The Africa Phytosanitary Programme (APP) is an initiative of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat and the African Union Commission on Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment (ARBE). It aims to strengthen the resilience of Africa’s phytosanitary systems against plant pests of regulatory, economic, and environmental significance.
The APP seeks to boost the technical capacity of Africa’s plant health professionals by providing training, encouraging collaboration and leveraging resources, and enhancing knowledge sharing to prevent and manage the impact of plant pests in the region.
The APP will be implemented in all 54 countries in Africa. The programme is currently in its pilot phase, with implementation in 11 African countries, namely: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Sierra Leon, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Amidst climate change, increased global travel and trade, and population growth, plant pests move faster and more easily across borders, quickly adapting to new situations to survive. In the process, they destroy crops and wild plants, leaving millions of people food insecure and shrinking the livelihoods of small holder and commercial farmers alike.
It is possible but also complex and expensive to manage plant pests once they are established. Early warning and prevention are critical. Yet not all African countries have adequate technical capacity or phytosanitary infrastructure to prevent, detect and manage pests.
Agriculture and related value chains drive most economies in Africa, contributing about 40 percent of the continent’s Gross Domestic Product, 15 percent of its exports and employing between 60 and 80 percent of its population. The bulk of intra-African trade (75 percent) is in agricultural products, which will represent a major trade sector in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
However, pests cause 30–40 percent loss of crops in Africa, in pre- and post-harvest and millions of dollars are lost to managing and controlling them. From Fall Armyworm and Desert Locusts to coffee leaf rust and fruit flies, pests are a serious threat to food security in Africa and they limit the competitiveness of Africa’s agricultural products in regional and global market.
Improvements in the agriculture sector in Africa, such as developing robust pest early warning and surveillance systems, expanding the capabilities of technical human resources for plant health and using more functional phytosanitary infrastructure would improve crop production, support socio-economic development and boost trade of agricultural products within and from Africa to the world. The APP will support improving Africa’s phytosanitary technical capacity and infrastructure so that countries are always on the lookout to prevent, detect and contain pest incursions.
The African Union is currently implementing its Plant Health Strategy for Africa (2022–2036), with a goal to “Develop and implement a vibrant, robust and practical plant health system for Africa to improve food security and nutrition, improved livelihoods and trade”. APP comes in timely to support attainment of this goal, the 2023 global agenda, and FAO's strategic objectives, which are anchored in the four Betters (Better production, Better nutrition, Better environment and Better life, leaving no one behind).
The APP has eight expected outcomes:
The APP will be implemented gradually, starting with a pilot phase and covering the entire continent in five years. Phase one (pilot phase) will have 11 countries from the five FAO sub-regions in Africa. Two more countries will be added from each of the sub-regions, in phases two, three and four. In the last phase, the remaining 13 countries will join the APP. With this approach, it is expected that countries and regions will, by the end of the project, have the capacity to address pests with significant economic and environment importance to their countries and that they will collaborate in a consistent and beneficial manner.
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The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat and the African Union Commission on Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment (ARBE) are the main coordinators and implementers of the APP.
National plant protection organizations (NPPOs) are the national-level partners, responsible for carrying out the day-to-day implementation of APP in their respective countries.
At the regional level, the Inter-African Phytosanitary Council (AU-IAPSC) and the Near East Plant Protection Organization (NEPPO) — the regional plant protection organizations (RPPOs) for Africa and the Near East respectively, as well as regional economic communities (RECs), and the FAO regional, sub regional and country offices will support the work of the APP.
In terms of funding, so far, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has provided financial and in-kind resources to the programme. The programme welcomes more and diverse technical and financial support.
To contribute towards achieving the early detection of pests and to position national and regional plant protection organizations (NPPOs and RPPOs) to , and recover from plant pests in a timely manner.
Safeguarding plant health, agriculture and natural resources against the introduction and spread of plant pests and diseases by helping national plant protection organizations to improve their technical and phytosanitary capacity, through pest selection, pest surveillance, data management, and capacity development.
Promoting safe trade and expansion of international and regional market access of agricultural products by supporting NPPOs to facilitate the importation and export of agricultural products, following the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures.
