Farmers' innovation matches achievement of World Food Prize winner

By Christine White

The World Food Prize was recently awarded to an Ethiopian scientist for his work breeding corn for resistance to Striga – a parasitic weed and the cause of significant crop losses for African farmers. The new striga-resistant seeds should be on shelves in the coming year. But as far back as 15 years ago, Kenyan farmers developed their own solution to Striga – one that also provides fertility, animal fodder, helps conserve precious irrigation water, and provides resistance to another major African pest – the stemborer.

Dubbed “the push-pull system” this process takes advantage of the natural relationship between plants and insects. It is a novel system of integrated pest management (IPM), exploiting the forces of attraction and offering a wide range of benefits to farmers and their land.

The development of push-pull took off in 1994. The Kenya-based International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) and Rothamsted Research in the UK dedicated participatory research programs to finding the most effective “push” and “pull” crops. These crops would control insect populations by acting as “trap” and “repellent” plants – a sustainable alternative to using harmful pesticides.Trials confirmed that Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) had potential as the perfect “pull,” and both molasses grass (Melinis minutiflora) and Desmodium (Desmodium uncinatum) could serve as the perfect “push.”

The first trial plots – which had a carefully selected combination of Napier and Desmodium planted around and among maize – offered extraordinary results. The trial plots had a major increase in yields and a significant decrease in stemborer (insect) and striga (parasitic weed) damage. The results proved that push-pull practices could allow small farmers to increase yields without adding expensive and harmful pesticides - a much healthier and economical approach to pest management.

By 2005, more than 4,000 farmers were practicing push-pull in Western and Central Kenya. Knowledge of the technology has spread through sub-Saharan Africa by means of town meetings, national radio broadcast, and farmer-teacher programs. In all trial areas, ICIPE technicians and Ministry of Agriculture staff are available to advise and keep track of progress.

Most of the thousands of farmers who have adopted the system have experienced impressive gains in their food security and income. Other benefits include improved soil fertility and a reliable source of good fodder (an added benefit of Napier grass). Push-pull has empowered farmers to become self-sufficient through a natural and sustainable practice. Some are now able to sell part of their harvest to the market and have saved money for other farming assets.

The push-pull system, a technology based on nature’s checks and balances, has changed the livelihoods of thousands of farmers. It is proof that there is a future for sustainable practice. And it is unique in its adaptability to different kind of agro-ecologies. The difference between this approach and the exclusively genetic approach of the Green Revolution is that the push-pull system is process-based. The system relies on farmers' knowledge and labor instead of an input (seed, agrochemicals, GM, etc) that can be packaged and sold, and in the end confers more benefits than a “one-gene, one-solution” approach. Push-pull is a real contribution to agriculture and a solution that has potential to transform food systems throughout the world.