Emergency Response to the Fall Armyworm Outbreak in Zambia - TCP/ZAM/3901

Emergency Response to the Fall Armyworm Outbreak in Zambia - TCP/ZAM/3901

Editor

FAO ;

Descripción

Agriculture is a critical sector in Zambia, providing income and employment to over 60 percent of the population, and which particularly impacts women who represent 65 percent of the rural population. The sector contributes to up to 10 percent of Zambia's gross domestic product (GDP) and is recognized by the government as key to poverty reduction, especially in rural areas. Maize, the country's staple crop, is grown by more than 2.7 million agricultural households, largely smallholder farmers who account for over 70 percent of Zambia’s population and serves as both a food source and income. Zambia has occasionally experienced outbreaks of migratory armyworms, but prior to the advent of Spodoptera frugiperda, fall armyworm (FAW) in late 2016, the damaging pest was the indigenous Spodoptera exempta, the African armyworm. Subsequent reports of high levels of damage in maize and other summer-grown cereal crops from 2016 onwards were due to FAW. When it was first reported in Zambia, FAW was first noticed in the Copperbelt province but shortly afterwards was reported nationwide. By 2021, all 10 provinces and 116 districts reported infestations of FAW, with some areas also experiencing African armyworm invasions. As of February 2022, FAW had already impacted 282 124 farming households across 157 942 hectares, with an average infestation rate of 22.19 percent