FAO GIVES ZAMBIA $500, 000 TO FIGHT ARMYWORMS
ZAMBIA has received US$500, 000 from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) to scale up efforts to control and man age the Fall Army Worm (FAW) outbreak through a Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP).
FAO representative, Suze –Filippini made the an nouncement at the launch of the one year long Technical Cooperation Programme on Emergency Response to the Fall Armyworm outbreak in Zambia Project in Lusaka..
Ms Filippini said the pests have had devastating effects on maize production thereby negatively impacting interna tional trade of the commodity and its by products.
She said this has result ed in effects on productivity and food security for many Zambians as the pests invaded all the 10 provinces affecting 116 districts.
“It is, therefore, envisaged that the impact on food se curity and livelihood caused by the incursion of the fall army wroms in Zambia will be mitigated through improved capacity of farmers and extension officers to manage the pest, which in turn results into controlled spread and in festation of the pest,” she said. Ms Filippini said the proj ect will help raise public awareness and sensitisation on the management options of the pest and strengthen the mechanisms for information sharing. She added that it would also scale up adoption of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) models, heighten and raise the profile for pesticide risk reduction and safe han dling of chemicals. Ministry of Agriculture Permanent Secretary Green Mbozi, in a speech read by the crop director, Mr Alick Banda, lamented the adverse effect the pests have had on food security. Mr Mbozi said during the 2021/2022 farming season, the African Armyworms and the Fall Armyworms affected 282,124 farming households with a total of 157,941,97 hectares in 1,826 agriculture camp with an average infesta tions rate of 22.19 percent . He said the project would result in strengthened pest management technical capac ities among extension officers and small scale farmers.