ICOSAMP – The Information Core for Southern African Migrant Pests

Margaret Powell1

1ICOSAMP Co-ordinator, Agricultural Research Council – Plant Protection Research Institute, P/Bag X134, Pretoria 0001, South Africa (Contact: icosamp@ecoport.org).

Abstract

Migrant pests such as locusts, armyworm, and Quelea birds, annually plague the southern African region, and in some years have been known to cause devastating damage to food crops within member countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). As these pests are highly mobile and often cross political boundaries, communication and collaboration between neighbouring countries is vital with respect to forecasting, monitoring, and controlling these outbreaks.

ICOSAMP, endorsed by SADC and funded by the UK Department for International Development, has established a regional network of information officers who submit monthly reports on the status of migrant pests in their country to the ICOSAMP co-ordinator. This close interaction between national Ministries of Agriculture, Plant Protection Institutes, and NGO’s, not only highlights potential areas at risk from migrant pests, but also provides a platform for technical co-operation and sharing of research information. The provision of early warning of impending cross-border invasions prevents the uncontrolled spread of migratory pests, thus reducing the impact of these pests on the food security of the region.

ICOSAMP utilises modern technology such as the internet and email to collate and distribute this information to SADC stakeholders and interested parties. A computer based information system records the migrant pest data and facilitates production of situation maps. Since its’ inception in 2000, ICOSAMP has issued regular monthly Bulletins and GIS (Geographical Information System) maps.

The ICOSAMP website can be viewed at http://icosamp.ecoport.org

Introduction

It is estimated that about 18 million people in sub-Saharan Africa faced serious food shortages at the beginning of 2001 (FAO, 2001). Only 3.7% of the total land area of SADC consists of arable land and the region is therefore almost entirely dependent on increased yields to expand agricultural production (World Bank, 1998). Statistics indicate that migratory pests threaten 67% of the total SADC population whose livelihoods depend on food production (Botha, 1999). The rural population density (i.e. the rural population divided by the arable land area) of 370 people/km2 for the SADC region, is more than tenfold that of a developed country such as the United States of 34 people/ km2 (World Bank 1998). The potential economic loss caused by migrant pests on a crop in SADC is therefore also more than tenfold that of their counterparts in the USA (Botha, 1999).

The main economically important migratory pests in southern Africa are the brown locust, Locustana pardalina, the African Migratory Locust, Locusta migratoria, the Red Locust, Nomadacris septemfasciata, the Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria, Red-billed Quelea birds, Quelea quelea lathamii, and the African Armyworm, Spodoptera exempta.

Preventive control of these pests before they become a serious problem is vital, as pest populations can expand rapidly from small outbreaks to plague proportions, posing a threat to several areas and neighbouring countries. Because of the high proportion of migratory pest damage occurring in poor regions, there is added pressure to prevent impacts on scarce food resources (FAO, 2001).

Losses in agricultural production due to the African armyworm affect the economies of both farmers and nations (Rose et al, 2000). Armyworm cause the loss of cereal crops and sugarcane, pastures and rangeland, and are therefore also of importance to livestock production. Resource-poor smallholder farmers in SADC are particularly vulnerable to severe economic loss because of their insufficient resources to cope with armyworm invasions (Rose et al, 2000).

It is thus important to know the current distribution, status, and scale of infestation, especially in the case of armyworm where the sudden appearance, rapid development and disappearance of the insect calls for quick action. Where more than one neighbouring country is invaded, effective management requires regional or international co-operation, and communication between countries is therefore vital for early warning of impending invasions or outbreaks.

ICOSAMP sought to address this problem by establishing an information network to provide up-to-date migrant pest distribution data to decision makers in neighbouring countries, to assist them with forecasting of impending invasions or outbreaks, and thus reduce the impact of migrant pests on the food security of the region.

Background

The Southern African Regional Commission for the Conservation and Utilisation of the Soil (SARCCUS) established a Subcommittee for the control of Migratory Pests in 1988. This subcommittee was responsible for promoting mutual consultation and exchange of information, furthering technical co-operation, promoting research activities, establishing close collaboration, and advising the SARCCUS Committee on all relevant matters pertaining to the monitoring and control of these pests. A reporting network on migrant pest movements throughout the region was also established.

However, with the disbanding of SARCCUS in 1997, the Migrant Pest Sub-Committee ceased to function and it was only in 1999 that a decision was taken to incorporate the mandate of SARCCUS into the SADC structure. At the same time, a regional Migrant Pest Workshop held in Pretoria (funded by DFID and hosted by ARC-PPRI), identified a “lack of reliable and sustainable cross-border communication with respect to migrant pests as a serious constraint to effective forecasting” (Cheke et al, 2000). Delegates from national organisations as well as regional (IRLCO-CSA) and international (FAO) bodies, participated and identified a cross-cutting output - "Strengthened institutional and communication structures to sustain cost-effective forecasting, and control re-established and developed" (Cheke et al, 2000).

This cross-cutting output agreed with the DFID call for a project - "Participatory approaches to monitoring, controlling and promoting control methods for migrant pests through existing institutional structures, to identify ways of strengthening institutional links in southern Africa, especially through regional networks, to enhance migrant pest monitoring and control".

Correspondence with officials at the SADC Crop Sector in Zimbabwe and the National Departments of Agriculture, again highlighted the need for re-establishing regional migrant pest information collaboration. ICOSAMP was later presented to SADC delegates as a proposed project, at the Strategic Planning Workshop of the Plant Protection Sub-Committee, Kadoma, Zimbabwe 2000, and was subsequently endorsed.

