The devastating effect of invasive alien species on agriculture in Africa

The economic cost of invasive alien species (IAS) on the African agricultural sector is estimated at $ 3.6 trillion per year, or 1.5 times the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Africa, shows the first in-depth study on the subject Towards estimating the economic cost of invasive alien species to African crop and livestock production carried out by scientists from the international organization CABI. A huge cost for African agriculture where more than 80% of people living in rural areas depend on the crops they cultivate for their food and income. The economic cost of IAS is measured through yield losses of major crops, such as maize, tomato, cassava, mango and banana, as well as labor costs through weeding and waste. income from livestock. Cassava, citrus, tomato, corn, .. impacted If several IAS are studied, Tuta absoluta causes the highest annual yield losses By crop, the biggest impact is for cassava, where Africa is the world's largest producer, with $ 21.8 billion, followed by ...