INSIDE

TECHNICAL

COOPERATION

Vol. 3, No. 3

Sterile Insect Technique (SIT)

SIT's potential for other parts of Africa has been demonstrated on Zanzibar, where tsetse flies and trypanosomosis now appear to be problems of the past. But tsetse continue to threaten many regions of sub-Saharan Africa and to invade new agricultural areas. SIT is now being considered in a number of affected countries as a new tool in integrated area-wide tsetse eradication campaigns. One effort is already underway: the Ethiopian government and the IAEA are co-operating on the initial phase of a tsetse eradication program which is expected to evolve into a 10-year multimillion dollar activity aimed at eradicating tsetse flies from 25,000 km2 of potentially productive land in the Southern Rift Valley. Tsetse and trypanosomosis have had detrimental effects on farming in the region, and if tsetse can be eradicated, sizeable environmental and social advances will follow.

SIT could be the key missing link for integrated tsetse and trypanosomosis management in Africa. It can contribute to improving agricultural production and advance the battle against "sleeping sickness". Over the longer term, SIT may be used, together with conventional methods to establish large geographically or biologically isolated tsetse free zones. As in Zanzibar today, this could clear the way for new activities to improve the lives and health of subsistence farmers across the continent.