Approach

ICOSAMP has functioned primarily as a desk study and all contacts were made via email, telephone or fax. One migrant pest collaborator was appointed from each of the SADC countries (excluding Madagascar and Seychelles). Various activities were undertaken to achieve the goals of ICOSAMP: • A communication network and email forum was established, • Standardised regional migrant pest reporting forms were designed, • Two workshops were held to determine the outputs of the information system and to evaluate the prototype system Kieser, 2002; Kieser, 2003), • The GIS system and databases were designed, • Monthly Bulletins were produced, • A website was designed, and • An internet mapping facility was developed.

Results

ICOSAMP is structured around three main outputs, each with related activities: a. Information databases (migrant pest distribution, bibliography, SADC contacts) b. Automated information system (GIS, MS Access, email, website) c. Monthly ICOSAMP Migrant Pest Bulletins.

The communication network and email list have been in operation since March 2000, and also collaborates with various other email forums example IPMNet and SitRep. The ICOSAMP email list currently extends to 12 African countries (Ministries and Departments of Agriculture, NGO’s, Universities), the UK (NRI, CABI, Universities), the USA (USAID, USDA, IPMNet), Italy (FAO, EcoPort), the IRLCO-CSA, and the SADC Secretariat.

Standardised Reporting forms were designed for the region, one for each pest. These are completed on a monthly basis by country collaborators and sent to the ICOSAMP co-ordinator for summary in the Bulletin.

Geographical Information System and Databases. The whole system is driven through a GIS interface (Fig.1) where buttons, tabs and menus allow the input of pest and related ecological data into the database (Fig.2) as well as additions to a bibliography and a gazetteer. More than 800 detailed records of migrant pest control operations are currently stored in the database, and the bibliography contains 2073 records (brown locust, red locust, and quelea). A gazetteer provides grid information for more than 447 locations, and can easily be expanded and updated. Tables of information can be exported into Excel, Dbase or text format. Monthly maps (Fig.3) of the distribution of all three pest species (armyworm, locusts and quelea birds) are produced and distributed via the Bulletin and the website.

Fig.2. Locust information input form

Fig.3. ICOSAMP map for January 2003 showing output of reporting data and symbols used.
Website. The ICOSAMP website is operational and can be viewed at http://icosamp.ecoport.org. Contents to date include a summary of the project, contact information of collaborators, current monthly Bulletin and map, archived Bulletins and maps, and summary of the first workshop.

Bulletins. Monthly Bulletins (ICOSAMP News) are disseminated via email, fax, and also posted on the website. Archived Bulletins and maps are available from the ICOSAMP website.

Conclusion and Recommendations
ICOSAMP has re-established a migrant pest information centre and developed a regional co-operation between information officers in the SADC region. This network regularly provides up-to-date migrant pest distribution information to assist decision makers in neighbouring countries to forecast impending invasions or outbreaks, thereby reducing the impact of migrant pests on food security.

The Monthly ICOSAMP Bulletins are distributed to collaborators who in turn forward these to their superiors. In the case of Lesotho, this commitment has resulted in the re-instatement of their armyworm monitoring system, previously fallen away with the disintegration of the SARRCUS migratory pest network. What makes this achievement all the more impressive is that Lesotho has not experienced a significant migrant pest problem for many years – their commitment is therefore almost entirely an expression of commitment to the other SADC countries. The collaborators expressed the view very strongly that ICOSAMP was of great value to them in meeting their primary responsibilities.

The ICOSAMP system will soon be expanded to include the development and provision of “country-specific” systems. A country-specific system will provide each individual country with a stand-alone system designed on the existing ICOSAMP structure, but will allow the country collaborator to produce an immediate country map as opposed to the current monthly SADC map. Input of country data can also be undertaken in-office, and the completed file emailed through to the ICOSAMP co-ordinator for compilation of the regional map, thus alleviating any backlog of input data for the co-ordinator.

Acknowledgements
The ICOSAMP Co-ordinator and SADC country collaborators wish to extend their sincere appreciation to DFID for funding this project.

References
CHEKE, R.A., ROSENBERG, L.J. and KIESER, M.E. (eds) (2000). Workshop on research priorities for migrant pests of agriculture in southern Africa, Plant Protection Research Institute, Pretoria, South Africa, 24-26 March 1999. Chatham, UK: Natural Resources Institute.
FAO, 2001. The State of Food and Agriculture 2001. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/x9800e/x9800e00.htm
KIESER, M.E. (ed) (2002). Proceedings of ICOSAMP Workshop, 2-4 May 2001. ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
KIESER, M.E. (ed) (2003). Proceedings of ICOSAMP Workshop, 21-23 May 2002. ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
ROSE, D.J.W., DEWHURST, C.F. and PAGE, W.W. (2000). The African Armyworm Handbook: The Status, Biology, Ecology, Epidemiology and Management of Spodoptera exempta (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Second Edition. Chatham, UK: Natural Resources Institute.

This paper has been submitted to the Internet Forum of FoodAfrica (http://foodafrica.nri.org). The content of the paper is the responsibility of the author(s). The organisers of FoodAfrica have made this paper available with minimal editing for the purposes of discussion within the Forum (31 March 2003- 11 April 2003). The paper will be subject to peer review and editing prior to a final version appearing in the Proceedings of FoodAfrica. Assuming that the paper is accepted for the Proceedings, the web address for this version of the paper may be different to that made available in the Proceedings.

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Fig. 1. GIS interface of the ICOSAMP system