Kenya - Invasive pests cost farmers 90% of produce, say experts

By Agatha Ngotho

The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service has raised concerns over invasive pests that could risk key market destinations for Kenya’s fresh produce.

Kephis managing director Prof Theophilus Mutui said since January, Kenya’s export produce has twice been disrupted due to the invasive insects.

″We have had two interceptions of fresh produce destined for the EU and the UAE this year alone,″ he said.

″The country is already enjoying a favourable avocado market destination in China and it is important that we manage the invasive scale insects to safeguard some of these markets.″

Mutui said the trade in mango, avocado, pawpaw and citrus within the East African Community (EAC) region, EU and China at the import and export levels has been on the increase recently, but its success is dependent on tackling a range of crop pests and diseases.

″Regional pest risks to production and trade include scale insects that are not only damaging to crops but also other plant host species,″ he said during an interview with the Star on Friday.

Mutui said a new project has been launched to help improve market access for pawpaw, mango, avocado and citrus by managing invasive scale insect pests in Kenya, Uganda and Burundi.

He said the project is targeting to train 1,200 farmers (400 farmers per country) on management of the invasive pests.

″We are going to work with all the counties which produce the targeted crops for export,″ he said.

The project will seek to increase compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary requirements for the fruits through improved surveillance and management of scale insect pests.

The papaya mealybug that causes up to 90 percent yield losses
Image: CABI KENYA

Dr Isaac Macharia, the Phytosanitary and Biosecurity director at Kephis, said the papaya mealybug is one of the invasive pests of concern in Kenya.

He said the pest was first reported in the Coastal areas in Kenya in 2016. The papaya mealybug had been reported to infest pawpaws, cassava, chilli pepper, guava, mango and eggplants.

″The pest can cause up to 90 per cent yield losses. Some farmers have reported losing up to 100 per cent of their orchards due to this pest,″ Macharia said.

The papaya mealybug pest has since spread to other counties where pawpaw is grown. It has also moved to Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and other counties in the region.

He said they will be identifying the distribution of the pest and will establish mechanisms to manage it.

They will be looking into the use of biological control as well as the indigenous knowledge that the farmers have.

They will also see how to train farmers to identify scale insects, which are becoming a real challenge in Kenya and in the production of various crops in the country.

Part of the project will involve training agricultural extension staff and plant protection officers on the identification of scale insects and communicating their risks and how they can be managed with smallholder farmers.

Dr MaryLucy Oronje, a scientist on Sanitary and Phytosanitary at the Centre for Bioscience International, said the invasive scale insects are a big challenge not only at production but also in meeting the phytosanitary requirements of this country.

″We already have the China market for avocado, Israel market for the pineapple and a number of upcoming countries interested in the export of Kenya’s fresh produce,″ Oronje said.

″The target is to ensure that exports comply with the requirements of the different countries.″

She said the three-year project is geared towards strengthening the capacity of Kenya, Uganda and Burundi to monitor and mitigate these risks before export to increase intra-regional trade and export to more favourable global markets.

The Sh138 million project is funded by the Standards and Trade Development Facility.

It will be implemented by Cabi in partnership with Kephis, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation, the National Museums of Kenya and the Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya.