Plant Health
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Preparing smallholder export vegetable producers of French beans and okra for compliance with EU regulations on MRLs and hygiene standards

Highlights of 2002-2003 activities

Meeting of stakeholders

The first meeting of principle stakeholders was held at ICIPE Headquarters on 30th May 2002. Thirteen institutions were invited to the meeting. They included CARE Kenya; exporting companies (East African Growers Ltd., Kenya Horticultural Exporters Ltd., Sunripe Ltd.); Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK); GTZ/Ministry of Agriculture Promotion of Agricultural Extension Services project; Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA); Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI); Kerio-Green International; Ministry of Agriculture (Horticulture Division); Tegemeo Institute; USAID Kenya Office; Winrock International; and ICIPE, as implementing agency. Only four of those invited attended the meeting; the remaining nine who could not participate pledged to accept the deliberations of the meeting. The agenda included:

  • Statement of the goal and objectives of the Project;
  • Roles of partner institutions and ICIPE in Project implementation;
  • Timeframe for Project activities.

The deliberations were circulated to the 13 institutions, including the donor agency.

Ex-ante assessment of French bean farmers involved in farmer group training

The exercise began in February and ended in May 2003. Highlights of the study were:

  • Farmers believe that production of French beans is not possible without routine weekly application of pesticides (this translates to 10 sprays for a crop cycle).
  • The two biggest components in production costs are labour (21%) and pesticides (14%).
  • Average costs for pesticides, including application, constituted about 8% of crop value.
  • Average crop yield per unit holding of 0.3 acres is 0.52 tonnes (0.3 acre is the average land size for French bean production by smallholder growers.
  • Average gross margin per season per unit holding of 0.3 acre is Kshs 9228 (US$ 118).
  • A fairly high proportion (about 21%) of farmers reported having visited clinics for treatment for maladies related to pesticide usage.
  • Hygiene requirements in the production chain were not being met by smallholder farmers.

Gender ratios (F:M) were fairly favourable. The ratio in the training of trainers for French beans and okra was 1:2 while for French beans farmer group training it was almost 1:1 (176:171).

Survey to collect baseline information on smallholder okra production

The survey was conducted between June 2002 and January 2003. Areas covered in the survey were Kajiado, Kibwezi, Kilifi, Makindu, Matuu, Mbeere, Mitunguu, Mtito wa Ndei, Mwea, Nguruman, Taita-Taveta and Yatta. Institutions assisting in the survey were CARE Kenya, East African Growers Ltd., HCDA, KARI, MoA and Winrock International.

The survey methodology involved assessing 10 random farm units per designated area, and 10 random okra beds per farm unit for pests and diseases; and use of a questionnaire (farmer interviews). Highlights of the survey include the following:

  • The area under okra ranges from 0.25 to 0.8 acres. About 27% of farm income is derived from okra. Experience in okra growing varied from 2.6 to 25 years (in Rift Valley and Coast, respectively).
  • Women manage about 12% of okra farm units.
  • All farmers except those at the coast grow okra for export; the most popular variety grown for export is 'Pusa Sawani'.
  • All farmers seed okra directly.
  • Four out of five (81%) of farmers use certified seed. Of these, 82.9% buy certified seed from 'Agro-Vet' outlets.
  • 93.3% of farmers use irrigation in okra production, while 97.5% of farmers use pesticides for management of pests and diseases. Most farmers buy pesticides from 'Agro-Vet' shops.
  • About two-thirds (70.8%) of farmers apply pesticides as mixtures.
  • All farmers who use pesticides apply routine sprays as prescribed by exporters (risk aversion to ensure blemish-free produce in compliance with export standards). The pre-harvest intervals for various pesticides are prescribed by exporters, in many cases extended to avert risks of non-compliance with maximum pesticide residue limitations.
  • Three-fourths (75.1%) of farmers use proprietary fertilisers, while 44.7% use farmyard manure.
  • All farmers practise crop rotation. Popular rotation crops include maize, tomatoes, brinjals, chillies and French beans (restricted to French-bean producing areas such as Matuu, Mitunguu and Mwea).
  • Major production problems reported by farmers are pests and diseases, poor marketing and particularly erratic price fluctuation, high input costs, low seed purity, doubtful pesticide purity, water shortage and land shortage.
  • Losses due to pests and diseases account for two-thirds of the crop (67.5%) according to farmers. The major pests reported are aphids, pod borers, spider mites, flea beetles and bugs. Major diseases reported are powdery mildew and nematodes. A field survey by ICIPE staff showed aphids, flea beetles, pod borers, bugs, powdery mildew and nematodes as the main pests and diseases, which is in accordance with farmers' perception.
  • The majority (73.5%) of farmers sort and grade produce in the field.
  • Slightly over a third (38%) of farmers keep records.
  • About a third (36.4%) of farmers have 'contracts' (not legally binding) with exporters.

