Number IV [May 2024 – the date of publication in “Crop Protection“]
IN MEMORIAM OF FORMER GB MEMBER BRAIMA JAMES
The IAPPS family has the profound regret to announce the untimely demise of our former Governing Board member, friend and colleague Dr. Braima James, who passed away on January 26, 2024, after a short illness.
Prior to joining the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Braima was a tenured faculty at the Fourah Bay College (University of Sierra Leone) and a FAO National Plant Protection Expert in that country. In 1993, he was appointed as Coordinator and training officer for the IITA-Project “Ecologically Sustainable Cassava Plant Protection” (ESCaPP) at the IITA-Benin Station in Cotonou. He became coordinator of the West African LOOP of BioNET INTERNATIONAL in 1998, and coordinator of the CGIAR System-wide Program on Integrated Pest Management (SP-IPM) in 2000, where he played a pivotal role strengthening the CGIAR IPM network and initiating the development of a series of ‘IPM Research Briefs’.
His involvement on the international IPM scene reached a new milestone with his appointment as Regional Coordinator for sub-Saharan Africa on the Governing Board of the International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences (IAPPS) in 2001, subsequently Regional Coordinator for West and Central Africa in 2007, a position he held until 2009.
In 2004, he was appointed IITA Officer in Charge (OIC) in Benin, where he continued to actively manage various projects on vegetable IPM. In 2009 he left Benin for Sierra Leone, to establish a new IITA office in the country, where he became the IITA Country Representative.
Throughout his career, Braima has been deeply involved with many IPM stakeholder groups to strengthen national and local capacity in the development, adaptation and deployment of IPM in Africa, and to increase recognition of IPM impact in agriculture, environment, health, food quality, livelihoods and national economies.
At IITA-Benin, we remember Braima as a fervent IPM educationist specialized in participatory identification and analysis of food production constraints and of technical and partnership opportunities to develop and apply eco-friendly options to control pests in field crops and post-harvest storage. We have lost a colleague and a dear friend, and also a visionary for IPM. We will always remember Braima for his calmness, compassion, kindness, humility and excellent sense of humor.
Dr. Manuele Tamò
IAPPS Vice-President and Newsletter Editor
E-mail: [email protected]
NEW DIRECTOR GENERAL TAKES HELM AT ICIPE
The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), known for its work in the 4Hs Themes – Human Health, Animal Health, Plant Health, and Environmental Health, has welcomed Dr. Abdou Tenkouano as its new Director General on January 1, 2024.
Dr. Tenkouano, a native of Burkina Faso, brings a wealth of experience with a PhD in Genetics, an MSc in Plant Breeding from Texas A&M University, USA, and a Diplome d’Ingénieur Agronome from the University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. His extensive research spans genetics, breeding, biotechnology, pathology, agronomy, and postharvest strategies, focusing on supporting the extension and development of various crops.Previously serving as the Executive Director of the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) in Dakar, Senegal, Dr. Tenkouano has a notable background at the World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).
His leadership and contributions have been recognized, including the CGIAR Science Award for Outstanding Partnership in 2009 between WorldVeg and ICRISAT. ICIPE’s commitment to world-class science translating into innovative, environmentally friendly solutions for tackling crop pests and disease vectors remains at the forefront under Dr. Tenkouano’s leadership. The Centre continues to conserve and sustainably exploit beneficial insect biodiversity in its mission to address crucial issues in global health and agriculture. ICIPE is an Associate Member of the International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences.
Dr. Srinivasan Ramasamy
AIRCA Representative on the IAPPS Governing Board
E-mail: [email protected]
8TH EXTRAORDINARY SESSION OF THE SAHELIAN PESTICIDES COMMITTEE
The Permanent Inter-States Committee for the Fight against Drought in Sahel (CILSS in French) was created on September 12, 1973, following the severe droughts that struck the Sahel in the 1970s. The mandate of the CILSS is to ‘invest in the search for food and nutritional security and the fight against the effects of desertification and climate change for ecological balance and sustainable development in the Sahel and West Africa’. The CILSS includes today, thirteen member states: 8 coastal states (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal, Togo); 4 landlocked states (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad) and 1 island state (Cape Verde). Two additional countries, Sudan and the Central African Republic, are waiting to join.
Regulations common to the CILSS member states on pesticide registration were adopted in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) in 1992 and revised in December 1999. The aim of these regulations is to pool the expertise of Sahelian countries, to prevent a pesticide banned in one country from circulating freely in another, and to reduce the cost of national registrations. The Sahelian Pesticides Committee (CSP in French) is responsible for implementing these regulations and registering pesticides on behalf of the CILSS states. The CSP has been operational since 1994. The CSP keeps a register of registrations and authorizations
The CSP met in an extraordinary session in Bamako, Mali, from December 11 to 16, 2023. The purpose of the meeting was to evaluate pesticide registration applications. The meeting was attended by 36 participants representing the CILSS member states and several CILSS partner organizations.
One hundred and seventy-eight applications, including 39 new applications and 139 old applications, were examined during this session. At the end of the assessment process, 163 applications were examined, and 15 were rejected for lack of physical documents.
The 8th extraordinary session of the CSP made decisions on two concerns brought to its attention.
1) Letter of complaint from FMC company regarding the Chlorantraniliprole patent
The Committee ruled that the request by the pesticide company FMC regarding the current validity of its patent for the active ingredient Chlorantraniliprole was receivable. The committee therefore required any company wishing to register a formulation based on this active ingredient with the CSP to submit a letter of authorization from FMC before its application could be considered. The CSP has withdrawn their authorizations from firms already authorized by the Committee in this regard.
2) CONFO’s letter of complaint regarding SOLDAT product registration
The committee refers the complainant to the appropriate legal judicial bodies. The decisions of these judicial bodies will be considered by the CSP in its final decision on this matter. The session has made two recommendations:
1) Further examination of the following active ingredients: Diuron, Malathion and Oxamyl with a view to a decision by the CSP on their registration status.
2) Initiate a letter to the attention of the CILSS Coordinating Minister with a view to withdrawing sales authorizations for Chlorantraniliprole-based pesticides granted without authorization from the firm holding the molecule’s patent.
Dr. Souleymane Nacro
IAPPS coordinator for Region IV: West/Central Africa
E-mail: [email protected]
The IAPPS Newsletter is published by the International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences and distributed in Crop Protection to members and other subscribers. Crop Protection, published by Elsevier, is the Official Journal of IAPPS.
IAPPS Mission: to provide a global forum for the purpose of identifying, evaluating, integrating, and promoting plant protection concepts, technologies, and policies that are economically, environmentally, and socially acceptable. It seeks to provide a global umbrella for the plant protection sciences to facilitate and promote the application of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach to the world’s crop and forest ecosystems.
Membership Information: IAPPS has four classes of membership (individual, affiliate, associate, and corporate) which are described in the IAPPS Web Site www.plantprotection.org.
The IAPPS Newsletter welcomes news, letters, and other items of interest from individuals and organizations. Address correspondence and information to:
Manuele Tamò
Editor, IAPPS Newsletter
IITA-Benin
08 B.P. 0932 Tri Postal, Cotonou, Republic of Benin
E-mail: [email protected]
