Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) face several challenges that include pests and diseases. Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) reduce crop yields and affect their quality. They are an emerging threat to smallholder agriculture with several species attacking economically important crops. In SSA, most PPN control strategies are therapeutic and therefore unsustainable. Cost-effective nematode management strategies that promote soil health and enhance soil suppressiveness against PPN are therefore needed. These strategies can fit into most smallholder cropping systems and in addition to controlling PPN, they also promote soil and plant health and tolerance to other diseases. Most smallholders in SSA still use traditional farming methods although some countries have adopted conservation agriculture (CA) and integrated soil fertility management (ISFM). This review analyzes the potential impact of CA and ISFM on PPN communities and it also provides a concise summary of low-cost PPN control strategies and their efficiency against specific nematode species. Variations in their efficacy is also discussed. The strategies are proposed for adoption across SSA based on site-specific conditions.

撒哈拉以南非洲 (SSA) 的小农面临包括病虫害在内的多项挑战。植物寄生线虫 (PPN) 会降低作物产量并影响其质量。它们是对小农农业的新威胁，有几种物种会攻击具有重要经济意义的作物。在 SSA 中，大多数 PPN 控制策略是治疗性的，因此是不可持续的。因此，需要具有成本效益的线虫管理策略，以促进土壤健康并增强土壤对 PPN 的抑制作用。这些策略适用于大多数小农种植系统，除了控制 PPN 外，它们还促进土壤和植物健康以及对其他疾病的耐受性。尽管一些国家采用了保护性农业 (CA) 和综合土壤肥力管理 (ISFM)，但 SSA 的大多数小农仍使用传统耕作方法。本综述分析了 CA 和 ISFM 对 PPN 群落的潜在影响，还简要总结了低成本 PPN 控制策略及其对特定线虫物种的效率。还讨论了它们功效的变化。建议根据特定地点的条件在整个 SSA 中采用这些策略。