Number I [January 2024 – the date of publication in “Crop Protection“] 

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE REGIONAL PLANT PROTECTION TASKFORCE OF THE WEST AFRICA GEOGRAPHICAL ZONE

 

The annual meeting of the regional plant protection taskforce of the West Africa geographical zone took place in Cotonou, Benin, July 3-6, 2023.

 Background

In recent years, emerging diseases and invasive species have spread dramatically and pose a serious threat to food security. They therefore have a very perceptible economic impact, and affect low-income populations.

In West Africa, climate variability combined with the existence of widespread hosts and vectors has worsen the situation in the case of species introduced for the first time into an ecologically favorable environment where there are few natural enemies that can contain them, and where growers don’t know how to deal with them. Recent examples include the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), the papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus), and the cotton jassids (Amrasca biguttula). The FAO and its partners have long been on the front line of the fight against invasive species, supporting early warning and prevention efforts and implementing effective responses.

 Objectives of the meeting

The present workshop’s objectives included:

  • The facilitation of knowledge-sharing between stakeholders;
  • The assessment of the IPM technologies currently being implemented while evaluating the phytosanitary situation in the country members;
  • The production of information for the development of a regional integrated management manual for cotton jassids.

The workshop gathered the national focal points (NFP) from West African countries including Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Benin, Mali, Ghana, Togo, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, The Gambia, Cabo Verde, Niger, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, and various stakeholders involved in pest management. 

Main achievements of the workshop

The participants discussed several topics including:

  • The global action plan against Fall Armyworm (FAW);
  • The phytosanitary situation in sub-Saharan Africa and FAO initiatives;
  • The FAO plant protection initiatives in West Africa;
  • The phytosanitary situation in West African countries;
  • The country members’ support needs.

The participants took two days to prepare an integrated management manual for cotton jassids, one of the most damaging emerging pests in cotton in West Africa. They concluded the workshop with a field trip to the Toffo region and the industrial zone of Golo-Djigbè near Allada in Southern Benin.

  

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]