ABSTRACT
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has defined “pest” as any organism that damages crops or the environment. This includes invasive weeds, parasitic weeds, insects, nematodes, pathogens and feral animals. Across Africa pests such as the fall armyworm devastate cereal crops, rampant aquatic weeds clog water systems and thorny mesquite trees have overrun millions of hectares of agricultural lands in arid and semi-arid regions. Preharvest crop losses caused by pests are estimated at 45%, whereas postharvest losses of grain crops in storage are typically 40–70%. Possibly the most sustainable way to enhance food security in Africa would be to control the primary pre- and postharvest pests of food crops. Pest control in Africa has largely depended upon cultural control measures and agrochemicals. Cultural control alone does not cope with a scaling of the agricultural systems or the intensification of production that is required to feed the burgeoning human population in Africa. Climate change has also caused rapid shifts in pest populations in response to changing natural ecosystems in Africa. Therefore, there is a need for an integrated pest management (IPM) approach that is effective, adaptable and scalable. The objective of this chapter is to highlight the potential of IPM to enhance food security and crop productivity. Policy aspects are identified that could enhance the effective implementation of IPM in Africa.
