Invasive alien species threaten agriculture and biodiversity in Africa: Study

A recent study shows that Africa may lose about $3.66 trillion annually due to impact of Invasive alien species (IAS) on agriculture.

About Invasive alien species (IAS):

• The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines an alien species as a species introduced outside of its natural range.
• They may be brought in by people accidentally or intentionally into regions where they do not exist. 
• An alien species becomes invasive once it threatens biological diversity, food and economic security, and human health and well-being.
• They may lack natural predators in their new environments, allowing them to quickly increase their abundance and spread.
• They can carry diseases, outcompete or prey on native species, alter food chains, and even change ecosystems by, for example, altering soil composition or creating habitats that encourage wildfires.
• These impacts can lead to local or global extinctions of native species and eventual ecological devastation.

Impact in Africa:

• Africa may lose about $3.66 trillion annually from the impact of the IAS on agriculture and other vital food production programmes.
• Cassava in Ghana, for example, is a main staple crop and contributes about 22 per cent and 30 per cent to the agricultural gross domestic product and daily calories intake, respectively.
• The crop can be at risk from cassava brown streak virus which can reduce yields by up to 70 per cent.
• Maize lethal necrosis, a disease caused by co-infection of Maize chlorotic mottle virus and Sugarcane mosaic virus was first reported in Kenya in 2011 but has since been reported in Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Tanzania.