Africa: Mango industry calls for collaborative fruit fly offensive
The group, which numbers over 200 growers, said the identification of the area as being affected by the fly, was making exports difficult.
Mr David Opoku Sarfo, chairman of KIMFA states that government to government protocols are necessary, along with closer grower cooperation, if the industry is to be able to develop mean to cope with this issue.
He said that the fight against the fly was proving difficult as the pest was present in many places and there was virtually nothing in place to prevent it from cross border migration.
Ghana was cited as an example of an upcoming mango export region that was likely to lose out as a result of infestation. A Ghanan mango consignment has already been rejected by the South African authorities for this very reason in 2008, leading to a ban in the country.
Sarfo said that there was growing demand for mangoes in European markets and control of the fly was essential if the West African industry were to be able to capitalise on this.
Source: GNA
