development
projects
locations Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe date July 2007 – June 2010 CABI project team Dannie Romney Martin Kimani Richard Musebe
forecasting for armyworm
Farmers across sub-Saharan Africa are being threatened by a pest that is devastating their crops and threatening their livelihoods. Armyworms are voracious black caterpillars that attack plants like maize, sorghum, millet, rice and pasture. They appear suddenly in large numbers catching farmers unaware and unprepared.
so what’s the problem? Scientists are now able to predict the armyworms’ potential migration route and national forecasting systems have been introduced to warn farmers about possible outbreaks during the growing season. But, due to the localized nature of attacks and because of communication difficulties, this doesn’t always work. Farming communities are still suffering from armyworm invasions. Smallholder farmers in Africa rely on obtaining good yields from their crops to ensure food and income for their families. So it is important to protect their crops and minimize the need for replanting.
KNOWLEDGE FOR LIFE
what is this project doing? This project aimed to enable farmers to forecast for armyworm attacks in their local communities. It looked in particular at how information about the pest flows between farmers, extension workers, pesticide suppliers and others. Government extension workers trained local farmers to use insect traps and rain gauges which were initially provided through the project. Using this equipment, farmers can make weekly predictions on the likelihood of an armyworm attack and preventative action can be taken. In Malawi and Zimbabwe the new approach was demonstrated in pilot villages. After this the plan we expanded the project to areas which are most at risk from the pest, complementing centralized forecasting systems. In Tanzania community-based forecasting has already begun to be integrated with national forecasting. Lessons learnt in the three countries have been shared by the project partners and the country teams. The National Armyworm Coordinator will work closely with the different stakeholders which include farmers, government extension workers, researchers, village authorities, pesticide suppliers and stockists, and NGOs. At the same time the project incorporates innovative scientific research, using the collected data to improve the forecasting method. Community-based pest forecasting aims to empower farming communities to tackle armyworm problems themselves, allowing them to improve their food and income security without having to rely on central government.
results so far The project started in July 2007 building on successful pilots of the approach carried out in Tanzania. Impact assessments showed that the approach is both effective and sustainable. Because of the early warning system, many farmers managed to save their crops and lower replanting rates were recorded. After only three seasons of community-based forecasting in Tanzania • more farmers were aware outbreaks can be forecast (up from 32% to 70%) • more farmers received outbreak warnings (up from 26% to 52%) • more farmers controlled the most recent outbreak (up from 32% to 82%) Community-based pest forecasting is now being built into Tanzanian pest control budgets. Local districts have expressed support for expanding the approach and NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) are interested in getting on board and applying the approach in other rural communities.
www.cabi.org/armywormforecasting partners CABI – Project Co-ordinator Tanzania: Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Security and Cooperatives Malawi: Pesticide Control Board, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security Zimbabwe: Plant Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture South Africa: Agricultural Research Council UK: Natural Resources Institute (NRI) sponsors 9th European Development Fund: ICART-CRARF (Implementation and Coordination of Agricultural Research and Training Programme in the SADC Region Competitive Regional Agricultural Research Fund)
contact CABI, ICRAF Complex, United Nations Avenue, Gigiri, PO Box 633-00621, Nairobi, Kenya T: +254 20 72 24450 F: +254 20 71 22150 E: africa@cabi.org www.cabi.org/africa
ID-AF 06-12
Roger Day, Project Manager