Senegalese farmers make strides in chemical-free cotton production

Cotton is "white gold" because in good years it allows even poor farmers on marginal soils to grow a cash crop and sustain themselves. But cotton is also one of the most chemical-intensive crops grown.

Not only does this strain farmers because of the expense of the chemicals, but particularly where literacy levels are low, poor handling of the highly toxic chemicals involved in cotton-growing has caused health problems and fatalities. Environmental concerns and the increasing resistance of the major cotton pests to chemicals have added to the pressure to find ways of growing cotton without chemicals.

A few cotton farmers in Senegal are among groups of growers all over the world who are turning to chemical-free alternatives to the conventional ways of growing cotton. David Hecht and Georges Badiane went to see the work of Enda-Pronat, a non-governmental organization working with more than 500 cotton farmers in the village of Koussanar, in the Tambacounda region of southeast Senegal. New Internationalist magazine carried a long report on the efforts to move away from the heavily chemical-dependent conventioal methods of growing cotton.

In 2006 the farmers stopped using any chemicals on their cotton crop. The long-used chemicals had increasingly failed to control white flies (bemissia tabacci) which in 1997 were responsible for a 36-per-cent fall in Senegal’s cotton production. The milky-white fly sucks sap from the cotton leaves, making them curl and dry up.

They have instead resorted to cow urine to repel the white flies. The urine is left to ferment for a few days then diluted with water and sprayed on the cotton plants. "It’s one of the best insecticides there is," says cotton farmer Dass Sangare. "It’s also a herbicide and fertilizer, and its free," although he concedes that collecting the urine is not exactly a pleasant job.

"More farmers want to convert. We just don’t have the support system," says Mohamedoun Ag Mohamed Abba, an Enda-Pronat agronomist. The farmers don’t just stop using chemicals-they have to have a whole new approach. "Soils and plants need help," he says. "Conventional, chemical methods try to transform fields into controlled environments, eliminating everything that does not maximize the growth of the plant. Organic methods instead use elements in the environment to promote the natural health of the selected plant, so that it effectively resists insects, weeds and diseases."

To see a dramatic demonstration of the results of organic methods, farmers take a short walk down to two of Abba’s experimental cotton fields. They are next to each other, only one of which is sprayed with cow urine. The plants on it are bright and bushy-green; on the control field the plants are so grey and straggly it is hard to believe they are the same species. Abba admits research is not conclusive on why the urine repels white flies. "It seems a hormone in the urine is the active ingredient. We’re also finding that the urine of female goats, sheep and even that of women have similar properties."

The secret of the project's success is more than just urine. Potions are made from an unlikely array of raw materials – burnt animal bones, wood ash, chilli powder, garlic and the leaves, roots and fruits of dozens of local plants, one of the most remarkable of which is neem ( Azadirachta indica.) It is abundant in much of sub-Saharan Africa and is used extensively by African herbalists to cure everything from malaria to dandruff. The farmers in Koussanar use neem to make insect repellent from the leaves and nuts, and fertilizer from the nut shells.

Such techniques were largely replaced in Africa after 1945, when Western chemicals became readily available even to poor peasant farmers. For decades Senegal’s Government marketing board, SODEFITEX, has given chemicals to cash-crop farmers on condition that they sell their produce back to the board. The cost of the chemicals is then deducted from their profits from the harvest, at times leaving them with nothing.

Alternatives to growing cotton with chemicals were all but forgotten in Africa until 1993, says Abba. Now organic-cotton production has also begun in Benin, Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda and Zimbabwe, with plans for Ghana and Mali as well. Organic cotton still only amounts to 0.08 per cent of all the cotton in the world, but that figure is on the rise, says N’Gone Toure, a coordinator at Enda-Pronat: "More importantly, a few years ago the experts said it was impossible to avoid artificial inputs. Now many are changing their mind."

Few Senegalese cotton farmers are even aware of alternatives to chemicals. The chemical industry and Government officials rarely encourage them to find out. They argue that organic methods are not scientifically proven. Ousmane Boye, an official in the pesticides department of Senegal's agriculture ministry, though acknowledging the dangers of chemical pesticides, is not convinced that organic methods offer a complete alternative at present. "If Senegal is to compete on the global market, we cannot use methods that have not been properly researched," he says.

Abba admits he has a point. "We know organic solutions work but there just hasn’t been enough research to determine exactly what farmers should be using and when they should be using it." For every dollar spent on researching new biological alternatives, $4,000 are spent on new chemical products, according to the US-based organic-cotton organization, Simple Life.

The biggest problem is dosage. Potency of the raw organic materials varies, depending on conditions. For example, the potency of neem changes with climate and soil conditions. The chemical composition of cow urine varies according to the age and diet of the cow. "If the mixture is too strong, the acid will kill the plant," says Abba. "If it’s too weak, it just doesn’t work."

Some organic solutions pose health risks. Chilli powder is an excellent insect repellent but it causes serious skin and eye inflammations. Spraying urine, particularly human urine, can be unhygienic. Other substances can be deadly. Abba admits his own experiments have sometimes gone wrong. "Last year I was trying out different rates of dissolving neem into water and I let the solution ferment. When the farmers sprayed it on their plants, instead of repelling the insects it attracted them. The crop was almost wiped out. I felt terrible." But from the failures we learn, says Abba. "Sometimes it’s just best to leave the insects alone. If the plants are naturally healthy they can withstand a lot. You just need to monitor and catch potential problems early." ‘’

The main expenses are the shared spraying equipment and the cotton seeds, which cost less than $2 a hectare. Chemical pesticides, on the other hand, average about $20 a hectare and have to be applied at least six times a season – in extreme cases as often as thirty times. "Before, much of the profits went to the Government,’ says Demba Sy, who turned to organic-cotton farming two years ago. "Sometimes we had bumper harvests and still made less than $100 for a year’s work. I don’t yet know how much money I will make this year but it will all be mine."

"How sad it is that people only change when their life depends on it," says farmer Sangare. He admits farming is now more difficult. "To solve our problems we can no longer just go to the store and buy a bottle of pesticide, but our land is healthier – and so are we."