SUMMARY

# USAID Asia and Near East 

# Regional IPM and Pesticides Course

# Amman, September 25--29, 2005

Prepared by The Cadmus Group, Inc.

This document summarizes the results of a course held from September
26--30, 2005, at the Dead Sea in Jordan. Training topics included USAID
Regulation 22 CFR 216.3(b) (also known as Reg 216) requires that all
USAID activities that have pesticide use associated with them receive,
at minimum, an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) to analyze and
mitigate potentially dangerous impacts of the pesticides to human health
and the environment. Training in safe pesticide use and integrated pest
management is one of the most important mitigative measures available
and recommended in all pesticide IEEs.

### Course Objectives

USAID activities throughout the Asia Near East region focus on improving
agricultural production, urban and greenhouse horticulture, and managing
insect-borne human diseases. All of these types of activities require
the input of pesticides to control pests. Training is highly recommended
for all USAID project implementers who oversee policy and activities on
pest control and pesticides so that they are used judiciously and
safely. This course covered integrated pest management, integrated
management of vectors of human and animal diseases, pesticide hazards,
safety measures, toxicology, environmental fate for pesticides, the
regulation and disposal of pesticides and Pesticide Evaluation Reports
and Safer Use Action Plans (PERSUAPs).

### Participants and Trainers

Participants included 28 USAID staff and representatives from partner
organizations. Names and affiliations are listed in Table 1 below, which
also shows details for faculty who contributed to the course. Jim
Hester, Agency Environmental Coordinator, and John Wilson, Bureau
Environmental Officer, were present at the course. The principal trainer
was Dr Alan Schroeder. The participants were fortunate to have Dr.
Buhssini from ICARDA teach at this training and provide cutting edge
research results from IPM projects for the most important crops and
pests in the region.

***Table 1: Participants and Facilitators***

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  **No.**            **Name**           **Organization**   **Occupation**          **Country**
  ------------------ ------------------ ------------------ ----------------------- -------------
                                                                                   

  **Participants**                                                                 

  1                  Azzad Aziz         Development        Field Manager           Iraq
                                        Program for Iraq                           

  2                  Alexandria Niewijk USAID /            Population, Health and  Afghanistan
                                        Afghanistan        Nutrition Officer       

  3                  Shaif Al-Hamdany   USAID / Yemen      Senior Program          Yemen
                                                           Management Advisor      

  4                  Wadea Abdulsattar  USAID / Yemen      Economic Growth & Ag    Yemen
                                                           Specialist              

  5                  Paul Mason         USAID / Cambodia   Economic Growth &       Cambodia
                                                           Development Officer     

  6                  Eng. Zakaria       MOA                Agr Eng.                Jordan
                     Musallam                                                      

  7                  Eng. Abdulla       MOA                Agr Eng.                Jordan
                     Musallam                                                      

  8                  Eng. Maha Hadidi   MOA                Agr Eng.                Jordan

  9                  Eng. Na\'el        MOA                Agr Eng.                Jordan
                     Kawaleet                                                      

  10                 Eng. Shareef       NCARTT             Technology Transfer     Jordan
                     Al-Rawashdeh                          Specialist              

  11                 Eng. Hikmat        NCARTT                                     Jordan
                     Al-Tarawneh                                                   

  12                 Eng. Amjad         NCARTT                                     Jordan
                     Al-Rawashdeh                                                  

  13                 Eng. Mohammad      NCARTT                                     Jordan
                     Al-Kasasbeh                                                   

  14                 Eng. Majeda        NCARTT                                     Jordan
                     Thneibat                                                      

  15                 German Sabillon    Kafa\'a                                    Jordan

  16                 Mohammad Sha\'ban  Kafa\'a            Agr Eng.                Jordan

  17                 Nabeel Maroun      Kafa\'a            Agr Eng.                Jordan

  18                 Isam Nasr          Kafa\'a            Agr Eng.                Jordan

  19                 Shadi El Azzam     Kafa\'a            Agr Eng.                Jordan

  20                 Turki Saqer        Kafa\'a            Agr Eng.                Jordan

  21                 Ahmad Al-Ulayyan   Kafa\'a            Agr Eng.                Jordan

  22                 Ismail Twaissi     RIAL                                       Jordan

  23                 Hani Habbab        RIAL                                       Jordan

  24                 Ahmad Al-Khalidi   RIAL                                       Jordan

  25                 Nabal Qatan        RIAL                                       Jordan

  26                 Samer Bkearat      RIAL                                       Jordan

  27                 Ziad Ghzawi        RIAL                                       Jordan

  28                 Safwan Lubani      RIAL                                       Jordan

  **Trainers /                                                                     
  Facilitators**                                                                   

  1                  Alan Schroeder     The Cadmus Group   Pest and Pesticide      USA
                                                           Management              

