Abstract
Reducing the losses from crop pests will help to increase food availability and boost economic growth in sub- Saharan Africa (SSA). However, the existing crop protection paradigm that relies on synthetic agrochemical pesticides has had only a marginal impact on the productivity of many poor smallholder farmers who constitute a major segment of agri- culture in SSA. This is primarily because many of them are not able to afford or access these imported chemicals. A solution to this crop protection problem may be to harness biologicalresourcesthatarelocallyavailable,suchasendemic insect natural enemies and indigenous pesticidal plant mate- rials. Two specific examples of this already under develop- ment in Africa are the use of the pesticidal plant, Tephrosia vogelii, and the harvesting of the endemic insect baculovirus, Spodoptera exempta nucleopolyhedrovirus (SpexNPV). Both of these can be produced locally and have shown promise in trials as inexpensive and effective tools for pest control in Africa and their use is currently being scaled up and evaluated by African networks of researchers. A focus on these systems illustrates the potential for using locally-available natural re- sources for improved crop protection in Africa. The consider- ation of these pesticidal plants and insect natural enemies in the wider context of natural capital that provide valuable ecosystem services (including pest control), will facilitate greater recognition of their true economic and societal worth. While both of these model systems show promise, there are also very significant challenges to be overcome in developing production, supply and marketing systems that are economi- cally viableand sustainable.Theregulatoryenvironment must also evolve to accommodate and facilitate the registration of new products and the establishment of appropriate supply chains that share the benefits of these resources equitably with the local communities from which they are harvested.
Highlights
Central to the issue of high levels of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is low agricultural productivity
This problem is especially acute in the non-irrigated smallholder sector of agriculture, and as these millions of subsistence food producers are a major source of basic food grains for millions of Africa’s poorest, it remains at the heart of the issue of uncertain food security and continuing poverty in Africa
The objective of this paper is to explore how indigenous ecological resources could be of value in promoting better pest control by poor farmers in Africa, and we illustrate this by focusing on two model systems currently under development
Summary
Central to the issue of high levels of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is low agricultural productivity. A limitation of this approach is that farming is frequently extended into marginal areas even less suitable for agriculture than existing ones and where production can be even more unreliable due to variable rainfall This problem is especially acute in the non-irrigated smallholder sector of agriculture, and as these millions of subsistence food producers are a major source of basic food grains for millions of Africa’s poorest, it remains at the heart of the issue of uncertain food security and continuing poverty in Africa. The problem of increasing food production in the rain-fed, often semi-arid, agricultural systems of eastern and southern Africa is a multi-factorial interaction between many biotic and abiotic factors Important among these is the failure of resource-poor farmers to prevent losses due to pre-and postharvest pests
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