ACR Vol. 12 - Okonya, Joshua: Towards understanding the effects of climate change on the sweet potato insect pests Acraea acerata Hewiston and Cylas puncticollis Boheman and their management in Africa

Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) production in Africa faces significant threats from the African sweetpotato weevil (Cylas puncticollis Hewiston) and the sweetpotato butterfly (Acraea acerata Boheman), which are the most important pests of sweetpotato in tropical Africa. With global warming, understanding how increased temperatures will affect these pests' distribution and population dynamics is crucial. The research findings presented in this book resulted from an assessment of smallholder farmers' climate change coping strategies, field evaluation of pest incidence and severity across Ugandan agroecological zones and the prediction of future pest distribution risks using temperature-based phenology models. Development of effective pest management strategies for the two pests requires not only a good understanding of the social and economic production constraints faced by sweetpotato farmers but also from a holistic view of the effects of global warming on the key insect pests of sweetpotato in Africa. These findings offer valuable insights for improving pest risk assessments and developing adaptive pest management strategies in agro-ecological zones with similar farming systems and temperature conditions in Africa.