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Some forty experts are meeting in the Senegalese seaside resort of Saly, to learn new techniques to better manage the devastating fall armyworm (CLA).

If not properly managed, the armyworm can cause major damage to crops such as maize, rice, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, vegetables, cotton, etc. 

At the Saly workshop, scheduled to last five days (November 22-26, 2021), plant protection specialists will be equipped with tools to lead the fight against these pests.

With its scientific name Spodoptera frugiperda, the CLA is a butterfly native to America that has spread in recent years to Africa, Asia and even the Far East. 

"The arrival and rapid spread of CLA in West and Central Africa poses a major threat to agricultural productivity and food and nutritional security," said Dr Hippolyte Affognon of the Partnership Program for Agricultural Research, Education and Development in West Africa (PAIRED).

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), some 18 million tonnes of maize are destroyed every year in Africa, a quantity that would be enough to lift tens of thousands of people out of starvation, and which corresponds to an economic loss of 4.6 billion dollars.

"It is crucial to identify and implement best practices to sustainably combat CLA in West and Central Africa, in order to curb its devastating impact on the region's agricultural economy and people's livelihoods", argues Dr. Ousmane NDOYE, Biorisks Project Coordinator.

This workshop is organized within the framework of two projects that CORAF is currently piloting: PAIRED and Biorisks, funded respectively by the United Nations Agency for International Development (USAID) and the European Union.

At the end of the workshop, it is expected that plant protection stakeholders from West and Central Africa will have strengthened capacities in CLA management. They will also learn about and master best practices for the sustainable management of this pest. Finally, effective strategies will be identified to coordinate efforts to combat CLA.

Read also:

• Launch of a project to strengthen the resilience of farmers in West and Central Africa to biological threats
• West and Central African research leaders to discuss biorisk management
• Pooling efforts on a regional scale to stop crop pests and diseases