PRISE: speaking to the end user – pest alerts for plant doctors in Africa

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After 2 hours drive, we arrive in Rufunsa District located approximately 150 kilometres east of the Zambian Capital, Lusaka. After exchanging pleasantries we settle down with Brian Siame, a trained plant doctor and one of the participants in our survey to find out more about plant doctor requirements for pest alert messages. After a brief…
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Plant Clinics and Farm Visits Diagnosing Fall Armyworm in Malawi

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Mr. Guze Kampinga visits the plant clinic at Dowa Turn Off with his damaged maize samples and is received by Mrs Eluby Phiri a trained plant doctor. “I have grown about 0.8 ha of rain-fed and 0.4ha irrigated maize (Ndimba). This year a strange pest has seriously damaged my maize and almost all people in…
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CABI working with Partners to Manage Fall Armyworm in Kenya

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Kenya has launched a campaign to control the Fall Armyworm, (FAW) which has been sighted by farmers feeding on Maize in Trans Nzoia County, Kenya. Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mr. Willy Bett said the pest poses a serious threat to the country’s food security situation. “Its impact will be severe given that the country is just…
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Plantwise Ghana Educates Farmers on Major Crop Pest and Diseases

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As part of its mass extension activities for 2016, Plantwise Ghana rolled out a four-week radio campaign to educate farmers about the detection and management of crop pests and diseases prevalent in the project’s five intervention regions in Ghana. The campaign, which took place between September and October 2016, involved five radio stations noted for…
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Campaigning for Safe Chemical Use in Uganda

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A loud booming voice on a megaphone breaks the silence in the farming village of Kaptum centre..”Akwaa! lo mite kapurto nyepo ceyec cepo nyepokaptisyet!”, (come attend a plant health rally by ministry of agriculture officials). Farmers quickly gather and listen attentively as Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) officials conduct the plant health…
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Plant clinics help tackle crop diseases in Rwanda

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Excerpt from The New Times article, published 22 January 2016 It is a Monday evening and Dominique Nkundukozera, a farmer in Rusatira Sector in Huye District, is seated on a chair at Kinkanga market, with several cassava stems. He had brought the stems for examination by experts at a ‘Plant Health Clinic’ at the market.…
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Plantwise Initiative Equips Farmers with Knowledge in Zambia

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Article by Dorcas Kabuya Chaaba- NAIS A small-scale farmer in Chilanga District, Moses Banda has seriously taken up vegetable production. Mr Banda commends Government for its continued support in assisting farmers in addressing crop problems and how best to control them organically. “My vegetables always had holes due to Sefasefa (Diamond Back Moth) and all…
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Plantwise-Farmer Field Schools; Synergies in Mozambique

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Blog contributed by Martin Kimani (CABI) and Lito Malia (Plantwise National Coordinator, Mozambique) According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Farmer field schools (FFS) are essentially schools without walls that introduce new technological innovations while building on indigenous knowledge. In FFS, farmers are the experts. At a recently held FFS stakeholder and donor forum…
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Bridging the Agricultural Extension gap through Plant Health Rallies in Uganda

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Article published in the Agribusiness Digest, Uganda
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Plant Health Rallies Launched in Zambia

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Blog written by Dorcas Kabuya Chaaba-National Agricultural Information Services,Zambia Rallies are commonly associated with politics, a time when politicians present their ideologies to the electorates in a bid to win votes. But this time around, officers from the Ministry of Agriculture and livestock implementing the Plantwise initiative in Zambia held plant health rallies with farmers…
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