The Integrated Pest Management in Subsistence Agriculture Project

The "Integrated Pest Management in subsistence agriculture (IPM)" is located in four Member States. For the first two years in the project cycle, the major objective will be to guarantee food security by applying integrated pest management techniques with the aim of reducing crop losses due to pests. The project will carry out the following activities in order to attain this objective:

• Set up four functional units specialized in IPM techniques in research institutions across the region (IRAD of Maroua in Cameroon; INRAN of Niamey in Niger; University of Maiduguri in Nigeria; ITRAD of N'Djamena in Chad;
• Ensure technical supervision of 20 (twenty) already identified pilot villages; 5 (five) in each of the four countries;
• Set up village brigades for integrated pest management;
• Ensure technical supervision of these brigades through national extension and crop protection services;
• Determine a harmonious cost-effective list of IPM techniques for all kinds of pests amongst which farmers could choose those corresponding to their needs;
• Issue pamphlets in local languages to disseminate these details;
• Develop relationships with national and regional research institutes, including national supervising services.
• Basically, the project will develop a research-development component and a training component throughout its cycle.

Funding for the project has been obtained in the form of a donation from the African Development Bank Group amounting to 1.4 million A.U. or 1,358 million CFAF. The project will actually kick off in January 2002.