NAIROBI, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), a global insect research body, on Wednesday launched an initiative aimed at managing fall armyworm (FAW), a deadly maize disease that has ravaged farms across Eastern Africa

Sunday Ekesi, ICIPE's director of research and partnerships, said that the Fall Armyworm-Integrated Pest Management project will enable ICIPE to develop Africa-specific science-led solution against the devastating pest.

"The project will be undertaken in Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, countries where farmers failed to harvest maize due to the infestation of FAW," Ekesi said during the launch in Nairobi.

Ekesi said that researchers will also be exploring weak points within the existing technology to help them find new solutions.

"We intend to focus on science-led sustainable management of FAW to find a solution to the suffering farmers," the scientist said.

He called on countries in sub-Saharan Africa where FAW has affected farms to speed up the registration of effective biopesticides for use by farmers in the management of the pest.

Since January 2016, FAW has been devastating maize and other crops in at least 43 African countries, placing at risk the food and nutrition security, and indeed the very livelihoods of more than 300 million people.

Scientists say that the larval stage of the FAW feeds on more than 80 plant species, including maize, sorghum, rice, wheat, sugarcane, as well as a variety of horticultural crops thus threatening food and nutritional security, trade, household incomes and overall economies.

Efforts to control it through conventional methods, such as use of insecticides is complicated by the fact that the adult stage of the pest is most active at night, and the infestation is only detected after damage has been caused to the crop. Enditem

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