Development of an okra manual

Based on the results of the surveys, two MSc students were recruited to conduct IPM field-related research on management of aphids and nematodes. Information includes digital photo images derived from the survey. Additional information from major okra producing countries is being assessed from the internet and from the Project's field research in Kenya and is being used to develop an IPM manual for okra production. The manual will be published and distributed to target beneficiaries and other interested parties in early 2004.

Capacity building

Training of trainers (ToTs) in IPM and hygiene standards for production of French beans and okra

  • A retraining (refresher course) of trainers in hygiene standards was conducted in June 2002 at ICIPE. Three IPM trainers who were earlier trained by GTZ-ICIPE IPM Project for Horticultural Crops participated in the course on hygiene standards in the production chain as stipulated by European Union (EU) regulations. One participant was from HCDA and two from Kenya's Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).
  • A second training of trainers (ToTs) in IPM and hygiene food safety standards for French beans production was done through two one-week courses in August 2002. The training had two components: communication skills/group dynamics/group management and season-long hands-on field training on IPM. Twelve persons from partner institutions participated.
  • Major themes covered in the IPM training were agro-ecological system analysis; scouting; identification of pests and diseases; identification of beneficial insects (parasitoids/predators/pollinators); pesticide selection, application and handling; pre-harvest intervals and maximum pesticide residue levels (MRLs); hygiene standards (food safety); and record keeping (traceability). The training also incorporated group dynamics and communications skills.
  • In the case of okra production, courses for training of trainers in IPM and hygiene standards were structured in a similar fashion to that for French beans IPM training above. The duration of the training was drastically reduced from 11 weeks (i.e. season-long/crop cycle) to eight days (a crash course) in October and November 2003. All crop stages - from seedlings to post-harvest stage - were covered by selecting farm(s) having their okra crops staggered for continuous production, a normal practice of smallholder producers to ensure a consistent supply to exporters throughout the year. Ten institutions participated: East African Growers Ltd; Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya; HCDA; Kenya Horticultural Exporters Ltd.; Makindu Growers Ltd.; MoA; Reach the Children (NGO); Sunripe Ltd; VegPro Ltd. and Woni Veg-Fru Exporters Ltd.

Training of farmer' groups in IPM and hygiene standards for French beans and okra production

  • Training of farmers' groups in IPM and hygiene standards for French beans production was held between March and July 2003 for 15 farmers' groups. Ten trainers out of the 15 graduates from ToT courses (see above) were involved in the group training of almost 350 farmers. The groups were drawn from Kathiani, Kerio Valley, Kirinyaga, Kiserian, Kitale, Maragua, Meru, Mitunguu, Mwea, Nyeri and Subukia in Kenya. Attendance was somewhat curtailed as the training coincided with off-season months for French beans export and farmers opted to focus on other vegetable crops such as cabbages, kale and tomatoes that were in high demand in the local market.

Postgraduate training

Two postgraduate students from Kenya worked with the Project, focusing on:

  • Management of root-knot nematodes in okra using nematode suppressive plants and organic soil amendments;
  • Bio-rationale management of aphids in okra.

Future outlook

The project aims eventually to improve the management of agricultural resources and overall environmental conservation and compliance. As such, the project preaches the 'gospel' of regular scouting; minimum pesticide use (only on a need basis as a last resort, based on scouting information); rigorous adherence to pre-harvest interval if pesticide use is a necessity (a prerequisite to compliance with minimum residue limits (MRLs); good hygiene standards in the crop production chain (a prerequisite to food safety); optimising use of farm inputs such as farmyard manure and compost (reduction of external inputs); and proper record keeping (a prerequisite to traceability compliance criteria for export produce). Impact assessment will later focus on these issues and the adoption rate of these practices/technologies by farmers.

Participating scientists: A. A. Seif, A. M. Verela, B. Nyambo, B. Löhr, R. Nyaga

Collaborators

  • Winrock International
  • CARE Kenya
  • Kerio-Green Tradewinds, Kenya
  • Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Kenya
  • Horticultural Crops Development Authority, Kenya
  • Kenya Institute of Organic Farming
  • East African Growers
  • Kenya Horticultural Exporters
  • Sunripe, Kenya

Donors

  • USAID Regional Economic Development Services Office for East and Southern Africa
  • USAID Kenya Mission