Alien invasive fruit flies in Southern Africa: Implementation of a sustainable IPM programme to combat their menaces (CULTIAF-2)
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Lead institution(s)
Summary
Mangoes are an important source of nutritious food and employment in sub-Saharan Africa. However, pest infestation, especially fruit flies (native and invasive), hamper mango productivity in the region.Read more
Mangoes are an important source of nutritious food and employment in sub-Saharan Africa. However, pest infestation, especially fruit flies (native and invasive), hamper mango productivity in the region. Fruit fly infestations reduce the quality and quantity of fruits produced for both local and foreign markets. Using synthetic insecticides for pest management is unsustainable (due to their price and their risks to human health and the environment) and subject to increasing resistance. To address these challenges, the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology and partners have developed and validated a fruit fly integrated pest management (IPM) package that has been tested in several locations in East and West Africa.
This project will adapt and promote the wide-scale adoption of these IPM interventions in four southern African countries: Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. A series of these interventions will be tested to increase their fit to specific locations. In particular, the use of parasitoids will be refined through field releases, post-release evaluation, and assessment of the impact of their release in the field for the suppression of invasive fruit flies.
The project will also assess the socioeconomic impacts of the IPM option, with a specific focus on women and youth, and enhance the capacity of partners to use the technologies. Reaching up to 4,000 mango growers, including resource-poor women and men farmers, the project will improve food and nutrition security, provide income generation opportunities, and reduce poverty.
This project is funded through the second phase of the Cultivate Africa’s Future Fund (CultiAF-2), a joint program of IDRC and the Australian International Food Security Research Centre of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. CultiAF supports research to achieve long-term food security in eastern and southern Africa.
Research outputs
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The main objective of the fruit fly IPM (integrated pest management) project was to improve food security, nutrition, and income generation opportunities, and to reduce poverty of millions of mango growers and various actors along the mango value chain. This was achieved through capacity building and scaling up a sustainable IPM package for managing/controlling fruit flies. At the immediate outcomes level, mango growers and various stakeholders are now aware of fruit fly IPM technologies, National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have a better capacity to fight the fruit fly menace, and policymakers such as government officials (Ministers, Directors) have better evidence to influence policy e.g. testimonials from farmers, publications, videos, and data. At the intermediate outcome level, the project enhanced the quality and quantity of mango fruits thus reducing post-harvest losses.
Researchers have developed and validated an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) package for fruit flies. In this project, the team will apply the IPM interventions in Southern Africa. Fruit fly mango infestations reduce the quality and quantity of produce for both local and foreign markets. High infestation of insect pests, especially fruit flies (native and invasive), hamper mango productivity; high-value horticultural crops such as mango are key drivers of economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
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