News

The support project for the regional fruit fly management and control plan in West Africa (PLMF) was officially launched on Tuesday, February 23, 2016 in Dakar by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the European Union (EU), the French Development Agency (AFD) and CORAF/WECARD.

Running since February 2015, the €23.5 million project is co-financed by the European Union (EU) to the tune of €17 million, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to the tune of €1.5 million, the ECOWAS Commission to the tune of €1.5 million, and beneficiary states to the tune of €5 million. AFD, as the delegated agency for European funds, is responsible for the project on behalf of all donors.

The aim is to improve the incomes of fruit and vegetable growers, particularly small-scale producers, to improve food security in the sub-region and reduce poverty.

That's why the representatives of development partners at the launch ceremony, Laurence Hart, Director of AFD, and Marc Boucey, Head of the EU's Cooperation Department in Senegal, emphasized the expected results of this project, which will not only reduce the amount of mangoes rejected from West Africa, but also increase producers' incomes.

The Executive Director of CORAF/WECARD, Dr Paco Sérémé, whose organization coordinates the activities linked to the research component of the project, stressed that this project is an opportunity for researchers to test the significant results developed to counter the invasion of fruit flies.

ECOWAS representative Ousseini Salifou, ECOWAS Regional Director for Agriculture and Food Security, welcomed the finalization and implementation of this project, which he sees as a solution for reducing losses suffered by mango orchards in West Africa.

The Fruit Fly Management Project is being implemented in eight countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali and Senegal. The results will be shared with others in the sub-region, as the fruit fly knows no borders. The project launch will be followed by a technical workshop of the project's stakeholders and partners to draw up action plans and budgets for 2016.