KIGALI, Rwanda (PAMACC News) - An international research organisation has called for urgent action to tackle the global spread of invasive species, which they say is a major threat to sustainable development.The Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) has called on counties to ensure that they have national invasive species strategies and action plans in place by 2020 including a national priority list identifying their highest outbreak risks and targeting national efforts accordingly.“We are falling behind, and progress is currently too slow to achieve the ambitious targets set by the international community,” said Dr Dennis Rangi, the CABI’s Director General for Development. “If we do not accelerate progress on these critical issues, further outbreaks cannot be prevented,” He told journalists on September 6 at the 2018 Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Kigali, Rwanda.An invasive species is a plant, weed, worm or any other species that is not native to a specific location, and that has a tendency to spread to a degree believed to cause damage to the environment, human economy or human health. The fall armyworm is the most important invasive species in 40 African countries and Asia where it has caused untold losses particularly for maize farmers. Known scientifically as, Spodoptera frugiperda, the caterpillar originates in Central and South America. It was first identified in West Africa in January 2016, and has since moved to nearly all African countries.In East Africa, Prosopis juliflora (known in Kenya as Mathenge) is another invasive species that is devastating goat farmers especially in dryland areas. The shrub produces pods that are too sugary, and when goats feed on them, the sugar content affects the teeth, forcing them to fall off.Opuntia megacantha is another invasive species in form of cactus. The fruits have sharp thorns, and when livestock animals feed on them, the thorns remain pierced all over in the mouth, in the gums and on the tongue, making it impossible for the animal to feed again. This eventually leads to death of affected animal due to starvation. And now, CABI has launched an Action on Invasives programme to enable developing countries to prevent or detect and control invasive species in order to protect and restore agricultural and natural ecosystems, reduce crop losses, improve health, remove trade barriers and reduce degradation of natural resources.The research organisation is also calling on governments to prioritise investment in tackling invasive species and also to develop policy/regulations that will encourage the use of lower risk management methods (biocontrol, Integrated Pest Management (IPM).The Action on Invasives programme has already been piloted on specific species in Ghana and Pakistan, with support and funding from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Netherlands’ Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS). It is now being scaled up so that people around the world can fulfil their potential and help their countries prosper.It is estimated that the fall armyworm in Africa has the potential to cause maize yield losses of up to 20.6 million tonnes per annum in just 12…

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Participants at the Global Landscape Forum (GLF) Nairobi 2018 have reignited the drive to restore at least 12 million hectares annually simply to reach land degradation neutrality.Speakers from across Africa discussed their experiences and successes restoring forests, farms and coastlines for sustainable development, climate mitigation and adaptation.“Unless urgent and concerted action is taken, land degradation will worsen in the face of population growth, unprecedented consumption, an increasingly globalized economy and climate change,” said Robert Nasi, Director General of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). “We must restore at least 12 million hectares annually simply to reach land degradation neutrality. And if we want to rectify errors from the past, then we need to run twice as fast.” Degraded landscapes each year cost 10 percent of the global economy, affecting the livelihoods and wellbeing of some 3 billion people across the world, many in developing countries. The global landscapes community aims to restore more than 2 billion hectares of degraded land worldwide – a footprint larger than South America. For progress to take place, the private and public sectors must invest $350 billion annually. “We have the necessary technical knowledge to restore landscapes; what is missing is stronger political commitment and better rural governance,” said Stefan Schmitz of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. “This includes decentralizing decision-making, administrative capacities and financial resources; putting in place adequate territorial and tenure policies.” Initiatives big and small, from the AFR100 to local efforts such as mangrove restoration, are demonstrating the potential for greater agricultural yields, ecosystem services and climate protection. At the same time, now is the time to convert commitments to restore hundreds of millions of hectares of land into action by involving communities, women and youth, the speakers said. “In a degraded landscape, if a woman doesn’t have the firewood, it will be difficult for her to get the water,” said Mukasa. “We managed to bring together six communities using an adaptive collaborative management approach. That vision is over restoration of degraded landscapes. These communities have been able to produce community trees.” UN Environment Executive Director, Erik Solheim, reiterated his support for a U.N. decade devoted to promoting the rehabilitation of degraded, damaged and destroyed ecosystems to help speed up the race against climate change and biodiversity loss. He urged participants to support the proposal for a U.N. Decade for Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, which was first floated by El Salvador. “Ecosystem restoration can counter climate change, poverty and biodiversity loss,” said Solheim. “A U.N. Decade for Ecosystem Restoration would give us an opportunity to accelerate restoration action and UN Environment supports El Salvador and the many other countries who are champions of this idea.” GLF Nairobi 2018 also held discussions about ‘The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel Initiative’, and there was a launch of a documentary and a concert by musician Rocky Dawuni.

