UGANDA

Enhancing national capacity for the FOCUS:

management of Fall Armyworm (FAW) FALL ARMYWORM

Training and mobilizing communities and extension personnel

to monitor and respond to FAW
Understanding the problem

F
all Armyworm (FAW) is an insect pest native to tropical and subtropical regions of the
Americas. Since Uganda’s first case was reported in 2016, FAW has spread across
sub-Saharan Africa, causing extensive and widespread damage, particularly to maize
crops. By mid-2017, FAW was present in all of Uganda’s districts, causing between
15 and 75 percent yield loss. An estimated 450 000 metric tonnes of maize, or ten
percent of Uganda’s annual yield – equivalent to USD192 million – was lost during the
first cropping season of 2017, directly affecting 3.6 million people, or close to ten
percent of the population.
About four million farmers in Uganda grow maize, producing four million metric tonnes
annually. Maize is also one of the most affordable sources of calories in the country,
making FAW a serious threat to both livelihoods and food security in Uganda.
At the onset of the outbreak in Uganda, farmers were advised to use pesticides to control
and manage the pest; however, their effectiveness is not only variable but also financially

©FAO/Agatha Ayebazibwe
unsustainable for small-scale maize farmers. The sustainable option for the management
of this transboundary pest is community-based, integrated pest management (IPM)
– an approach that embraces a combination of effective, economical and safe responses.
Regular surveillance and physical monitoring of plants facilitates early detection and
taking appropriate action. This reduces the risk of a full-blown outbreak – which can
destroy an entire crop in a week if left unchecked. Farmer field schools (FFS) and other
community-based approaches are vital for effective grassroots action to deal with this
invasive pest, which has come to stay.
FAO’s response KEY FACTS
In November 2017, FAO began implementing the two-year project ‘Support to Enhance
National Capacity for the Management of Fall Armyworm (FAW) in Uganda,’ which 450 000 MT of maize lost to FAW in
Uganda in 2017
aims to protect the livelihoods and food security of populations living in FAW–affected or
at risk areas and develop the capacities of key stakeholders in surveillance, monitoring More than 100 000 small holder
and management of FAW. The anticipated project outputs are: farmers and 1 500 maize growing
• FAW surveillance, monitoring and community-based district and national households supported by FAO
(integrated) early warning system established and impact assessment undertaken
to inform action on management 300 agriculture extension personnel
and district/sub-county level
• FAW integrated management promoted/strengthened
government officials trained
• Public awareness about FAW improved
• Institutional coordination framework strengthened USD 600,000
The project employs FAO’s FFS approach: an innovative, participatory and interactive mobilized by FAO since 2016
learning methodology that emphasizes problem solving and discovery-based learning.
Geographic coverage of FAO
FFS aims to build farmers’ capacity to analyze their production systems, identify problems,
response (districts)
test possible solutions, and eventually encourage the participants to adopt the practices Mukono, Iganga, Bulambuli,
most suitable to their own farming systems. This national initiative is complemented Nakapiripirit, Lira, Amuru,
by a sub-regional project entitled ‘Establishing an emergency community–based Fall Kiryandongo, Adjumani, Kasese,
Armyworm monitoring, forecasting, early warning and management system in eastern Kibaale, Busia, Soroti, Masindi,
Africa.’ Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), this initiative Kayunga and Luwero districts
reinforces the outputs outlined above. In 2017, FAO also facilitated the participation
of staff from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) in In partnership with
The Government of Uganda and
sub-regional and regional trainings, which sought to reinforce national research
the United States Agency for
capacities and enhance active surveillance and response, respectively.
International Development (USAID)
 PARTNERSHIPS AND RESOURCES Severity of FAW damage as of
June 2018
Providing USD 483 000 in funding, FAO is implementing
the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) project
in partnership with the Crop Protection Department
of MAAIF. Additionally Uganda has benefitted from
USD 100 000 as part of a FAW sub-regional project for
Eastern Africa funded by USAID. On the national level,
approximately USD 3 million (of which about 20 percent
from FAO) has been mobilized to address FAW in Uganda;
however, an estimated USD 7.82 million is still needed to
meet the needs identified by the Government’s three-year
FAW action plan, which calls for the integration of lessons
learned into the up-scaling of current activities to all districts,
increasing the support available for active surveillance and
expanding FAW awareness-raising activities to all affected
and/or at-risk farmers.

GOING FORWARD
By the end of the TCP project’s implementation, FAO will
reach more than 100 000 smallholder farmers and 1 500
maize-growing households in the most affected districts
(as assessed in early 2017) with information, training,
awareness materials and equipment such as pheromone
traps and personal protective equipment, to facilitate FAW ©FAO/Monitoring and Evaluation Unit
management – with a focus on using the FFS approach. FAO
will support national coordination efforts on FAW and will train about 300 agriculture extension personnel in FAW identification
and management. While identifying beneficiaries, FAO gives special consideration to female-headed households (30 percent
of beneficiaries) as well as youth, persons with disabilities or chronic illnesses, and the elderly.

Data collected through the FAW Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS) mobile application will be used to track
and report on FAW infestation in almost real time, meaning that when farmers and agriculture extension workers use the mobile
application, they will actively participate in the community-based surveillance and monitoring of FAW. The monitoring system
will benefit communities dependent on maize for food and income. Early detection, and as a result, collecting and analyzing
information, is essential for tracking and efficiently responding to the large-scale threat posed by FAW. To this end, FAO is
working with MAAIF to ensure that FAMEWS is widely used by farmers, communities and extension agents as well as helping
raise awareness among farmers about FAW and about the FAMEWS application through the media and other fora. Additional
support is required to ensure that this application comes into use nation-wide and that all affected support can access technical
assistance to fully understand how to use it as a reporting tool.
©FAO/Agatha Ayebazibwe

FAO Representation in Uganda

CONTACT:

Plot 88 Buganda Road, Wandegeya

P.O. Box 521, Kampala
Tel: +256 414 349916/7
CA1324EN/1/08.18
CA1324EN/1/08.18

E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.fao.org
© FAO, 2018
© FAO, 2018

Twitter: @FAOUganda

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