IPPC and Plantwise lead successful workshop for coordinated plant protection in East Africa

February 28, 2014 by Leave a comment

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From Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, key representatives of agricultural institutions gathered in Nairobi for the first ever joint workshop led by CABI’s Plantwise programme and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat. The workshop was convened in an effort to exchange national experiences in plant protection and pave the way for renewed strategies to share plant pest information from the region.

The workshop highlighted the variety of actors already working in each country to detect, report and respond to pest problems, which on average account for 40% of crop losses worldwide and threaten trade and food security. However, across the region it was apparent that all national systems could benefit from additional resources and collaboration, especially for fulfilling national reporting obligations under the IPPC. Since 1951, the IPPC has been responsible for protecting agriculture and the environment by limiting the spread of plant pests. Essential to this mission is country-level cooperation among different organizations.

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Plant Health Rallies: Giving Rwandan agronomists the tools to inform the public

January 24, 2014 by Leave a comment

Plant Health Rallies: Giving Rwandan agronomists the tools to inform the public

In November 2013, three members of the CABI Plantwise team (Dr Noah Phiri and Peter Karanja of the Nairobi office, and Julien Lamontagne-Godwin of the UK office) visited Musanze in the Northern zone of Rwanda. 12 participants from the Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB) were trained in techniques to inform the surrounding rural communities on serious pests and diseases of important crops, particularly maize stalk borer and Lethal Necrosis, and potato late blight. During the 4 day training, participants were taught to develop a simple extension message that can be announced clearly in less than ten minutes. This message explains the background to the problem, discusses symptoms, and recommendations to prevent or reduce its effects in the field.

In the picture above, Jeanne Priscille Ingabire uses a megaphone to alert the village of Bikara of an impending talk on maize stalk borer. Kalisa Jean Pierre (left) and Stanislas Mushimiyimana (right) both hold onto a banner to gain more public interest before the talk.

This technique complements the established plant clinics in the area, and will help the RAB team inform and help more people with their agricultural pests and diseases.

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2014: The International Year of Family Farming

January 6, 2014 by Leave a comment

Plantwise welcomes a new year with a renewed focus: ‘The International Year of Family Farming’ has begun. The UN General Assembly declared 2014 as the official year to draw attention to policy and practices which support livelihoods of smallholder farmers worldwide. That means this year is dedicated to the 2 billion+ people who depend on farming for their food and income, and who should all have access to the right resources to provide for their families. CABI and Plantwise celebrate this International Year of Family Farming by continuing to bring these resources to more farmers, in more communities than ever before.

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Take a look back on some of the highlights from Plantwise’s work in over 30 countries promoting sustainable family farming during 2013, here in our recent newsletter and Year in Review video. For more information on what to expect for Family Farming’s commemorative year, visit the official website.

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Plantwise Malawi Officially Launched

December 17, 2013 by Leave a comment

Contributed by Roger Day and Noah Phiri, CABI in Africa

Top national agricultural officials and CABI representatives gathered in Malawi recently to officially kick-off Plantwise operations, marking a new chapter for plant health development in the country.

With one small snip, Dr Wilfred Lipita cut the ribbon to officially launch the programme. Dr Lipita is the Controller of Agricultural Extension and Technical Services in Malawi’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and was representing the Minister, Dr James Munthali.

Earlier this year, Dr Lipita opened the very first plant clinic in Malawi. Since that pilot clinic, 12 more have been established in Mzimba and Lilongwe Districts, where trained plant doctors tend to farmers’ sick plants and help them to prevent their crop losses. Commending the Plantwise approach, Dr Lipita said at the launch event that “Plantwise could have helped us avoid the devastation caused by Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV).”  

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CABI takes home NEF Award for Innovation with Plantwise

December 9, 2013 by Leave a comment

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CABI CEO Dr Trevor Nicholls with award presenter the BCC’s Dr Maggie Philbin

INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS, LONDON- On Thursday 5 December, CABI received an Innovation Award at the 10th annual National Engineering Foundation (NEF) Innovisions Conference, in recognition for its landmark global food security programme, Plantwise.

Hosted by NEF and presenters from the BBC, the Innovation Awards were established to celebrate ‘game-changers’ proven to be the very best of innovation in public policy. Judges were looking for ideas which will not only promote sustainable growth, but also inspire others. Plantwise was chosen as the best example of government policy supporting innovation, with its unique approach to improving food security nurtured from the start by policies of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and government partners who have been key to its success.

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Good news for Ghana’s plant health promoted this National Farmers’ Day

December 3, 2013 by Leave a comment

pd ghanaNational Farmers’ Day is a day set aside to commemorate the contributions of farmers and fishermen to the national development of Ghana. Combined, these industries account for over 45% of the country’s annual GDP. At this year’s official Farmers’ Day ceremony at Sogakope in the Volta region, Plantwise and partners will take the opportunity to celebrate one of the biggest targeted platforms for plant health: the plant clinic network expanding across Ghana.

The global Plantwise initiative, led by CABI, first launched in Ghana in 2012 with plant clinics in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions. After the clinics’ early success providing timely plant health advice to farmers, operations were scaled-up to Northern and Eastern regions of Ghana, with a total of over 25 clinics now running across four of the ten regions. As well as growing clinic numbers in these four areas, the Volta region, where the Farmers’ Day event will take place, will be the 5th region for expansion of the plant clinic network in 2014.

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CABI and IPPC Technical Working Group meets in Rome

November 26, 2013 by Leave a comment

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This past week, the Technical Working Group (TWG) between the IPPC Secretariat and CABI, including its Plantwise programme, met at FAO Headquarters in Rome to review the progress made since they convened last January to identify the areas of common interest and possible joint activities in the future. Given the different but complementary nature of IPPC and CABI activities, the TWG intends to explore how they can best synergize their respective missions while also improving understanding and building capacity amongst IPPC contracting parties and CABI member countries on areas of mutual interest.

Discussions during the two-day meeting aimed to highlight potential actions and resources necessary to achieve these goals. The TWG also agreed to continue progress on ongoing projects such as harmonizing plant protection terminology, building necessary links between resources and information collected and managed by both teams, and continuing to develop material and tools valuable to their common goals.

In looking ahead, both the IPPC Secretariat and CABI plan to review the joint activities on an annual basis, developing this collaboration to meet new plant protection challenges and priorities in the future.

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Three little locusts

November 18, 2013 by Leave a comment

Three little locusts

These little chaps might be small but can cause incredible harm to crops. Take a look at what CABI and Plantwise are doing to protect farmer’s livelihoods. http://www.Plantwise.org

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Plantwise on TV: Launch of Makerere University Training in Uganda

November 1, 2013 by Leave a comment

Check out this great coverage of Plantwise coming out of Uganda. Working with the University of Makerere, Plantwise is training young plant doctors to answer the increasing demand for plant clinics across all regions. National television station UBC news interviewed CABI’s Joseph Mulema and key partners on this major development for extension and smallholder farmer services in the country.

Video courtesy of UBC and Joseph Mulema

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Plantwise takes root in Uganda: United Nations news service report

October 24, 2013 by Leave a comment

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Check out this latest report on the progress and impact of Plantwise in Uganda. Click here to read the full article.

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