Socioeconomic and health impacts of fall armyworm in Ethiopia

PLoS One. 2021 Nov 4;16(11):e0257736. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257736. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Since 2016, fall armyworm (FAW) has threatened sub-Saharan 'Africa's fragile food systems and economic performance. Yet, there is limited evidence on this transboundary pest's economic and food security impacts in the region. Additionally, the health and environmental consequences of the insecticides being used to control FAW have not been studied. This paper presents evidence on the impacts of FAW on maize production, food security, and human and environmental health. We use a combination of an agroecology-based community survey and nationally representative data from an agricultural household survey to achieve our objectives. The results indicate that the pest causes an average annual loss of 36% in maize production, reducing 0.67 million tonnes of maize (0.225 million tonnes per year) between 2017 and 2019. The total economic loss is US$ 200 million, or 0.08% of the gross domestic product. The lost production could have met the per capita maize consumption of 4 million people. We also find that insecticides to control FAW have more significant toxic effects on the environment than on humans. This paper highlights governments and development partners need to invest in sustainable FAW control strategies to reduce maize production loss, improve food security, and protect human and environmental health.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Africa, Northern
  • Agriculture / economics*
  • Animals
  • Ethiopia
  • Humans
  • Insecticide Resistance / genetics*
  • Insecticides / economics
  • Insecticides / pharmacology*
  • Larva / genetics
  • Larva / parasitology
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Spodoptera / drug effects
  • Spodoptera / pathogenicity*
  • Zea mays / growth & development
  • Zea mays / parasitology

Substances

  • Insecticides

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the USAID Feed the Future IPM Innovation Lab, Virginia Tech (Grant No. AID-OAA-L-15-00001); the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD, Grant No. RAF-3058 KEN-18/0005); and the European Commission (Grant No. DCI-FOOD/2018/402-634). We also acknowledge the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) core support provided by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), UK; the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida); the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; and the Kenyan Government. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.