Plant Pest Management : Phytosanitary Experts Concert For Better Results

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Gabriel Mbairobe, opened a five-day Africa Phytosanitary Programme (APP) refresher training workshop for phytosanitary inspectors from Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Morocco and the Democratic Republic of Congo in Douala on Monday 20 January. The workshop is in line with the Kampala Declaration to strengthen the overall reform of agricultural and food systems for the period 2026-2035.
With climate change, increased global travel and trade, and population growth, plant pests are moving across borders faster and easier, and adapting quickly to new situations to survive. Globally, up to 40 per cent of crop yields are lost to plant pests, resulting in economic losses of about $220 billion and increasing the risk of food insecurity. The Africa Phytosanitary Programme (APP) is the first continent-wide phytosanitary programme designed to help all 54 African countries prevent and control plant pests.
A five-year initiative of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and implemented in coordination with FAO and the African Union, aims to strengthen the capacity of national plant protection organisations (NPPOs) in Africa to effectively monitor, efficiently and rapidly detect, and ultimately respond to and recover from plant pests and diseases of regulatory, economic and environmental importance. The pilot phase of APP involves 11 African countries, namely Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Speaking at the opening of the five-day workshop in Douala on 20 January, Minister Gabriel Mbairobe ...