Status report on global Neem usage - Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal

Foreword for the 2 nd Edition
FOREWORD
During the five years since its first publication the “<strong>Status</strong> Report on global Neem Usage” has
gained considerable popularity and demand. This can be seen from the fact that the <strong>report</strong>
prepared by Gerald Moser on behalf of GTZ’s Pesticide Service Project with experienced
input and assistance of my colleagues Dr. Irmgard Hoeschle-Zélédon and Dr. Carsten
Hellpap, is frequently cited in various publications and that similar questionnaires and
research has been carried out later elsewhere.
Although some people expected that with the termination of the former long time runner
“Neem Project” (cf 4) the neem activities will decline, there has been an amazing boom of
interest on this topic in the last 4 years, indicated by the facts that
• GTZ is receiving constantly a high number of inquiries every year on and relatd to neem
• several other TC organisation have recently started to work on neem
• commercial neem pesticides are offered in a wide number of countries, both in industrial
and what is most important, also in developing countries.
etc.
Despite this obvious demand for information and technical assistance from a wide range of
interested organisation covering all social levels, ranging from UN organisations via entrepreneurs
to community groups, the obvious positive impact of this service and the still
existing huge gab between the potentials of the neem tree and its practical usage, the agricultural
division of GTZ decided, due to the change of its policy, to close down this activities,
at least on supra-regional level and to consider neem activities on bi-lateral level only. For
the near future GATE of GTZ will be in charge for assisting any people from developing
country interested in neem as part of its Question & Answer Service.
This <strong>report</strong> summarises the information provided by the respondents of the questionnaire in
1996 but also all the information provided in an often constructive and long time lasting
dialogue by all the of neem workers and activists in a wide range of developing countries and
TC organisations.
Beside the still valid results of the questionnaire carried out in 95/96 and an up-date of the list
of neem projects, we add in the 2 nd edition a chapter on quality management which turned
out to me one of the most decisive factors of successful neem projects. Additionally we discussed
the economy of neem pesticides. Unfortunately only few investigations addressed
this aspect of neem processing and very few data is available on this important aspect.
Future activities should emphasis this aspect of neem application and should consider short
and long time effects of neem in farming systems.
Moreover we extent the list of references by a list of proceedings of conferences and workshops
and publications of GTZ staff which are related to specific aspects of neem usage.
It gave me a great pleasure to be part of this often fruitful information exchange and I would
like to thank you all for your contributions during the last 5 years!
Peter Foerster
May, 2000, GTZ
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