The overall goal of this project is to enhance regional collaboration in managing scale insects by sharing pest reports of invasive species; improving cross-border inspection regulations and practices; sharing pest interception reports; providing training to the staff of  national plant protection organization (NPPO) in Burundi, Kenya and Uganda to identify and monitor incursions; and using biological control as part of an integrated solution to produce safer produce, reduce pesticide residues and maintain trade.

Specifically, the project will target: in Kenya, the avocado mealybug, affecting trade of fresh avocadoes to China, and the papaya mealybug, affecting internal trade with loss of entire pawpaw orchards; in Uganda and Rwanda, the mango mealybug, which may cause crop failure of mango (and may spread eastwards); and across Eastern Africa, the papaya mealybug, impacting cultivation and yields of pawpaw, cassava, vegetables and others crops, as well as the citriculus mealybug impacting citrus crops.