News

Zimbabwe: Mango farmers tackle an invasive fruit fly pest

Fresh Mango
Zimbabwe
Published Feb 24, 2021

Tridge summary

As the climate warms, a destructive pest is spreading its wings and damaging the livelihoods of fruit growers in southern Africa. The invasive fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, is preventing farmers like Susan Zinoro, a mango farmer from Mutoko, Zimbabwe, from literally and figuratively enjoying the fruits of their labour.

Original content

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Feb 23 2021 (IPS) - Every harvest season, Susan Zinoro, a mango farmer from Mutoko, Zimbabwe, buries half the mangoes she’s grown that season. They have already started rotting either on the tree or have fallen to the ground before harvest. It’s a difficult task for Zinoro because she knows she is throwing away food and income meant for her family. But this has been happening for the last seven years, when she first began to notice that more and more fruit would rot and litter the ground. Zinoro from Zinoro village in Mutoko, 143km north-east of Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, has earned an average $400 per season from selling mangoes over the last five years. This is a shift from many years ago when she would earn more than $1,000 a season. Related IPS Articles 60 Days on, India’s Biggest Farmers’ Protest Shows No Sign of Weakening Can Agricultural Apps Bring Indonesia’s Farmers Back to the Fields? Dengue—an Epidemic Within a Pandemic in Peru Another farmer, ...
Source: Ipsnews
By clicking “Accept Cookies,” I agree to provide cookies for statistical and personalized preference purposes. To learn more about our cookies, please read our Privacy Policy.