International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE)
About Company
icipe opened an office in Uganda in 2012. Based in Tororo, eastern Uganda, the office was mandated to disseminate the Centre’s Push-Pull technology, with support from the programme team based at the icipe Thomas Odhiambo campus, Mbita, on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya. These early efforts enabled the expansion of the technology to four districts in eastern Uganda.
At the end of 2014, Girma Hailu was appointed head of the office, with the role of continuing to expand Push-Pull while also elevating the set-up to national status.
One of the first milestones was the relocation of the icipe office to Mbale town (some 50 kilometres from Tororo), a hub of regional and international development focused institutions. This move provided proximity, opportunities for collaborations and partnerships, and enhanced icipe’s visibility among key stakeholders.
A second accomplishment was boosting of staff capacity to upscale Push-Pull in the short term, and other icipe technologies in the long term. The focus included training in aspects such as the science of Push-Pull, communication, ethical practices, principles of collaborations among others. Today, the icipe Uganda Office is composed of one scientist, six technicians, and several youth on internships.
A third achievement was a shift in the strategy of disseminating the Push-Pull technology. Initially, the office partnered with the local administration, farmer groups and farmer teachers at county level, for example by using forums convened for other community purposes to create awareness on Push-Pull.
Soon, the team identified other avenues that enhance the technology dissemination and retention through working with local level institutions such as farmer groups. Although this provided a lot of opportunity to reach farmers within short time the team realized that farmer group members come from different villages whic led to led to fragmented adoption, inadequate visibility and less opportunity to link Push-pull with other technologies.
Therefore, starting in 2016, the researchers started considering options to promote Push-Pull at community level which will eventually lead to landscape level technology dissemination which is instrumental for striga and Fall armyworm management. The office also hired land, and set up Push-Pull demonstration and on-station research sites at the Tororo Cooperative College which is used for training.
A fourth aspect was the combining of synergies with various partners including food For the Hungry and Send a Cow, two non-governmental organisations working in Uganda, as well the Technology Transfer Unit (TTU), through the Push-Pull sub-Saharan Africa project, funded by Biovision Foundation for Ecological Development, Switzerland, which has contributed to expanding the technology in Uganda.
So far, 51,000 farmers, have been trained, out of which 20,000 (47% of them women) have adopted the technology. Over 50 field days have been held, and about 1460 farmer groups, with 30 members each, have been reached. Close to 390 pupils in
What We Do
Why insect research?
Insects and other arthropods are the most diverse and abundant forms of life on earth. They are also a paradox within the sustainable growth equation especially in tropical regions such as Africa where, on the one hand, they contribute to developmental stagnation because of their ability to severely reduce the output of humans, animals and plants. On the other, because of their tremendous biodiversity, insects harbour great potential for development.
In Africa, insects pests are a key component among complexities of water scarcity, land degradation and poor soil health, which continue to hinder agricultural productivity and food security. In some instances, insects cause the loss of entire crops in the field, and in others, they destroy significant amounts of harvested food in storage. They also limit the potential of the continent’s emerging horticultural sector by reducing yield quality and quantity, and by necessitating the use of harmful pesticides, leading to the rejection of produce from Africa in lucrative export markets.
Some insects are also disease vectors and are responsible for the transmission of dilapidating human and livestock diseases, exacerbating Africa’s already disproportionate share of the global disease burden. Such diseases include malaria (transmitted by mosquitoes), human and animal trypanosomosis, commonly known as sleeping sickness and nagana respectively, which are transmitted by tsetse. Other vector-borne diseases are: dengue, kala-azar, Rift Valley fever and yellow fever.
Many people in Africa, especially those living in fragile and marginalised areas rely on insect biodiversity, for instance beekeeping and silk rearing. However, factors related to population growth and poverty, the inability to harness natural resources sustainably, and indeed, the strategies that are used to control harmful insects, are bringing about changes that are adversely affecting ecosystems, and the benefits that people obtain from them. In addition, the impacts of climate change will most significantly be felt in Africa, possibly pushing communities further into poverty and placing more pressure on the environment.
Underlying all these issues is a weak and under-resourced infrastructure for scientific research, and the lack of adequate capacity to deal with the negative aspects of insects, and to harness their positive attributes.
