of 2020 to discuss progress.

The project will produce the following key deliverables at the end of the implementation period:

1. 2 meetings / workshops each organized to discuss issues of pesticide registration in Ghana, and pesticide selection tool
2. 5 trainers-of-trainees recruited and trained
3. 264 young spray service providers from at least 3 regions (Greater Accra, Volta and Brong Ahafo regions) trained in spray service provision (both theory and practice), as well as integrated pest management methodologies and practice
4. 255 graduates of spray service providers graduated and supported, through periodic monitoring visits, to roll out service provision in Ghana
5. 255 copies each of SSP and IPM handout manuals (total of 510 copies) developed and distributed to trainees

Spray service equipment and accompaniments (ledgers, knapsack sprayers, ID cards, overall dresses, gloves, boots, caps, nose masks, hats and goggles) procured and distributed to 255 young spray service providers