VZCZCXRO7048
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHTO #1255/01 3510642
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 160642Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9717
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0152
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0142
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON 1310
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 001255 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ECIN ECON ETRD EINV MZ SF
SUBJECT: FRUIT FLIES MENACE MOZAMBIQUE EXPORTS 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY:  In September and October, an ongoing 
fruit fly infestation resulted in a ban on Mozambican fruit 
and vegetable exports to South Africa and Swaziland, causing 
significant damage to farmers, particularly banana exporters 
who lost an estimated $2 million.  Thanks to quick action by 
USDA officers (FAS and APHIS) working from the Embassy in 
Pretoria, the South African and Mozambican governments, the 
private sector, and Eduardo Mondlane University, the South 
African restrictions on banana producers were lifted and 
exports resumed.  Trade restrictions remain in place in other 
areas, notably for mangoes from the Manica region.  Farmers 
worry that this infestation may not only raise food security 
concerns, but also cause a fall in consumer confidence and 
investor flight from what could be a significant investment 
success story for Mozambique -- large-scale export-driven 
plantation agriculture.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  The fruit fly species, Bactrocera invadens (Bi), 
attacks a variety of fruit and vegetables, including citrus 
fruit, bananas, guavas, mangoes, melons, avocados, tomatoes, 
and pumpkins.  Originally detected in Africa in 2003, this 
fruit fly is spreading quickly, and is an especially 
aggressive pest that can have significant economic impact on 
farmers. In an emergency September meeting between the 
Mozambican and the South African Agriculture Agencies, the 
governments confirmed two cases of fruit fly infestation, 
found in two separate instances in traps on the Vanduzi 
plantation in Manica province near the border with Zimbabwe. 
 
------------------------------------- 
FRUIT FLY CLOSES BORDER TO AG EXPORTS 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  As a result of the detection, the South African 
and Swaziland borders were subsequently closed to Mozambican 
fruit and vegetable exports in order to protect South African 
agricultural products from infestation.  Due to the joint 
timely efforts of USDA in Pretoria, Government of 
Mozambique's (GRM) Plant Protection Office, the private 
sector, and Eduardo Mondlane University, a surveillance and 
monitoring program was established in the key banana 
producing areas around Maputo.  As a result of this 
aggressive monitoring effort, it was determined that the pest 
has not moved into the southern region, and with no 
additional cases of fruit fly infestation reported, South 
African authorities agreed in October to allow imports of 
bananas from areas under surveillance, as long as no further 
detections occurred.  In the Manica area, South Africa will 
require one year's worth of negative trapping results before 
it lifts the ban on imports from that area.  Meanwhile an 
internal ban remains on the movement of any fruit from Manica 
and Niassa provinces, either for export or to other parts of 
Mozambique. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
USDA (FAS and APHIS) PLAYS A VITAL ROLE 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Regional USDA officers from both the Foreign 
Agriculture Service (FAS) and the  Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service (APHIS) have been working intensively on 
sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues with a variety of 
domestic stakeholders since June 2008 with an aim at 
improving Mozambique's SPS systems.  APHIS' discussion with 
Mozambican authorities on the threat posed by Bi began in 
2006, and currently two regional APHIS SPS specialists 
continue to work with the GRM National Plant Protection 
Office to set and monitor fruit fly traps, collect specimens, 
and transport them to South Africa for testing.  In October, 
this team completed a surveillance program in Cabo Delgado 
Province, and confirmed extremely high levels of Bi 
infestation. 
 
----------------------- 
BANANA EXPORTERS SUFFER 
----------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Banana producers are calling for the Ministry of 
Agriculture to support farmers who have lost income due to 
the temporary border closure, pointing out that it is 
important for the country that banana producers survive this 
period of uncertainty.  According to Mozambican banana 
exporters, the implications of future bans of fruit and 
vegetable exports to South Africa would be devastating, since 
only two percent of bananas produced domestically are sold 
within Mozambique.  Mozambican fruit producers have lost 
 
MAPUTO 00001255  002 OF 002 
 
 
about $2 million because of the South African ban, 
disproportionately affecting banana producers, primarily 
located in the southern provinces.  Put another way, 
Mozambique was unable to export as much as 3,000 tons of 
bananas to South Africa due to the ban.  Roberto Albino, 
director of the Agriculture Promotion Center (CEPAGRI) 
estimates Mozambique will fall short of its export goal of 
30,000 tons of bananas for 2008 due to the fruit fly 
infestation and ban.  Banana producers point out that any 
future ban of longer than one month would result in an 
immediate loss of more than 3,000 jobs, at least $10.1 
million in foreign earnings, and more importantly, loss of 
investor confidence in the Mozambican agriculture sector and 
the GRM's SPS capacity. 
 
--------------------------------- 
FRUIT FLY AND INVESTOR CONFIDENCE 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  The potential for large-scale plantation 
agriculture is strong in Mozambique.  With 89 million acres 
of arable land, of which only 12 percent is currently in use, 
viable irrigation, access to ports, and relatively 
inexpensive labor and electricity, agriculture could be a 
major attraction to foreign investors.  Feasibility studies 
are currently underway to determine the potential for 
additional tropical fruit production, but also plantation 
forestry.  Mozambique, with a population of over 20 million 
people and only 400,000 jobs in the formal sector, depends on 
agriculture, which already accounts for 25 percent of GDP, as 
a current and future source of employment and export 
earnings.  Commercial fruit farming is still in its infancy, 
with Chiquita Brands International expected to begin 
exporting Mozambican bananas to European markets in 2010, for 
example.  Any subsequent fruit fly infestation, and the 
resulting loss in investor confidence, could cause permanent 
damage to the industry if not rapidly addressed by Mozambican 
agriculture experts. 
 
--------------------------- 
FRUIT FLY AND FOOD SECURITY 
--------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Should the fruit fly infestation continue moving 
south through Mozambique's rich agricultural areas, the pest 
could have a significant impact on the country's food 
security, and an economic impact on farmers, forcing greater 
dependence on food imports for the 75 percent of the 
population that relies on agriculture for survival.  While 
the sector continues to show vulnerability to natural 
disasters such as droughts and floods, the addition of a 
country-wide Bi infestation could result in additional 
pressure on agricultural production, the vast majority of 
which comes from small scale subsistence farming. 
 
--------------------------------- 
COMMENT: CAPACITY BUILDING NEEDED 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  The threat posed by the September fruit fly 
infestation to the economic well-being of Mozambican farmers, 
to food security, to regional trade, and to potential future 
investment in agriculture highlights the ongoing importance 
of efforts to monitor this infestation and seek means to 
mitigate its impact.  The Mission and USDA's regional 
presence, based in Pretoria, will continue to provide support 
and find lasting solutions to minimize the impact of any 
future infestations, while at the same time build SPS 
capacity in the GRM.  It is essential that further 
surveillance programs be implemented south of the areas 
already confirmed to have the fruit fly in order to track the 
pest's movement.  An annihilation and trapping program also 
needs to be implemented to slow the fruit fly's spread.  FAS 
and APHIS will continue to liaise with relevant authorities 
across the region to build local SPS capacity, learn more 
about control measures, track the pest's movement, assist 
with mitigation, and work to minimize trade disruptions due 
to the fruit fly infestation. 
Amani