An official website of the United States government.
CABI scientists have conducted the first comprehensive study on the economic impact of a range of Invasive Alien Species (IAS) on Africa's agricultural sector, which they estimated to be USD $3.6 trillion a year. This is equivalent to 1.5 times the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of all African countries combined – or similar to that of Germany. The average annual cost of IAS per country was USD $76.32 billion. Full details of the cost for individual countries are outlined in the paper published in the journal CABI Agriculture and Bioscience.
Africa
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Spotlights
CAB International.
Stellenbosch University (South Africa).
Published recently as an open access encyclopaedic book, Biological Invasions in South Africa provides the reader with information on 1422 alien species including, among others, plants, birds, mammals, fish, terrestrial invertebrates, invasive marine organisms and disease-causing microorganisms that have naturalised or become invasive in the country. Comprising 31 chapters, it covers themes such as the history of research in South Africa, detailed accounts of major groups of plants and animals, policy development, the development of a robust ecological theory about biological invasions, the effectiveness of management interventions and scenarios for the future regarding biological invasions in the country. Biological Invasions in South Africa can be downloaded for free at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-030-32394-3.
UN. Food and Agriculture Organization.
FAO launched today a three-year Global Action for Fall Armyworm Control to scale up efforts to curb the growing spread of the invasive pest which is causing serious damage to food production and affecting millions of farmers across the world. Fall Armyworm (FAW), a crop pest native to the Americas, has rapidly spread through Africa, and to the Near East and Asia in the past four years. "It (Fall Armyworm) threatens food security of hundreds of millions of people and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers," said FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu. He made the remarks at the launch of the Global Action on the sidelines of the FAO's Council, the Organization's executive body. "This is a global threat that requires a global perspective," he stressed, urging the FAO member states "to greatly scale up the existing efforts" to prevent the further spread of this harmful pest to new regions.
Selected Resources
The section below contains highly relevant resources for this subject, organized by source. Or, to display all related content view all resources for Africa
Council or Task Force
Partnership
CABI Africa.
Synthesis Report of the UNEP/GEF Removing Barriers to Invasive Plant Management in Africa (RBIPMA) Project, implemented in four African countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia) between 2005 and 2010.
Global Invasive Species Programme.
See also: GISP Publications and Reports for additional reports for Africa
United Kingdom Government. Department for Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs. Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species.
The purpose of the project was to develop a framework for monitoring the impacts of invasive tree species on biodiversity in rural communities of Ghana (Project No. 162/9/019; 2000-2003).
Submitted by: Centre for Natural Resources and Development, NatureBureau International; Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford; Forestry Research Institute of Ghana; Ghana Organic Agriculture Network; Suntaa-Nuntaa Agroforestry
UN. FAO. Forestry Department.
The FAO Forestry Department Working Papers report on issues and activities related to the conservation, sustainable use and management of forest resources. The purpose of these papers is to provide early information on on-going activities and programmes, and to stimulate discussion. This paper is one of a series of FAO documents on forestry-related biosecurity issues.
South Africa Department of Science and Innovation. National Research Foundation.
The CIB is an inter-institutional Centre of Excellence established in 2004 within the DSI-NRF Centres of Excellence Programme. Its members undertake research on the biodiversity consequences of biological invasions, largely through post-graduate student training. The principal aims of the Centre’s work are to reduce the rates and impacts of biological invasions by furthering scientific understanding and predictive capability, and by developing research capacity.
UN. Food and Agriculture Organization.
FISNA was created in 2004 to coordinate the collation and dissemination of information relating to forest invasive species in sub-Saharan Africa for sustainable forest management and conservation of biodiversity.
East African Network for Taxonomy.
This interactive Lucid key and accompanying fact sheets provides a resource that can help those who wish to identify species of concern and to undertake management efforts to minimise their impact. Provides information for 100 of the most important invasive plant species in the East African Region.
CAB International.
See the people and communities from Africa and around the world who are affected by invasive species.
Invasive Species South Africa.
International Government
South African National Biodiversity Institute.
The Invasive Species Programme (ISP) aims to detect invasive species; assess the risk these species pose to South Africa and attempt eradication of high risk species with limited distribution.
Republic of South Africa. Water Affairs Department.
The fight against invasive alien plants is spearheaded by the Working for Water (WfW) programme, launched in 1995 and administered through the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry.