New Vision, Uganda, 14 June 2011

Scientists based in Nigeria and Kenya have begun a major push against parasitic weeds that have spread across much of Sub-Saharan Africa, causing up to $1.2b in damage every year to the maize and cowpea crops of tens of millions of small farmers.

The project, coordinated by the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), will introduce proven technologies for fighting Striga, or witchweed and Alectra. Known by some as the 'violet vampire' because of its bright purple colour, Striga attaches itself to the roots of plants like maize and cowpea and sucks out nutrients, reducing yields and destroying entire harvests.

The parasitic weeds have spread widely in Africa in recent decades. Witchweed is difficult to control because each plant produces up to half a million seeds that can remain dormant in the soil for decades. 'Africa is plagued by a plant ‘vampire’ that robs farmers of their harvest,' says Hartmann, IITA director general.

The $9m Striga project is supported by a $6.75m grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to IITA. Its goal is to help 200,000 maize farmers and 50,000 cowpea farmers who work in areas with high rates of Striga infestation in Kenya and Nigeria. By the project’s end in 2014, organisers estimate that over 250,000 individual farmers will potentially see up to 50% higher maize yields and 100% higher cowpea yields.

The four-year project will focus on improving and expanding access to methods of Striga control, while supporting research to identify the most effective means of controlling the parasitic weed under varying conditions.

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