Africa Risks Losing 20m Tons Of Maize To Pest — AATF

The African Agricultural Technology Foundation ( AATF) said the continent is at risk of losing over 20 million metric tons of maize to Fall Armyworm pest , in the next few years , if necessary measures are not taken to avert this .

Coordinator of the Teller Maize Project of the AATF, Dr. Sylvester Oikeh , disclosed this yesterday, at Ahmadu Bello University , ( ABU ) Zaria , Kaduna State .

He said the foundation would install state -of -the – art irrigation facilities at the Institute of Agricultural Research ( IAR ) of the ABU to produce worm and drought resistant maize variety .

Oikeh said the new maize variety would specifically address the devastation caused by the disease .

According to him , research has shown that the Fall Armyworm had between 2016 and 2017 destroyed maize worth $ 270 m in only four states of Abia , Ekiti , Oyo and Ondo .

“One bad thing about the pest is that , it is very prolific in laying eggs and hatching . Within a night, we are told that it covers hundreds of kilometers. For example , in the study that was carried out , we were told that in just 12 countries, we lost $ 2 .6 b to $ 6b .

The countries that grow more maize are Nigeria and Tanzania. You can imagine if two countries are losing $ 2 .6 b per annum , that is huge money.

“We are told that if Africa doesn ’t take action , it is going to be losing 20 million metric tons of maize annually , which is enough to feed 100 million people . This means large percentage of our population will suffer starvation and food deficiency , knowing how important maize is in Africa . That is to tell you the impact of this pest ,” he added .

Oikeh however , explained that before the new variety of maize would be released to farmers , it would be subjected to the scrutiny of all statutory regulatory agencies for confirmation of its safety , hence the need for the cooperation of all stakeholders