Fruit flies lured and confined in a bucket trap (© Photo: ICIPE/ Robert Copeland)

19 June 2015, Lusaka - The Asian fruit fly poses a serious threat to farming activities and requires an integrated approach to fight its effects. Asian fruit flies know no boundaries and easily spread, leaving a trail of destruction, thus any fight against it should not be by an individual country. In this regard, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) held a three-day regional capacity development workshop for Fruit Flies Database Management System in Zambia.

All the 15 SADC member-states were represented at the workshop whose aim was to improve the knowledge of participants on database management with regards to diagnostic protocols, pests and natural enemies’ data sets, treatment schedules of the commodity value chain, and national/international standards obligations and compliance.

Speaking at the official opening of the workshop, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Honorable Greyford Monde MP, emphasized that the Asian fruit fly poses a serious threat to the horticulture industry in the SADC region. “It has thus become important for an integrated approach to fighting the fruit fly”, he added. 

Fruit fly threatens livelihoods and affects exports

Following the funding of country specific projects of the governments of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe (BONAZAZI), a Regional Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) to solve the problem of the Asian fruit fly was designed to complement parallel activities in the BONAZAZI countries. Additionally this would create a platform for information sharing, assist other affected countries within SADC, initiate management activities and contribute to a sustainable regional control programme with commitment from all stakeholders.

This highly invasive pest feeds on most types of fruits and vegetables and leaves a trail of destruction as it spreads rapidly, thus threatening the livelihoods of vulnerable rural communities. Affected regions or countries also face the additional tragedy of inability to access export markets due to rigorous quarantine measures imposed on fresh fruit and vegetables.

Speaking on behalf of the SADC chairperson, Richard Rwafa, the principle research Officer under the Zimbabwean Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development stressed the importance of management of information and development of databases on the fruit fly and other pests in the future.

The rapid spread and devastating impact makes the fruit fly impossible to control in one country without efforts in neighbouring ones. Thus it has become a pest species of serious concern to the horticulture industry across Africa, affecting both exporters and importers in the SADC region.

Database, a tool for early warning

On behalf of the Zambia FAOR, Winfred Hammond, the Fruit Fly Senior FAO Entomologist, recognized that a well-managed area-wide fruit fly database could be used as a valuable tool for early warning of potential pest outbreaks and thus inform decisions for managing the associated risks.

FAO and the SADC Secretariat have a coordinating role in planning, monitoring, and knowledge-sharing network of the project. It is proposed that the SADC secretariat working together with National Plant Protection Organization’s (NPPO’s), hosts the database on fruit flies to facilitate the sharing of results and lessons learnt amongst SADC Member States and ensure that the application of the control and management measures is trans-boundary.

To date the Asian fruit fly has spread across more than 35 countries in sub Saharan Africa after its first detection in 2003 in Kenya, adding to the already existing complex of indigenous fruit flies species.

Related Links:

http://www.fao.org/docs/eims/upload/207694/7_1_2_cases.PDF

http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/262972/icode/

http://www.fao.org/africa/news/detail-news/en/c/269585/

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/faooftheun/sets/72157654256956679

Contact:

Precious N. Chitembwe

Communications and Reports Officer

Email: [email protected]  

FAO- Zambia