Health, Safety and Environment - International Labour Organization

Manual 4:HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT FACT SHEETSfarmers and agricultural workers must somehow be convinced thatIPPM can solve their pest problems. This is easier said than done, andrequires that farmers and agricultural workers improve their knowledgeand understanding of field ecology through training. The hardest thingto do when your crops are attacked by pests is to do nothingIPPM also benefits from research and high technology. For example,scientific services to research on local pest problems and how to adaptIPPM systems to local crops and conditionsAgriculturalworkers asIPPM‘experts’IUF ActionAgricultural workers are, or could be, IPPM experts. Through work with theGlobal IPM Facility 1in particular, agricultural trade unions have beenaccepted as stakeholders in IPPM by the Facility, both as users andpromoters of this methodology. IPPM is relevant for workers as well asfarmers.Given appropriate information, training and technical support, workers canbecome IPPM practitioners, or further develop their skills and knowledgewhere they already use IPPM techniques. Workers and their trade unionscan be advocates of IPPM in their workplaces through collectivebargaining with their employers, in their communities, as well asnationally, regionally and internationally.IUF is working with the Global IPM Facility to: research and put together information (for collective bargainingpurposes) on IPPM systems for crops such as sugar cane, which can beused by trade unions train agricultural workers in IPPM techniques using Facility accreditedtrainersPilot Global IPM Facility-IUF training courses for union trainers on IPPMhave been held in 2001 and 2003 with affiliated agricultural unions inTanzania and Uganda. The union trainers are the ones running IUF’sGlobal Pesticides Project in these countries. The Facility is adapting anIPPM training methodology which trains farmers through Farmer FieldSchools (FFS). In these local schools farmers, and now workers, study cropgrowth, learn to identify harmful pests and beneficial insects, estimateeconomic crop loss, and draw up their own agro-ecology plan to managethe crop in an integrated manner, ideally without pesticides.1 The Global Integrated Pest Management Facility is a joint programme of: the United Nations Food and AgricultureOrganisation (FAO); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP);and the World Bank.176 Health, Safety and EnvironmentA Series of Trade Union EducationManuals for Agricultural Workers