Proactive Management of Striga Infestation

Striga defended for farmers' empowerment

This technology is a smart ways to manage Striga and improve the health of the soil. It provides helpful techniques like using the right amount of fertilizer, recycling organic matter, and growing different crops together. This helps the plants grow strong and healthy, even in areas where Striga is a big problem.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

8•8

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 8/9

Project adoption1

Technology integrated in the ENSURE- East Africa project.

Project	Beneficiaries	Budget	Duration	Key figures
ENSURE- East Africa Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension	3,000,000 farmers.	13.14 million	2024–2027	149,940 farmer leaders & trained farmers. 9,996 trained. 2 → 3.5 t/ha.

See project details ›

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

The poor: Positive medium

Under 18: Positive medium

Women: Positive high

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Biodiversity: No impact on biodiversity

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

Water use: Same amount of water used

Problem

Underground Damage to Crop Roots by Striga
Soil Fertility Depletion and Crop Loss
Persistent Striga Seeds in Soil
Food Insecurity and Crop Failure
Lack of Effective Control Measures

Solution

Introduce Striga-resistant crop varieties and agronomic practices that prevent Striga from attaching to the roots, allowing crops to grow healthy and strong.
Implement soil enrichment techniques like organic matter recycling, crop rotation, and proper fertilization to replenish nutrients in the soil and mitigate crop loss.
Utilize targeted Striga management practices such as pre-emergence herbicides, seed dressing, and other proactive strategies to prevent Striga seeds from germinating.
By applying effective Striga control measures, farmers can significantly reduce yield losses, ensuring a more reliable and secure food supply for their communities.

Key points to design your program

Proactive Striga Management helps reduce Striga infestation, improve soil fertility, and increase sorghum and millet productivity through integrated soil and crop management practices. The technology can be integrated into food security, climate resilience, sustainable land management, and cereal value chain development programs. Its adoption contributes to SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 13 (Climate Action), and 15 (Life on Land).

To integrate this technology into your project, plan and budget for the following activities Assess Striga infestation levels, soil fertility conditions, and crop production challenges in target areas.

Facilitate access to Striga-tolerant varieties, quality inputs, and integrated Striga management solutions adapted to local farming systems.
Support training for farmers, extension agents, women’s groups, and youth agripreneurs on crop rotation, fertilizer micro-dosing, intercropping, organic matter recycling, and responsible herbicide use.
Invest in demonstration plots, extension services, and digital advisory tools to promote awareness and adoption.
Promote integrated soil fertility management practices to improve soil health and reduce long-term Striga infestation.
Support the participation of women and youth in climate-smart agriculture and sustainable farming activities.
Establish partnerships with ICRISAT, research institutes, extension services, cooperatives, seed companies, and regional organizations to support scaling and sustainability.
Track key indicators such as Striga infestation levels, sorghum and millet yields, adoption of improved practices, soil fertility improvements, and number of farmers reached.

IP

Open source / open access

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology\’s development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology\’s readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 8 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: tested

Level of use 8 out of 9

Used by some intended users, in the real world

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Project	Beneficiaries	Budget	Duration	Key figures
ENSURE- East Africa Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension	3,000,000 farmers.	13.14 million	2024–2027	149,940 farmer leaders & trained farmers. 9,996 trained. 2 → 3.5 t/ha.

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Burkina Faso	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Chad	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Ethiopia	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Mali	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Niger	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Senegal	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Sudan	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Zimbabwe	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted