Nigeria unveils 10-year agrifood strategy aligned with AU Kampala Declaration
Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security will present a 10-year Agrifood System Strategy and Action Plan to the Federal Executive Council for approval, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Senator Abubakar Kyari said at an Agrifood System Working Group meeting in Abuja on July 23, 2026. The plan, developed under the African Union Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Kampala Declaration (2026–2035), targets a 2.45% increase in agrifood output, a tripling of intra-African agricultural trade, a 50% reduction in post-harvest losses, mobilization of $100 billion in public and private investment, and halving of the gender productivity gap by 2035. Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Senator Atiku Bagudu said Nigeria's food security depends on its more than 42 million agricultural households and cited recent reforms including the creation of a Ministry of Livestock Development, a National Agricultural Development Fund, and a Guaranteed Price Model covering two million smallholder farmers. Minister of Women Affairs Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim said closing the gender yield gap is a formal obligation under the Kampala Declaration, pointing to the Nigeria for Women Programme and the Women Agro Value Expansion Initiative as supporting measures.
Pasture mealybug from Australia threatens U.S. sugarcane
An Australian insect, the pasture mealybug, has been detected in 14 Louisiana parishes and in Florida, threatening the U.S. sugarcane crop, according to reporting from July 24, 2026. LSU AgCenter entomologist Blake Wilson said there is "no playbook" to eradicate the pest because it is not a known sugarcane pest in its native Australia. Louisiana is the largest U.S. sugarcane producer with more than 500,000 acres planted this year, followed by Florida with about 400,000 acres. Farmers have received a federal Section 18 emergency use exemption to spray the insecticides Sivanto Prime and Admire Pro in an effort to manage outbreaks while longer-term solutions are developed.
Colorado and Texas prepare for New World screwworm return
New World screwworm, eradicated from the United States in 1966, was detected in South Texas in June 2026 and has since expanded northward in Texas, with one case reported in New Mexico as of July 23, 2026, according to reporting from July 24, 2026. The Colorado Department of Agriculture has activated a multiagency response plan coordinating with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and the USDA, while animals entering Colorado from affected states now require certificates for movement issued by an animal health official. Cases have been confirmed in Zavala and La Salle Counties in Texas, with the USDA reopening a modernized sterile-fly production facility in Metapa, Mexico, completing a sterile-fly dispersal facility at Moore Air Base in February 2026, and breaking ground on a separate production facility in April. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has said the administration has been working on screwworm issues since the beginning of the term and that the pest's arrival had been predicted the previous summer.
Sterile-fly researchers develop male-only screwworm strain
Researchers at the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas are developing a male-only strain of sterile New World screwworm fly known as Novofly that eliminates females at an early stage inside the production facility, according to reporting from July 24, 2026. Research geneticist Alex Arp, now working at the COPEG sterile fly facility in Panama, said laboratory batches produce a few thousand flies while a full-scale facility may need to produce approximately 15 million flies daily. Lab director Kim Lohmeyer said the male-only strain could roughly double the number of useful sterile flies produced while reducing radiation, costs and other resources, with a goal of releasing 500 million sterile flies per week to eradicate the pest. Novofly is not currently being used in the sterile-insect program.
NATO-backed Miscanthus trial tests soil cleanup near Bucha
Researchers from Jan Evangelista Purkyne University (UJEP) in the Czech Republic are testing giant Miscanthus, a fast-growing grass reaching roughly 13 feet, on war-damaged land near Bucha, Ukraine, as part of a NATO-backed phytoremediation project, according to reporting from July 24, 2026. UJEP environmental scientist Josef Trogl said the goal is to revitalize contaminated areas while producing biomass, noting that the plant sends up to 40% of its photosynthesis-derived organic material into the soil through its roots. Co-author Ember Morrissey of West Virginia University said the grass is "capable of growing on degraded and contaminated soils and produces extensive root systems that can accumulate metals while simultaneously restoring soil organic matter." The researchers cautioned that the process is slow and could take years before damaged farmland is ready to resume production.
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