The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Inter-Africa Phytosanitary Council of the African Union (AU-IAPSC) are moving forward in developing a rapid alert and response system for plant pests and diseases in Africa.

FAO and AU-IAPSC said they will establish a regional surveillance network, starting with the Eastern Africa region before extending to the rest of the continent.

FAO noted its experience in the area of early warning systems given its participation in the global framework for the progressive control of TADs, the Global Early Warning Systems and the Emergency Prevention System.

AU-IAPSC’s Dr. Jean Gérard Mezui M’ella said that the African Union Commission would implement a permanent rapid response system for crop pests and diseases. He decried the lack of capacity in Africa for early warning and pointed that this is a real threat to food security on the continent because of the damage to crops, FAO said.

M’ella explained that cases like the fruit fly, the Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease, Cassava Brown Streak Disease and Banana Xanthomonas Wilt  entered Africa unnoticed in the past and “their spread is now causing serious damage to many countries in the region while neighboring countries are being threatened,” according to FAO.

“While it is always breaking news when there is an animal disease outbreak that causes death of several animals, we hardly get to hear of an outbreak in plant diseases in the same mass media. We need to set up systems that ensure plant diseases are also highlighted with the same zeal,” FAO quoted Esther Kimani of Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services as saying.