Publication Type

Conference Proceeding

Journal Name

Acta Horticulturae

Publication Date

10-31-2011

Abstract

The East African region is currently struggling to cope with several alien invasive insect pest species (AIS): the diamondback moth (DBM), fruit flies, Liriomyza leafminers, thrips and spider mites to name just a few. These insect pests have wide host range, are difficult to control with synthetic pesticides, and most are of quarantine status. AIS are becoming frequent pests in horticulture production systems, threat to food security, market access and rural livelihoods. The impact of these pests is aggravated by variability in climatic conditions, few taxonomic expertise for accurate and timely identification of new species, inadequate knowledge on viable alternative methods of management, lack of policy on longterm strategies to deal with AIS in Africa, poor information flow, poor infrastructure on early warning systems to allow for continuous monitoring, early detection and deployment of interventions, lack of harmonised concerted efforts to deal with new outbreaks and restrictions imposed by the current Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that are likely to hamper collaborative efforts crucial for management of AIS. Although AIS are increasingly becoming difficult to manage, a classical example of a successful management of AIS in Africa, is the icipe-led DBM biocontrol in Brassica crops in Eastern Africa highlands. This was achieved through the development and dissemination of biocontrol-based integrated pest management that emphasized the cropping-systems approach. The initiative benefited from contributions of a multidisciplinary team of experts from national, regional and international institutions, supportive policy (national, regional and international) on importation and distribution of exotic natural enemies, adequate funding and continuity of experts. Lessons learned from the DBM biocontrol project were finetuned and used in the development of other on-going icipe-led BMZ-funded projects on fruit flies, thrips, Liriomyza leafminers and spider mites, all of which emphasize biocontrol-based IPM. These initiatives lack adequate funding and may be difficult to scale-up to other areas without additional resources.

Keywords

Africa, Alien invasive species, Cropping systems, Horticulture, Integrated pest management, Market access

ISBN

[9789066055247]

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