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Want to learn more about the Global Action for Fall Armyworm Control and its successes spanning countries around the world? A new brochure Success in sustainable pest management reports on important outcomes from the four-year Global Action project as well as lessons that can be applied in fighting future invasive pests.

Using maps, graphs and photos, the brochure succinctly describes the rapid global spread of fall armyworm (FAW), a highly destructive transboundary pest that targets important food crops such as maize and other cereals. FAW’s ability to spread widely threatens global food security and farmers’ livelihoods. In fact, since the first report in Africa in 2016, FAW has invaded over 80 countries in Africa, the Near East, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe. It reduces maize yields by up to 73 percent and inflicts annual economic losses valued at USD 9.4 billion in Africa alone. 

In response, FAO launched the Global Action for  Fall Armyworm Control in 2019, a collaborative approach to coordinate pest control while promoting integrated pest management (IPM). Working with farmers, farmer groups, Farmer Field Schools (FFS), NGOs, national and international research institutes, and extension services, the Global Action has developed a global platform to coordinate plant health research, extension, and policy support across disciplines and at different scales. 

The brochure highlights the important role that the Global Action has played in building and strengthening national capacities through application of IPM techniques and guidelines. For example, in Egypt, host plant resistance has been bolstered, resulting in higher yields (compared to control areas) via use of hybrid maize varieties. Natural enemies of FAW have been preserved after field testing in the Near East, Asia and Africa yielded a number of native arthropod natural enemies against FAW; and the value of cultural control practises such as intercropping have been shown to improve yields.

The value of the mobile application FAW Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS) has been underscored in the brochure. This crowd-sourcing data system boasts over 10 000 users in more than 60 countries collecting FAW and African armyworm (AAW) monitoring information published on its dashboards. That includes FAW scouting maps to highlight infested areas; FAW presence analysed against such factors as crop type, crop system, and stage; and analysis of FAW infestation trends.

The brochure also notes that over 2.6 million farmers have been reached through training and awareness-raising activities on sustainable FAW management through the Global Action.

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For more information:

Global Action for FAW Control brochure Success in sustainable pest management:https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/282d7efb-572a-4b88-968e-abb48139c732

FAMEWS: https://www.fao.org/fall-armyworm/monitoring-tools/famews-mobile-app/en/