New technique successful in combating tsetse fly, says FAO

With nearly 10 million square kilometres of Africa infested by tsetse fly, a new method, the sterile insect technique, has proved successful in combating tsetse fly especially when used in combination with traditional methods such as traps and insecticides. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on 10 May, that the technique, whereby male flies are sterilised through radiation and then released into the tsetse-infested areas where they mate, brings down the reproductive rate of the whole population leading to extinction. "The technique, used in combination with traditional methods, such as traps and insecticide, was successful in ridding the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar of the tsetse in 1997," the statement said. "Tsetse is a poverty fly," the statement reported Jorge Hendrichs, a FAO expert in insect and pest control as saying. "It keeps people poor by preventing them from producing the food they need to survive," he added. He noted diseases transmitted by the fly are major impediments to the development of sustainable agricultural systems in the region, hitting rural people in the most indebted countries in Africa. According to FAO, the advantage of using the sterile insect technique is that, unlike the traditional methods, it is most effective at low population levels in dealing with the last remaining flies. The sterile insect technique package (sterile males released once a week over a period of 18 months) requires an investment similar to the cost of applying conventional methods over two to eight years, the release said. Trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness, is one of the most devastating diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, killing 80 percent of infected victims. It affects an estimated total of 500,000 people, kills 3 million livestock animals each year and reduces the productivity of animals. Of the 37 countries infested, 32 are among the poorest in the world. Nagana is also caused by the Tsetse fly. "National authorities will begin work soon to develop tsetse-free zones in three areas of sub-Saharan Africa, the cotton belt of West Africa, the southern Rift Valley of Ethiopia and Botswana," FAO said.