icipe is a tropical organisation with a tropical agenda. But why study insects? Because in the tropics, insects are a fact of life to be reckoned with. Insects pose a greater risk to food production, often causing the loss of entire crops and destroying about half of all harvested food in storage. The 'old' tropical vector-borne diseases of malaria, dengue, kala-azar and the like are making a dramatic comeback, and frightening new ones are emerging. Livestock succumb in their millions of insect- and tick-borne diseases, resulting in loss of milk, meat and traction power.

Visit by senior officials from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and researchers from the University of Kassel-Witzenhausen The Delegation visited icipe on Thursday, 29th March 2012 and held discussions with icipe’s Director General Prof. Christian Borgemeister, where they were briefed on the on-going Research and Development activities of the Centre.

icipe’s Executive Board meeting at Harvard University On the 21st and 22nd March 2012, the Executive Board (Ex-Bo) of icipe’s Governing Council (GC) met at Harvard University in Cambridge, USA.

EU Head of Delegation visits icipe HE Ambassador Lodewijk Briët, EU Head of Delegation, and Mr Peter Sturesson, Head of Rural Development, Agriculture and Food Security Section, EU Delegation to Kenya visited icipe, on Thursday 8th March 2012.

IMPORTANT New Partnership with AATF African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) Executive Director, Dr Denis T. Kyetere and icipe Director General, Prof. Christian Borgemeister signed a Partnership Agreement on Monday, 5th March 2012 at icipe’s Duduville Campus in Nairobi.

Commercialisation Agreement with Real IPM On 13th February 2012, icipe signed a Commercialisation Agreement with Real IPM, a Kenya-based producer of bio-pesticides, for the Metarhizium anisopliae ICIPE 78 isolate.

Important New Partnership icipe and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) signed a Memorandum of Collaboration (MoC) late last year at icipe Duduville Campus, Nairobi, Kenya. In an event attended by Dr Bernard Vanlauwe, the leader of the Integrated Soil Fertility Management Program (ISFM) Program of CIAT-TSBF, the parties agreed to work together in the areas of integrated pest management, biological control, and natural resource management with a particular emphasis on soil health.

Prof. Zeyaur R. Khan designated as icipe’s first Thomas Odhiambo Distinguished Research Fellow icipe –African Insect Science for Food and Health has awarded Prof. Zeyaur R. Khan (right) its highest honour naming him the first Thomas Risley Odhiambo Distinguished Research Fellow in recognition of outstanding achievements in the advancement of agricultural science.

icipe steps up fight against fruit fly to boost mango exports International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) has imported a wasp from Hawaii to help mango farmers at the Coast fight fruit flies. The biggest threat to mango production in Africa is the pest, also known as Fopius arisanus, icipe African Fruit Fly Programme leader Dr Sunday Ekesi said.

Hope for avocado as Kenya sets wasps on fruit flies Kenya has released imported wasps to fight the invader fruit fly paving the way for the lifting of a ban that was imposed on avocado exports three years ago.

Prof. Zeyaur Khan, icipe scientist and leader of the push-pull programme, wins TWAS Prize Prof. Zeyaur Khan and Mr Remjus Asewe Bwana, a push-pull farmer in Kisumu West District observing stemborers trapped in the Napier grass border crop. In the background, a flourishing maize and Desmodium intercrop. Prof. Khan has been announced a co-winner of the 2011 TWAS Prize for Agriculture, based on his leadership of the push-pull programme.

40 Years of icipe icipe – African Insect Science for Food and Health, previously the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), is celebrating its 40th Anniversary in 2011. icipe was founded by the late Professor Thomas Risley Odhiambo, who was not only the Centre’s 1st Director but also one of Africa’s leading scientists. One of the activities to commemorate this historic occasion was the icipe Science Day, celebrated on 16th November 2011.

icipe’s Dissertation Research Internship Programme (DRIP) Call for Applications for Doctoral Training: Community participation in an innovative Malaria eradication programme

SGI Quarterly Volume 1, Issued no. 3 2011 Dear colleagues and funders to icipe, Welcome to our third edition of the quarterly Sponsoring Group of icipe (SGI) newsletter, The SGI Quarterly. In this issue we are delighted that icipe's Climate Change flagship programme supported by MoFA, Finland, commences its main operational activities after a successful inception phase.

Launch of East Africa’s First Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases Launch of East Africa’s First Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases at icipe, Duduville Campus, Kasarani Nairobi, 16th September, 2011.

Coffee Berry Borer and Climate Change icipe scientists produce first maps predicting the pest’s future distribution in East Africa.

The Fruit Fly Turf Wars Disagreements over the management of finances devoted to fruit fly control and turf wars among key agencies at the Ministry of Agriculture have prevented fruit growers in Kenya from benefitting from well researched and seemingly effective methods of controlling the pests.

Nature publishes icipe-UC Riverside research breakthrough on mosquitos A study by a team of scientists from icipe and the University of California, Riverside, USA, has found three classes of carbon dioxide (CO2) response modifying odours, which offer powerful instruments for developing new generations of mosquito repellents and lures.

New Approaches to an Old Technology It is a relatively old technology whose usefulness was until recently confined to a few farming households in the western Kenyan districts around Lake Victoria. Now, however, push–pull, a novel farming system developed by icipe, Rothamsted Research (UK) and national partners in East Africa, is raising interest from beyond Kenya's borders and scientists think it holds the key to unravelling the challenges climate change portends to farmers in drier parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

40 Years of icipe There is a popular saying that “life begins at forty”. Its inherent meaning is that, at the age of forty, an individual will have had enough experience and accomplishments to open a new, fresh and informed chapter of their life. We believe the same argument can apply to an institution and are proud to mark this auspicious landmark.