On 25th January, Matter PR organised a sold-out event in the House of Lords to brief parlimentarians on the growing global impact of Invasive Species.

On behalf of our client CABI, we worked with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Agriculture and Food for Development to host a briefing highlighting the threat Fall Armyworm and other global invasive species pose towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

CABI’s CEO, Dr Trevor Nicholls, and Knowledge Bank Coordinator, East Africa, Dr MaryLucy Oronje, updated the meeting chaired by Lord Cameron of Dillington on the challenges presented by invasive species around the world, including losses worth billions of dollars which threaten  Africa’s maize harvest unless Fall Armyworm is successfully brought under control.

Dr Nicholls said: “The global cost of invasive species is estimated at $1.4 trillion a year – close to 5 percent of global gross domestic product. In East Africa alone, five major invasive species alone cause around $1 billion in economic losses to smallholder farmers each year. Invasive species have a wide range of devastating impacts and are fast becoming one of the most critical barriers to achieving many aspects of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.”

Fall Armyworm is one of the greatest threats and has spread rapidly across Africa. CABI estimates that it could cause maize losses costing up to US$6.1 billion per annum in 12 African countries, unless control methods are urgently put in place. Over 40 African countries have now detected and reported Fall Armyworm attack on maize.

Dr Oronje said: “In Kenya alone it is estimated that 30% of maize yields were lost to Fall Armyworm in 2017, worth around US$200 million. Governments and regional and international organisations in Africa are coming together to identify the best way to manage this pest which threatens to devastate crops and farmer livelihoods across the continent, but much more work is required to bring this invasive species under control.”

The presentations to the APPG came just a day after CABI launched the global Action on Invasives programme, funded by UK Aid and the Netherlands Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS), which aims to protect and improve the livelihoods of 50 million poor rural households impacted by invasive species. CABI and its partners are seeking a $50m investment to coordinate the Action on Invasives programme and implement a multinational invasive species framework.

Action on Invasives

For more information about the Action on Invasives programme and CABI’s work on invasive species, please visit: www.invasive-species.org