KNOWLEDGE FOR LIFE

development projects

Tomatoes are an important crop for smallholder farmers in northern Tanzania.

so what’s the problem?Although a number of trained farmers are using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques, a secure market for these sustainably grown tomatoes is still lacking. Despite the benefits of reduced pesticide use and healthier produce, farmers have been frustrated with the lack of recognition for their products. Many are therefore abandoning IPM approaches and reverting to conventional production.

what is this project doing?This project aims to support these farmers by establishing a functional marketing system for their superior IPM produce.

Entering a new tomato product into pre-existing markets is difficult. Our IPM and marketing experts are therefore working with farmers, village extension officers, local IPM experts from the national horticultural training centre in Tanzania, HORTI Tenguru, and a marketing expert from the agricultural marketing development system programme of the Ministry of Agriculture of Tanzania. Together we would like to identify and create a secure niche market for the environmentally-friendly IPM tomatoes.

To help achieve this, we are supporting the formation of IPM vegetable producer clubs in northern Tanzania to encourage group marketing of IPM tomatoes, improve market access and promote sustainable tomato production as a business.

getting Tanzania’s IPM tomatoes to market

locationTanzania

dateApril 2008 – on-going

CABI project teamMartin Kimani Richard Musebe Stefan Toepfer Ulrich Kuhlmann

Through this initiative, we are helping to make IPM tomato production more sustainable, thus guaranteeing a more reliable income for northern Tanzania’s smallholder farmers and their families.

results so farSo far, seven IPM vegetable producer clubs, each with 8-30 members, have been established. Registered by the government, they can trade both nationally and internationally as well as exhibit in government organised agricultural trading fairs, thus providing more opportunities to promote their IPM approaches and produce.

In order to ensure that club members produce consistently high standard tomatoes, CABI and a number of farmers and extension officers developed a technical guideline to guide the production of outdoor IPM tomatoes. Based on international standards, it defines the minimum requirements that must be followed in order to grow IPM tomatoes. Supporting documents provide step-by-step ways to prevent, monitor and control the major pests and diseases of tomato. The key is for farmers to put more emphasis on preventive measures, such as, crop rotation – and – only appling pesticides when monitoring reveals that pests have surpassed a threshold.

This project has already seen a reduction in the over-reliance on pesticides has been reduced by the members of the IPM vegetable producer clubs – the use of hazardous pesticides by 85% and the most toxic products have been completely phased out. Furthermore, 92% of the recommendations for IPM implementation in the technical guideline are being fulfilled by the farmers.

Through introducing a method to search for market information and identify different markets, the project team has been strengthening the links between the producer clubs and local and regional buyers. Due to improved relationships between farmers and buyers, contract-like agreements are now being established early in the season, allowing the farmers to coordinate themselves to produce and market tomatoes in shifts throughout the growing season. This has helped to reduce competition, satisfy continuous demand and maintain a secure and sustainable market niche.

Producer club members are already experiencing economic benefits from growing and marketing IPM tomatoes. The price of their tomatoes has increased by over 20% and they are selling more than conventional farmers. Furthermore, pesticide input costs for producing IPM tomatoes are approximately 35% lower than for conventional tomatoes due to reduced use of costly synthetic pesticides.

As the public becomes more aware of the health benefits, more farmers are expected to begin producing IPM tomatoes. Several producer clubs have already been approached by interested farmers to become members.

We anticipate that the successes of this project will stimulate not only the formation of additional IPM producer clubs for tomatoes, but also the expansion of the approach into other major vegetable production systems in northern Tanzania.

contactCABI, ICRAF Complex, United Nations Avenue, Gigiri, PO Box 633-00621, Nairobi, Kenya T: +254 20 72 24450 F: +254 20 71 22150 E: africa@cabi.org www.cabi.org/africa

www.cabi.org/ipmtomatoesID

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Ulrich Kuhlmann, Project Manager

partnersNational Horticultural Research and Training Institute Tanzania (HORTI Tengeru) of the Northern Zone Agricultural Research and Training Institute (NZARTI)

Extension officers from the Ministry of Agriculture of Tanzania (MoA)

Agricultural Marketing System Development Programme (AMSDP) of the MoA

sponsorsSwiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)