Pesticide Emergency Use Authorization: An Underutilized Tool for Controlling Invasive Pests in Africa

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November 2, 2020 - Luis Suguiyama, Steven Haggblade, Joseph E. Huesing, Regina Eddy, Shavonn R. Whiten, and Dan McGrath

Luis Suguiyama, Steven Haggblade, Joseph E. Huesing, Regina Eddy, Shavonn R. Whiten, and Dan McGrath, 2020. Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Brief 124. East Lansing: Michigan State University.

Key Findings

  • Invasive pests pose special problems for farmers and regulators, particularly in cases like Africa’s current Fall Armyworm outbreak, for which no approved control agents were initially available.
  • In such emergencies, farmers respond with the only tools they have available -- off-label application of older and often toxic chemical pesticides.
  • The timely authorization of pesticide emergency use offers a regulatory tool that can help farmers respond effectively to new pests.
  • In order to quickly identify a new invasive pest species and approve effective control tools, affected countries require an early detection system and established protocols for declaring pest emergencies.
  • In issuing pesticide emergency use authorizations, regulators should give preference to known registered products and safer pest control alternatives, such as biopesticides.

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