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Support to the Government of Rwanda in Sustainable Control and Management of Fall Armyworm - TCP/RWA/3608

Year of publication 2020

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 10

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Project

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) With the Fall Armyworm (FAW) pest affecting over 80 crop species in Rwanda in 2017 alone, many farmers saw their yields decrease and incomes depleted. Despite pest management and containment efforts, FAW in Rwanda has remained active since then, given its resistance and adaptability to the country’s climate and ecology. FAW was reported in all of Rwanda’s 30 districts by April 2017, affecting an estimated 38 percent of all maize crops (equal to 17 521 hectares), an essential cash and food crop among the national population at large. This was mainly due to limited capacities of the national research and extension service systems in ensuring early detection and timely response. As a transboundary insect with rapid spreading potential due its natural biological nature – and easily transmitted through trade and commerce – the FAW was found to pose a threat to livestock as well due to FAW-infested feed. In response to the need for integrated pest management (IPM) and early warning systems, the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) requested FAO’s technical support to mitigate FAW-related damage to crops and mitigate their impact on food security. Thus, in strengthening the capacities of the RAB, MINAGRI and District Directorates of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the project ensured a holistic approach to combatting the FAW by leading inter-institutional coordination consultations, capacity assessments, information management initiatives and community-based trainings for community farmers, district and sector agronomists, extension agents, Farmer Field School (FFS) Facilitators and RAB researchers. In addition, FAO’s Fall Armyworm Early Warning System (FAMEWS) mobile application and IPM guidance principles helped drive the training-of-trainers activities. As such, the project’s combination of programmatic coordination, technical assistance and equipment delivery made for a timely response ahead of the September - December 2017 agriculturalseason.

Language English

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