Strengthening Africa’s preparedness to control transboundary pests and diseases

Douala, 20 January 2025. Plant health officers from five French-speaking African countries are undergoing a week-long training in modern science and digital tools for better pest monitoring and surveillance, aiming to prevent pest outbreaks and protect plant resources.

The training workshop, titled: Pest monitoring and detection information management, from 20-24 January 2025 in Douala, Cameroon, has over 60 participants from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Morocco. The workshop is organized by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat and hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Cameroon, with financial support from the European Union, under the framework of the Africa Phytosanitary Programme (APP). The IPPC implements APP in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the African Union Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS). The APP pilot phase has 11 countries; phase two starts in 2025 with eight more countries. All 54 countries are expected to join in the coming years.

“In Africa, damage caused to crops by pests varies between 30 and 60 percent, or 65.5 billion dollars a year. By strengthening the resilience of their phytosanitary systems, countries can prevent harmful organisms from entering or spreading across their territory”, said Gabriel Mbairobe, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Cameroon, while opening the workshop.

The Minister officially handed over tablets provided with funding from USDA and customized with APP pest surveillance and reporting tools, to Cameroon’s national phytosanitary technicians.

Prevention is better than cure

Participants will be trained on monitoring, sample collection, screening, data collection, and reporting for pests like Fruit Fly, Fall Armyworm and Banana Bunchy Top Virus. These pests threaten crops such as mangoes, maize and bananas, respectively, impacting food security. In Mali, for instance, managing Bactrocera dorsalis- one of the most widespread Fruit fly species is the biggest threat to mango production, a key export earner. Annually, Fall Armyworm could lead to the loss of 17.7 million tonnes of maize in 12 African countries – causing food shortages for tens of millions of people.

Participants will have practical field data collection sessions to use APP’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools to enhance monitoring pest populations for better response planning, prevention and management practices. Participants have taken the IPPC eLearning courses on surveillance and National Reporting Obligation, to scale up their knowledge.

Right timing for the right intervention

With over a billion people relying on agriculture, safeguarding crop production is crucial for food security and trade. However, the Plant Health Strategy for Africa highlights low technical capacity in pest monitoring and plant health coordination hampering effective protection.

“APP will empower phytosanitary inspectors to leverage advanced science and modern digital technology for effective pest surveillance, detection, control, and prevention”, said Arop Deng, the Team Lead of the Integration and Support Team, IPPC Secretariat. “APP tools will enhance effective pest prevention and management and adherence to international phytosanitary standards,” he added.

“Pest management is complex and costly, especially once pests are established and African countries often lack adequate technical capacity and phytosanitary infrastructure. It is therefore vital for these countries to actively monitor risks and use accurate diagnostics to detect the presence of pests”, said Lassina Ouattara, representing the FAO Representative a.i. in Cameroon.

Also present at the opening were Sandrine Bayendi Loudit, Deputy Coordinator of the Inter-African Phytosanitary Council of the African Union (AU-IAPSC) and Mohamed Ben Jamaa, Executive Director of the Near East Plant Protection Organization (NEPPO). As Africa’s regional plant protection organizations, AU-IAPSC and NEPPO are integral parts of APP's Operational Coordination Working Group, strengthening regional collaboration on plant health. Both leaders emphasized the critical role of collaboration and highlighted the importance of improving Africa’s phytosanitary capacity for the transformation of agriculture, economic growth, and job creation, considering increasing trade in agricultural products.

©FAO/Gaelle NgandoMbaye

Arop Deng, Team Lead of the Integration and Support Team, IPPC Secretariat highlights the importance of APP. ©FAO/Gaelle NgandoMbaye

About FAO

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO’s objective is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. FAO works to transform agri-food systems by promoting sustainable production and consumption, including protecting the world’s plants to achieve global food security. FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide and has 195 members - 194 countries and the European Union.

About IPPC

The IPPC is an international treaty ratified by 185 contracting parties, aiming to protect the world's plant resources from the spread and introduction of pests, and promoting safe trade.  International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs), developed under the auspices of the IPPC, assist countries in implementing national phytosanitary standards and import requirements. The IPPC, deposited at FAO, is the sole global standard-setting entity for plant health.