P. Neuenschwander, C. Borgemeister and J. Langewald. Editors
CABI Publishing (in association with ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation)
Wallingford, Oxon, UK
2003, 414 pp.
Price: $140
ISBN: 0-85199-639-6

This book is the result of an adventurous undertaking to provide a review of biological control across a broad spectrum of integrated pest management (IPM) systems in Africa. Africa is a massive continent with diverse climates and ecosystems, diverse agriculture, and many cultures and languages, which make this task an ambitious one indeed. The editors have done a good job of selecting noted authors and addressing a spectrum of systems. The book includes 24 chapters contributed by numerous African scientists and scientists from other continents (62 contributors from 19 countries) brought together to provide a comprehensive overview of the history of biological control on the continent, success stories and failures, and work in progress at the time of writing. It is encouraging to see the extent and quality of biological control work in Africa and the diversity of approaches reported, including the extensive use of entomopathogens. The contributions are not limited to insect IPM, but also include weed management, nematode management, and even biological control of plant diseases. I was surprised that IPM in citrus and deciduous fruit production—both of which are agricultural industries into which biological control has been effectively incorporated—was omitted.

The first chapter, by D. J. Greathead, sets the scene for this book, providing a historical overview of biological control in Africa. Greathead examines implementation of biological control during different periods, summarizes the success rate of natural enemies, and examines how the application of biological control has changed over time. The next 22 chapters detail various biological control programs, most of which specifically address pests such as cassava mealybugs, potato tuber moths, whiteflies, and other key pests. In each case, an overview of the problem is given, and the various biological control efforts (and other IPM alternatives in many cases) explored are summarized.

Anyone interested in determining what work has been done in the various systems will not be disappointed; each chapter provides a good overview. The authors of most chapters provide a reasonable synopsis of how biological control is integrated with alternative pest and weed suppression tactics. However, I thought that, in general, there was little synthesis of the data presented in terms of why some programs were successful and others failed. Being a complex topic, this may well be a pursuit probably beyond the scope of this book and better suited to a separate volume. Nevertheless, the book certainly meets its objective of showing how biological control forms a common basis for many IPM systems in Africa.

Several chapters discuss the needs of small-scale farmers in Africa. In the final chapter, Neuenschwander et al. examine the importance of biological control for increasing productivity, reducing poverty, and enhancing environmental improvement in Africa. The authors of the final chapter point out that African agriculture is sadly unproductive relative to the needs of the continent. They examine why this is so, and offer suggestions on sustainable solutions offered by IPM systems based on biological control strategies. They also link earlier chapters in the book in this chapter, showing how each case study has contributed to improving the situation in Africa. Interactions between researchers, extension personnel, and farmers are discussed—this is a crucial aspect of effective IPM implementation in Africa (and anywhere else, really), and deserves more attention. This chapter provides a good conclusion to the book, ending the book on an optimistic note.

I expect that this book should be of interest to anyone working in agricultural pest management in Africa, including students of IPM. The content of this book should be relevant to researchers and students in many other regions as well, particularly the tropics, and of course in regions that have pests of African origin.

Mark G. Wright
Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences
University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
3050 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI 96822.
markwrig@hawaii.edu
American Entomologist
Vol. 51, No.4, Winter 2005