  2                  John Wilson        USAID / Washington ANE Bureau              USA
                                                           Environmental Officer   

  3                  James Hester       USAID / Washington Agency Environmental    USA
                                                           Coordinator             

  4                  Barney Popkin      USAID / Washington Water Resourses and     USA
                                                           Environmental           
                                                           Management Consultant   

  5                  Kholoud Aranki     Ministry of        Pesticide Registration  Jordan
                                        Agriculture                                

  6                  Dr. Ayman Salti    Ministry of        Medical Entomology,     Jordan
                                        Agriculture        Parasitology            

  7                  Eng. Mahmoud Abu   Ministry of        Pesticides and Bees     Jordan
                     Shweimeh           Agriculture                                

  8                  Eng. Mazen Odeh    Farmer / IPM farm  Leading IPM Grower      Jordan

  9                  Dr. Marwan Abdul   NCARTT             Toxicology &            Jordan
                     Wali                                  Environmental fate      

  10                 Dr. Madi Jaghbir   Free Lancer        Medical Doctor,         Jordan
                                                           Lecturer, Researcher    

  11                 Dr. Mustapha       ICARDA / Syria     Entomology, Germplasm   Syria
                     Buhssini                              Program                 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

### Course Methodology

The course combined group exercises, field visits, and presentations by
visiting lecturers. All group exercises got people active and thinking.
Field exercise visits were interesting and informative. The pre-travel
lecture on EurepGAP principles and procedures was very useful for
understanding one of the sites.

About 95 percent of course expectations as expressed on the first day of
training were fulfilled. Some participants sought more detail than the
lectures might provide; this was provided in the form of handouts in the
course binder. The course binder provided a good list of concise
handouts on each of the topics discussed during training, and should be
used for future training courses. The book on safe pest and pesticide
management, in Arabic, was very much appreciated, as were the USDA
ARS-donated handbooks in Arabic and English on pests of greenhouse
crops.

A group exercise on safety poster production was suggested by Jim
Hester, and followed, with good success. EPA Safety posters were
produced in English and Arabic. Trainees commented that they have
government-produced posters, but that none is as complete as the posters
that were provided for trainees during this course.

### Course Evaluation

The training was considered a success by all who attended. Specific
comments for improvement are included in the "Training Evaluations" that
are being compiled by Cadmus, to be attached. Trainees and
USAID/Washington appreciated the production of training posters produced
and distributed based upon EPA posters for safety.

##### Pre- and Post-Course Self Knowledge Evaluations

Participants were asked to evaluate their own knowledge in twenty-one
areas related to pest management and pesticides. This method of
determining progress was deemed superior to actual pre- and post-course
exams of knowledge. Knowledge was self-evaluated on a scale ranging from
1 (none) to 5 (very good). Results of the pre- and post-course
self-evaluations are summarized in Table 2 below. These evaluations show
that the training improved trainees' understanding in each of the topic
areas.

