Insight on Fruit Fly IPM Technology Uptake and Barriers to Scaling in Africa

Beatrice Murithii,Samira Mohamed,Shepard Ndlela,Saliou Niassy,Sunday Ekesi,Henri Tonnang,Evanson R. Omuse,Emily Kimathi

doi:10.3390/su14052954

Beatrice Murithii, Samira Mohamed + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052954

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Abstract

Tephritid fruit flies are considered one of the world’s most notorious pests of horticultural crops, causing extensive direct and indirect damage. Over the past two decades, a comprehensive, integrated pest management (IPM) package for the management of a plethora of fruit fly pests, including Bactrocera dorsalis, B. latifrons, B. zonata, Ceratitis cosyra, C. rosa, C. fasciventris, C. quilici, C. capitata, Dacus spp. and Zeugodacus cucurbitae, has been developed, disseminated and promoted among horticultural growers in Africa. To estimate the numbers of beneficiaries reached by the fruit fly IPM technology and the barriers to technology uptake, we interviewed 290 experts in 30 African countries covering five regions of the continent, and the responses collected were represented as follows: Southern Africa (39.1%), Eastern Africa (31.6%), Western Africa (18.0%), Central Africa (9.0%) and Northern Africa (2.0%). Our results revealed that the use of fruit fly IPM technologies varied across the regions, with Eastern Africa and Western Africa the leading regions, with the highest IPM technology penetration. Field sanitation remains the most common practice for managing fruit flies, followed by protein bait spray, use of biopesticides, male annihilation technique and parasitoid releases. According to the survey, over 101 million people have benefited from the fruit fly IPM interventions in the countries surveyed representing only 19.1% of the estimated beneficiaries. The region that benefitted the most was Eastern Africa (50.2 million), followed by Central and Western Africa (11.7 to 17.7 million), and Southern and Northern Africa had the fewest beneficiaries (10.4 to 11.0 million). The limitations to the IPM technologies uptake varied among the regions, but the common ones include a lack of awareness of the IPM technologies, a lack of access to the IPM products, insufficient training, a low involvement of private sectors and a lack of policies for the regulation of IPM technologies. Although significant strides have been made in promoting the fruit fly IPM technologies over the past two decades, our study reveals that the demand surpasses the current supply. Our study recommends a comprehensive strategy for the dissemination and promotion of the technologies through a multi-institutional alliance that enhances public and private partnerships, digital platforms and youth engagement to consolidate previous gains at the regional and continental levels.

Highlights

4% of respondents were unaware of fruit fly integrated pest management (IPM) activities in their countries
Our results show that fruit fly IPM activities have been implemented across Eastern, Western, Central, Northern and Southern Africa (Figure 1A)
Our results show that fruit fly IPM activities have been implemented across Eastern, Western, and Southern

Summary

Introduction

Horticulture is one of the most important agricultural sectors for many African countries, revitalising rural economies and alleviating poverty through increased farm profits, employment generation and economic diversification [1]. A diversification into horticulture should contribute to poverty eradication by providing income and employment to poor rural households, especially women and youths, the expansion into the agro-processing and processed food marketing and a minimization of food and nutritional insecurity, while helping to restore the equilibrium in the balance of payments by increasing the total export. Sustainability 2022, 14, 2954 earnings for African countries as well as reducing fluctuations in the revenues from exports [2,3]. Growth in the horticulture sub-sector presents many opportunities for improving food and nutritional security and growing the rural economies and livelihoods of the poor populace, it faces threats from insect pests. Tephritid fruit flies are known to cause extensive economic losses to horticultural crops throughout Africa [3–11]

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