Through its "Innovative Regional Fruit Fly Control System in West Africa (SyRIMAO)" initiative, implemented by the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF), ECOWAS is making progress towards its goal of strengthening regional and national research systems to make it easier to provide producers with effective and efficient and low environmental impact pest management techniques. Going forward, two (02) pest control technologies based on natural products have just been recognized at regional and continental level.

These technologies are SEN-BIOTRAP, developed in Senegal, and MANGO PROTECT, developed in Burkina Faso. SEN-BIOTRAP is an essential oil-derived from a shrub. Effective for mass trapping with a pesticide-free trap, it attracts male fruit flies, notably of the Bactrocera genus and certain Ceratitis species. MANGO PROTECT is a technology essentially composed of proteins obtained from plant processing by-products. It is effective as a food attractant for all species of fruit flies.

In March 2024, ECOWAS, through the SyRIMAO project implemented by RAAF, obtained recognition for these two (02) technologies. The SEN-BIOTRAP manufacturing process, developed by Senegalese researchers as part of the project, has been patented by the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI). In October 2024, the MANGO PROTECT technology developed by researchers in Burkina Faso, with support from SyRIMAO, won the 1st Abdoulaye Touré 2024 innovation prize awarded by CORAF/FSRP as part of the 2024Market for agricultural innovations and technologies (MITA).

The SyRIMAO team, in collaboration with the National Fruit Fly Management Committees of Burkina Faso and Senegal, is actively working to have the two (02) technologies registered by the West African Committee for Pesticides Registration (COAHP) at its next session scheduled for January 2025. The approval will enable the technologies to be mass-produced and distributed on a large scale over the next few mango seasons. The combination of the two natural, pesticide-free technologies will offer growers in the region sustainable, ecological protection of their orchards against fruit flies, contributing to more resilient, environmentally-friendly agriculture.