***Table 2: Pre- and Post-Course Self Evaluations***

+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| **Self-rating of participants'    | **Class        | **Class        |
| understanding of . . .**          | Average**      | Average**      |
|                                   |                |                |
|                                   | **Before the   | **After the    |
|                                   | Course**       | Course**       |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| USAID environmental requirements  | 2.4            | 3.9            |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| International pops and PIC        | 1.7            | 3.6            |
| treaties\*                        |                |                |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Biological control of pests       | 3.1            | 3.9            |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Pest control by use of resistant  | 3.0            | 3.8            |
| plants                            |                |                |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Pest control by agronomic         | 3.0            | 3.8            |
| methods\*\*                       |                |                |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Pest control by pesticides        | 3.5            | 4.1            |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Pest control by regulatory means  | 2.5            | 3.7            |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Integrated pest management method | 3.4            | 4.3            |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Economic impact of pesticides use | 3.0            | 4.0            |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Safer pesticide transport         | 2.9            | 4.1            |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Safer pesticide storage           | 3.6            | 4.3            |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Safer pesticide handling          | 3.5            | 4.2            |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Safer pesticide use               | 3.3            | 4.2            |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Safer pesticide clean up and      | 3.3            | 4.0            |
| disposal                          |                |                |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Integrated pest management        | 2.6            | 3.8            |
| research                          |                |                |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Pesticide hazards & toxicity to   | 3.0            | 4.2            |
| people                            |                |                |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Pesticide poisoning medical care  | 2.4            | 4.1            |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Eurepgap                          | 2.8            | 4.0            |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Where pesticides go in the        | 2.9            | 3.9            |
| environment                       |                |                |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Vectors of animal diseases        | 2.2            | 3.7            |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Integrated vector management      | 1.9            | 3.7            |
+-----------------------------------+----------------+----------------+

\*POPs = Persistent Organic Pollutants; PIC = Prior Informed Consent

\*\*Agronomic methods = intercropping, trap cropping, crop rotation,
cover crops, etc.

Out of a total evaluation ranking (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 for the
highest score), the course received an overall ranking of 3.8 for both
"How would you assess the overall quality of the course content?" and
"Please rate and comment on the extent to which this course improved
your understanding of environmental assessment." For "Course scheduling
and organization" the overall response was 4.5; for "Course logistics
and venue" the response was 4.3, and for "Content of participants'
sourcebook" the response was 4.3.

##### General Comments 

Twenty-five participants provided written comments along with their
quantitative responses. Several expressed general appreciation:

> "The course was very professional."
>
> "It was full of new and important information."
>
> "Nice job\--especially nice mix of practical and theoretical, of field
> and lecture and engaged group activities."
>
> "Thank you for a useful course."
>
> Two respondents praised the timing of the workshop, one noting that it
> fell at the beginning of the growing season.
>
> Ten respondents specifically praised the organization/logistical
> aspects of the course.

##### Areas for Improvement

Many the respondents provided comments that suggest general or specific
areas for improvement. For example:

> Seven respondents suggested including more field and practical
> training outside the classroom. One suggested that it would be
> valuable to take participants to sites both inside and outside the
> country to gain a wider perspective. One thought the course was too
> short.
>
> One respondent complained of "technical subjects," while three thought
> the material was not advanced enough ("no new information"; "most of
> us know it") or that it should include more pure science. Another
> respondent complained that "the course was given for professionals in
> IPM and some of us are not professionals in IPM."
>
> One respondent suggested doing a better job of selecting participants;
> another suggested screening participants for English skills, and
> complained that some presenters were just reading from slides. A third
> respondent appreciated the cultural sensitivity shown by the inclusion
> of local experts, but thought their presentations were "generally
> poor."
>
> One respondent suggested including a lecture about an ideal farm in a
> European country that applied EurepGAP; another suggested including
> more material that addresses "RDS/216 requirements" and "IEE
> conditionalities." A third respondent suggested adding more material
> on Environmental Impact Assessments, and on "topics regarding
> environment & IPM policies and setup of programs"; the same respondent
> suggested repeating the course in another country.
>
> Commenting on course scheduling and organization, one respondent
> thought that there was "much skipping around which could be
> confusing." Another thought the material on medical aspects of
> poisoning and first aid should come first.
>
> One respondent suggested that it would be valuable to arrange for
> group transportation and organize a cultural excursion after training
> hours.

##### Improvements Reported by Participants 

Eleven participants commented that the course improved their
understanding of environmental assessment. For example:

> "As a nonspecialist in plant protection it improved my general
> knowledge about IPM and regulations."
>
> "It increased my awareness about IPM in terms of health."
>
> "Very good to understand that IPM is a policy of USAID. Gained new
> knowledge and understanding of POP, PIC, and EUREPGAP."

### ANE/TS Support Services Task Order

This course was supported through core funds and technical assistance
under the USAID Asia and Near East Bureau Office of Technical Support
(ANE/TS) Support Services Task Order. For more information on services
available through this Task Order, please contact Barney Popkin
(202-712-1063) or John Wilson (202-712-4633).