AGRICULTURE REPORT
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June 4, 2002: Tsetse Fly Threat to Agriculture
By George Grow
(Picture -FAO)
This is the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT.
The tsetse (TSEET-see) fly is a serious problem in many parts of Africa. Tsetse flies cause problems in an area of
almost ten-million square kilometers. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says some of this
area is fertile land that could be used for agriculture. F-A-O officials say stopping the insect would help African
farmers reclaim land and increase food production.
Tsetse flies feed on the blood of humans and animals. The fly carries a parasite that
attacks the blood and nervous system of its victims. This organism causes
trypanosomiasis (tri-PAN-oh-so-MY-ah-sis), a disease known as nagana (nah-GAHnah)
in farm animals. In humans, the disease is called sleeping sickness.
Trypanosimiasis kills eighty percent of infected victims. The disease affects an
estimated five-hundred-thousand people. It kills three-million farm animals each
year.
Thirty-seven countries in Africa are affected by tsetse flies. Thirty-two of these countries are among the poorest
in the world. Each year, it costs at least six-hundred-million dollars to attempts to control the disease and in direct
losses of meat and milk production.
Jorge Hendrichs is an insect control expert with the F-A-O. He says the tsetse fly keeps people poor by
preventing them from producing the food they need to survive. The tsetse fly and trypanosimiasis have slowed
the development of agriculture in Africa. One-hundred-fifty-five -million cattle are being raised in tsetse-free
areas south of the Sahara Desert. The area of land that is tsetse-free is small. It is being overused by both cattle
and people.
One method that has proved successful in fighting the tsetse is the sterile insect treatment. Male flies treated with
radiation become sterile, or unable to reproduce. The insects then are released into areas with other flies. After
mating, the eggs of the wild females do not develop.
The F-A-O says the sterile insect treatment has been used with traps and other methods to end the tsetse fly
problem on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar. Mister Hendrichs says these efforts have no long-lasting side
effects on the environment.
Use of these methods may seem costly, especially in some parts of Africa. Yet, Mister Hendrichs says the
question is not how much such methods cost, but how much living with the tsetse costs.
This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written by George Grow.
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