Defining biotechnological solutions for insect control in sub-Saharan Africa
Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley Open Access
Abstract
Africa is burdened by food insecurity with nearly a billion people suffering from starvation,
undernutrition, and malnutrition. Climate change prediction models forecast
changes in rainfall patterns and rising temperature regimes, with impacts particularly
on Southern and East Africa. These predictions are especially concerning for the
production of major food crops, such as maize, sorghum, millet, and groundnut, because
median temperature increases are associated with increased pest pressure and
changes in migratory patterns. These factors will result in significantly more pest
invasions and an increased need for innovative insect management practices. This
review focuses on pest control strategies, highlighting important examples, their economic
impact, and new alternative pest control strategies. African policymakers remain
hesitant to move forward with establishing biosafety laws and commercializing
GM crops, and it is often difficult to implement regulatory measures in smallholder
agriculture to increase efficacy.
Description
CITATION: Botha, A., et al. 2019. Defining biotechnological solutions for insect control in sub-Saharan Africa. Food and Energy Security 9(1), doi:10.1002/fes3.191
The original publication is available at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/20483694
The original publication is available at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/20483694
Keywords
Biotechnology, Climatic changes -- Africa, Sub-Saharan, CRISPR/Cas, Diuraphis noxia, Fall armyworm -- Effect of insecticides on, Integrated pest management, Invasive pests, iRNA, Resistance breeding, Russian wheat aphid -- Biological control, Spodoptera frugiperda, Food security -- Climatic factors -- Africa, Sub-Saharan
Citation
Botha, A., et al. 2019. Defining biotechnological solutions for insect control in sub-Saharan Africa. Food and Energy Security, doi:10.1002/fes3.191