Fall Armyworm Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS) Committee on Agriculture 26 speaker's corner

The Fall Armyworm first landed in West Africa in 2016 and has now spread over the whole continent. It has been recently reported in Yemen and India, and is most likely to spread in South east Asia and South China. This pest invades fields and cause significant damage to crops, if not well managed. FAO’s efforts to support farmers in the affected areas include amongst others the FAO Programme for Action, a global coordination project that brings together development and resource partners to maximize coordinated results and minimize duplications. FAO will train National Plant Protection Organizations, extension services, and farmers via Farmer Field Schools, to quickly get the appropriate action in the field, avoiding the pitfalls of possible miss-steps, while simultaneously filling knowledge gaps, innovating for future solutions, developing local capacities, promoting local empowerment and rural youth employment and coordinating among partners to maximize results and minimize inefficiencies. In addition, FAO developed a smartphone App - FAMEWS. FAMEWS will help farmers and extension officers to collect and record information when scouting fields and checking pheromone traps for Fall Armyworm. It also includes a talking feature – Nuru – that helps farmers to recognize Fall Armyworm in their fields. FAO’s Programme for Action and the FAMEWS application were presented during FAO’s 26th Committee on Agriculture (COAG) that took place from 1-5 October 2018.