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - The fight to track down poachers and protect endangered species in Africa’s embattled Congo Basin Forest reserve is tapping into the major international market routes that facilitates the illegal business.In a major wildlife trafficking bust, Cameroon authorities have arrested six men for smuggling more than 700 kilograms of endangered pangolins and pangolin scales from the Central African Republic to Vietnam. Central Africa is a hotspot for illegally sourcing the scalIy anteater for Asia, where its meat and scales fetch up to $1,000 per kilo.The Cameroon authoroties say international network of pangolin scales traffickers has been dismantled with the arrest on August 18 of six suspected traffickers in Douala with over 700kg of pangolin scales, thanks to long investigations into the market routes of the illegal trade.The arrest was carried out by the Wouri Divisional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife in collaboration with judicial police and the judiciary after weeks of investigation."We are grateful to the local population that collaborated with the security operatives," said the Wouri divisional delagate of forestry and wild life,Georges Mouchaoui .The operation that was technically assisted by an NGO called LAGA, was carried out during attempts by the traffickers to sell the pangolin scales. The first hearing of the case took place on Friday August 24 and three of the arrested traffickers who had earlier been freed on bail did not show up in court raising fears that they may have escaped. Two of the three fugitives are from the Central African Republic.According to Georges Mouchaoui a couple of days to the operation, one of the traffickers sent a truck with from Bangui and it arrived Douala shortly after he had flown to the port city. The pangolin scales were then driven to a neighbourhood in the town, where an illegal transaction was about to take place but police arrived the scene of transaction and all 6 traffickers were arrested."One of them attempted to escape but was quickly stopped," he expalined.The network accordingly, is spread in three central African countries including Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Central Africa and also Nigeria with strong market/trade connections to Vietnam.One of the 6 arrested is from the Central African Republic while the rest are Cameroonians,security authorities said.The exposed modus operandi of the syndicate consisted of buying the scales from smaller traffickers in Cameroon, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and exporting to Nigeria via Cameroon. Most of the 700kg of giant pangolin scales originated from the DRC where they have strong cover from members of the ruling elite. When the scales arrive Nigeria, they are assembled for illegal export.The majority of the scales were from the giant pangolin which is an animal that is threatened with extinction , The operation that led to the confiscation of 718 kg of pangolin scales , was technically assisted by LAGA an NGO that assists government in the fight against wildlife criminality and the effective application of the wildlife…

ACCRA, Ghana (PAMACC News) - At age 55, Beatrice Asantewaa has been actively farming yam, cassava, cocoyam, maize, plantain and groundnuts for over 20 years.She is fulfilled at tilling the soil to produce food to feed her family and also earns good income to manage her other economic needs.“I get enough produce to cater for my family and sell others to get money for other things,” she said.Her major challenge, perhaps, is access to market to ease the disposal of her harvests.In the future, however, Beatrice will face a bigger challenge of accessing fertile land to grow her crops, as opportunities to allow lands to fallow dwindle.“Virgin lands are no longer available because of climate change, charcoal burning and indiscriminate tree felling,” noted Henry Azot, a Chief Technical Officer at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).He says critical interventions will be needed to address the challenge of declining soil fertility and scarcity of virgin lands for use in yam cultivation.Research scientists are exploring solutions to help farmers overcome this challenge by introducing farmers to the Pigeon Pea–Yam Cropping System for improved yam productivity.The new planting system, implemented by the Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and partners, has been identified as sustainable for yam production in the face of depleting soils and climate change.Research scientist on the project, Eric Owusu Danquah, says the technology also address staking which is crucial in yam production.“This is very important as it sustains the soil nutrient. It also helps in climate change because farmers don’t clear places on yearly basis; they stay on a particular place continuously for a longer period. We are saving the farmers from cutting down trees to use as stake which also help in carbon sequestration,” he explained.The pigeon pea is used as allays with the yams planted in-between the ridges. The system also involves placing the pigeon pea at the border zone which are cut and used at stakes – the direct access to stakes saves the farmers from the labour, transportation and cost of buying stakes.The pigeon pea conserves moisture and fixes atmospheric nitrogen. Its leaves or biomass, which are cut and spread before land preparation, also add to the soil carbon and nutrient stock in sustaining soil fertility.By 2020, the researchers are hoping to come out with a technology that will be appreciated by farmers.Opanyin Adu is among yam farmers from the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions targeted for the on-station field trials of the new cropping system at Aframso in the Ejura-Sekyeredumase District of the Ashanti region.He has been farming the past 30 years, long enough to appreciate the dwindling soil nutrition.Without the application of fertilizer, Opanyin Adu used to harvest good yields from his yam farm though he planted in mounds.“Now the land has lost its potency, so you need to apply fertilizer if you are to attain good yield,” he observed.Opanyin is now looking forward to the outcome of the Pigeon pea–yam cropping system as a…