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.

icipe researcher featured on GEF'S 'Planet- DeTox' Dr. Clifford Mutero, who works with ICIPE and the University of Pretoria on a GEF / UNEP/ World Health Organization (WHO)-AFRO project, explains how growing dry-land crops minimizes the time that the paddies need to be wet therefore decreasing the opportunities for mosquitoes to reproduce. Read more...

ARPPIS 2013 PhD Fellowships icipe - African Insect Science for Food and Health in partnership with African University partners calls for applications for doctoral research fellowships under the African Regional Postgraduate Programme in Insect Sciences (ARPPIS). The ARPPIS programme offers 3-year doctoral research fellowships, aimed at preparing young scholars from Africa for regional leadership roles, as well as internationally competitive research careers, in arthropod-related sciences. Read more...

Training on "Possibilities for improvements to species diversity modeling" The aim of this workshop is to show the possibilities of using remote sensing (RS) variables in species diversity modeling in order to refine and improve the model predictions. All data sets and models used are available free of charge, which is set to increase the usage of the data and models the candidates are made familiar with during the course. Read more...

icipe DG visited Taiwan in March 2013 In March 2013 icipe’s DG Christian Borgemeister was invited to Taiwan by AVRDC, the World Vegetable Centre headquartered in Shanhua, Taiwan. Download and Read his trip report in the April 2013 special edition of the icipe E-Bulletin..

United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization Representatives visit icipe FAO Representative in Kenya Mr. Dan Rugabira (2nd left) and Dr. Paul Omanga (2nd right), FAO Crop Production Officer, visited icipe (3 April 2013) and held discussions with icipe’s Directors Prof. Christian Borgemeister (left) and Mr. Roger Finan (right). The deliberations largely focused on partnership strategies for the management of Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN), a new devastating plant disease that emerged in Kenya in 2011.

Status of icipe’s fungal isolates developed as biopesticides Metarhizium anisopliae ICIPE 69 and ICIPE 78-based biopesticides developed by icipe’s scientists in collaboration with the private sector, The Real IPM Company (Kenya) Ltd. Real IPM (K) Ltd has registered ICIPE 69 in Ghana where it is marketed as Campaign® for the control of mealybugs in papaya. In Kenya and Ethiopia ICIPE 69 is marketed as Real Metarhizium for the control of mealybugs in roses.

Solar energy holds vital key to sustainable exploitation of Aloe species: icipe study A study led by researchers from icipe and its partners has demonstrated the superiority of solar concentrating technology in comparison to other conventional methods, in the processing of Aloe secundiflora.

Contact Signalling in Beetles Researchers from icipe and partners at the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS), Gainesville, Florida, have identified critical chemical signals in an African beetle that invades beehives in the East African region, which enable the pest to circumvent the barriers imposed by honey bees to prevent communication among nest invaders.

European Initiative for Agricultural Research for Development (EIARD) publishes icipe's Impact Case Study on "Linking insects to forest conservation through honey and silk" Improving forest resource management and conserving biodiversity requires a strategic mix of law enforcement and community participation. Members of the Mwingi honey and silk marketplaces farm silk worms, practise beekeeping and are responsible for managing and conserving the acacia forest. Read more...

icipe researchers identify key chemicals in Rift Valley fever transmission Researchers from icipe have identified skin odours known as aldehydes, which allow mosquito vectors that transmit the Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus to opportunistically find and obtain blood meal from preferred animals. The study, which has been published in the PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases journal, shows that aldehydes are common in many animals, including sheep, goats, cows and donkeys.

A respected Spanish daily newspaper reports on icipe's Tsetse Repellent Collar A respected Spanish daily newspaper (La Vanguardia, 27th January 2013) reports on icipe's Tsetse Repellent Collar. Read full story in Spanish...

How the stink of a waterbuck could prevent sleeping sickness in Kenya A collar worn by livestock containing animal odour repellent to the tsetse fly could transform the lives of farmers in Africs. As Laila Ali is reporting in the Guardian, a group of icipe scientists is developing a powerful insect repellent using the stench of waterbucks, a common antelope in the Savannahs of East Africa.