Striga (witchweed) is a parasitic weed that seriously constrains the productivity of staples such as maize, sorghum, millet and upland rice in Sub-Saharan Africa. The weed survives by siphoning off water and nutrients from the crops for its own growth. It causes serious damage to its host crop before emerging from the soil by producing phytotoxins which are harmful to the host crop. Upon attachment to host roots, it withdraws photosynthates, minerals and water, resulting in characteristic 'witch' appearance of the host crop manifested by stunting and withering. Striga infests as much as 40 million hectares of smallholder farmland in the region and causes yield losses ranging from 20–80% and even total crop failure in severe infestation. Striga seeds remain dormant and viable in the soil for up to 20 years. With every planting season, some of the dormant Striga seeds, stimulated by crop exudates, germinate and infest the host crop while reproducing and increasing the Striga seeds in the soil thus escalating the problem. AATF is collaborating in a public/private sector partnership to promote technological interventions for the management of Striga in maize in Africa.

Objective

To enable smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to appropriate Striga management technologies such as seed of Imazapyr-resistant maize (IR-Maize), Striga tolerant maize varieties and suppression and trap cropping management systems.

The problem

The damage caused annually by Striga in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated at US$ 1 billion, affecting the livelihoods of more than 100 million people. Fifteen countries of eastern, southern and western Africa account for 95% of the continent’s Striga infested fields.

AATF Interventions

• Facilitating negotiations for release of herbicide-resistant maize seed
• Development and implementation of a technology stewardship plan focused on seed stockists and maize farmers
• Facilitate testing of improved soil fertility management solutions
• Facilitating herbicide registration process
• Facilitating baseline studies to benchmark Striga incidences and adoption studies to evaluate technology uptake and use 

 Partner Institutions

     International

• CIMMYT – International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
• BASF – A private chemical company
• Weizmann Institute of Science , Israel
• TSBF-CIAT – Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Program of the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture
• IITA – International Institute of Tropical Agriculture

• KARI – Kenya Agricultural Research Institute
• Ministry of Agriculture 
• WeRATE – The Western Regional Alliance for Technology  Evaluation: A consortium of NGOs, community based organisations and farmers' organisations
• Local private seed companies – Western Seed, Lagrotech and Kenya Seed

     Uganda

• NARO – National Agricultural Research Organisation
• FICA – Farm Inputs Care Centre Ltd
• Africa 2000 Network
• NAADS – National Agricultural Advisory Services

     Tanzania

• Ministry of Agriculture
• Tanseed International Ltd
• ARI – Agricultural Research Institute, Mwanza

     Malawi

• University of Malawi, Bunda College
• Zum Seed Ltd
• Ministry of Agriculture
• Chitedze Research Station