The fall armyworm (FAW), a devastating insect- pest from the Americas, continues its march across sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout 2017, MAIZE has worked closely with international, regional and national partners on a variety of fronts to tackle the challenge. As the FAW was reported on the Asian continent for the first time in August 2018 after its discovery in Karnataka, India, international cooperation and partnerships will prove crucial to manage the pest and protect vulnerable smallholder farmers.
A Stakeholders Consultation Meeting was held in Nairobi, in April 2017 on the strategy for effective management of FAW in Africa, attended by 160 experts from 29 countries. The meeting, co-organized by CIMMYT, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in partnership with the government of Kenya, developed a framework document on the strategy to fight the fall armyworm. In late 2017 MAIZE, in partnership with USAID and other collaborators, produced a comprehensive manual on fall armyworm pest management in Africa. It was released in January 2018. The manual, “Fall Armyworm in Africa: A Guide for Integrated Pest Management,” provides tips on FAW identification as well as technologies and practices for effective and sustainable management.
Two Regional Training and Awareness Creation Workshops, involving nearly 200 stakeholders, were organized by CIMMYT and USAID, in eastern Africa and southern Africa. MAIZE IITA researchers conducted surveys and collections of local strains of FAW. CIMMYT has initiated intensive screening of maize germplasm for native genetic resistance to FAW under artificial infestation in Kiboko, Kenya.
Without proper management, over the next one to two years (2018-19), FAW may cause up to six billion dollars’ worth of damage across affected maize growing regions in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Though solutions for the short- and mid-term exist, strong multi-disciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration is required to develop and deploy integrated pest management (IPM) packages tailored to African agro-ecologies. For example, "breeding for fall armyworm resistant elite maize hybrids adapted to sub-Saharan Africa would require intensive germplasm screening and collaborative work with both the public and private sectors," said B.M. Prasanna, at an international stakeholders’ meeting in Nairobi. Scientists estimate that Africa will need an investment of at least $150 to $200 million annually over at least the next five years to mitigate potential damage due to FAW, through the use of effective IPM-based options. Farmer awareness-raising and early detection are critical pieces in the solutions-mix. MAIZE and its partners are implementing regional train-the-trainer workshops, so that pest control and extension actors can effectively scout, determine the need for intervention, and appropriately apply specific practices to control the pest in maize and other crops.