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Stories of the impacts of invasives

When you read about the figures on the economic and environmental impacts of invasives, it's often hard to understand how this affects the lives of ordinary people. In the videos below, farmers and business owners tell their stories in their own words.

Elias Kamuga, Kenya

Elias is a smallholder farmer who lives several hours north of Nairobi. He grows tomatoes which he sells at the local market and support his family. One year, his crop was nearly wiped out by the devastating tomato pinworm (Phthorimaea absoluta), which was formerly known as tomato leafminer (Tuta absoluta).

Aziz Hassim, Malaysia

Aziz owns a restaurant near the Malaysian border with Thailand. Parthenium weed started growing around his property and when he tried to remove it manually, he had a severe allergic reaction which blistered his hands.

Parsito Kitongo, Kenya

Parsito is a pastoralist in northern Kenya. Opuntia stricta infests his land, which he used to graze his livestock on. He is finding it harder and harder to protect his livelihood from the invasive cactus and it is forcing his community to move.

Grace Kiseku, Kenya

Grace is the assistant head of her village. She and her neighbours are pastoralists who graze their livestock on the land around the village. But sheep, cattle and goats - and even humans - are getting injured by the poisonous thorns of Prosopis juliflora.

Maize farmers, Ghana

This group of farmers from southern Ghana were among the first affected when fall armyworm arrived in Africa. The invasive moth is indigenous to the Americas and one of the most damaging crop pests and has now spread to over 40 countries in Africa.