Overcoming the Fruit Fly Pest in Zimbabwe

The COMESA region recognises horticulture as having great potential for trade if fully exploited. With this in mind, COMESA has put in place policies, systems, regulations and procedures to create a conducive and transparent environment for conducting regional and international agricultural trade with forward and backward linkages from the farmer to the market. Main markets include the COMESA region itself, the European Union (EU) and Asia. However, a key concern in horticultural production, specifically for fruits and vegetables production is the notorious fruit fly pests which causes damage to crops. The fruit fly also presents challenges for market access to regional and international markets alike. For instance, it is estimated that of the 1.9 million tons of mangoes produced annually in Africa, 30-35% (up to 760.000 tons) are destroyed by fruit flies. Additionally, quarantine restrictions imposed on affected imports of fruits and vegetables, result in significant costs to the exporter. Zimbabwe, a growing producer and exporter of fresh fruits and vegetable in the COMESA region, produces a wide range of fruits that include apples, avocado, citrus, banana, coffee, guava, mangoes, peaches as well as vegetables such as cucurbits, bell peppers, eggplants and tomatoes. The Fruit Fly surveillance programme in Zimbabwe began in 2010, with funds from the government as well as individual commercial farmers, who set up a fruit fly trapping network for early warning, against fruit fly with particular focus on B. dorsalis.