Integrated Production and Pest Management Programme in Africa

Reducing pesticide risks to farming communities: cotton farmer field schools in Mali

We provide results from a study of two separate sectors within the cotton-growing region of southern Mali. In one sector, farmers have engaged in a farmer field school (FFS) training programme since 2003 — the other not. One goal of the training was the adoption of alternatives to the use of hazardous insecticides, through integrated pest management (IPM) methods.