article · Agriculture & Food Security
Cereals represent the most cultivated and traded crops globally for food, feed, and industrial uses, with Africa accounting for 27 percent of global production. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the cultivation of staples including maize, rice, wheat, millet, and sorghum faces severe threats from pests and weeds. The fall armyworm reduces maize production by 21 to 53 percent, whilst stem borers cause 82 percent of maize losses in Kenya. Uncontrolled infestations of Imperata cylindrica weeds lead to around 50 percent maize yield loss in Nigeria, and parasitic Striga weeds affect over 64 percent of African cereal lands, causing losses between 10 and 100 percent. Furthermore, granivorous birds cause 15 to 20 percent damage in semi-arid regions, and multimammate rats inflict up to 48 percent losses in maize fields. Changing climatic conditions, particularly drought and flooding, threaten to exacerbate these agricultural pressures across the continent.
Cereal crops are vital for food security and industrial supply in Africa, yet immense volumes are routinely lost to insects, weeds, birds, and rodents. As climate change brings more frequent droughts and floods, these biological threats will probably escalate. Understanding the precise scale of damage caused by specific pests helps agricultural planners and researchers prioritise interventions to protect staple food supplies across vulnerable regions.
The abstract does not indicate a specific commercial application pathway or technology readiness level, focusing instead on quantifying the agricultural damage caused by various pests. However, the identified loss rates highlight critical target areas for agritech enterprises and agrochemical developers seeking to design pest-control interventions, weed-management products, and rodent-deterrent solutions tailored to Sub-Saharan cereal farming systems.
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Abstract Cereals are the most cultivated and traded crops for food, feed, and industrial uses worldwide. Among other producing regions, Africa hosts 27% of the world's total cereal production. Like other staple crops, the production of cereals such as maize, rice, wheat, millet and sorghum in Sub-Saharan Africa is threatened by herbivorous pests and weeds leading to significant losses. The fall armyworm insect ( Spodoptera frugiperda ) reduces maize production by 21–53%, while the stem borers ( Busseola fusca ) account for 82% of all maize losses in Kenya. About 50% of yield loss in maize has been attributed to Imperata cylindrica infestations in Nigeria if not controlled. Parasitic weeds such as Striga spp. infest over 64% of cereal-cultivated lands in Africa resulting in yield losses of up to 10–100% loss. Granivorous birds such as Quelea spp. are responsible for an average of 15–20% cereal production damage in semi-arid zones of Africa. Rodents such as the multimammate rat also pose a threat causing 48% yield losses on maize fields across Sub-Saharan Africa. With a changing climate resulting in drought and flooding, the threat of these cereal pests is likely to intensify. Hence, this review presents an elaborate overview of current pathogens whose threat to cereal production in Africa might increase due to changing climatic conditions.
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DOI: 10.1186/s40066-024-00470-8
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