How are plant health rallies supporting plant health in Burundi?

Farmer in Burundi holds her healthy cabbage crop
What are plant health rallies, and how are they supporting plant health in Burundi? Plant health in Burundi is getting a boost from plant health rallies. If you’re unfamiliar with this type of gathering, and how they help smallholder farmers, this blog is for you.
Read Further

Supporting women farmers by boosting the skills of agricultural advisory services 

Agricultural advisory services can benefit farmers in low- and middle-income countries. They can help farmers to learn new techniques, increase their crop yields and improve their livelihoods. They can even deliver advice about global challenges like climate change. 
Read Further

CABI Academy eLearning courses available in Burkina Faso

Plant Doctor training Burkina Faso
CABI Academy’s eLearning courses are now available free for users in Burkina Faso. The new digital learning platform provides online courses for agricultural extension and advisory service providers to help them expand their agricultural knowledge and skills. The courses are also relevant to agriculture and crop protection students, reinforcing the knowledge, skills, and experience they gain…
Read Further

Why multi-channel agricultural extension works for fighting crop pests

A farmer in a maize field in Nyagatare, in Rwanda's Eastern Province
Addressing fall armyworm in Eastern Rwanda We might often have a sense that if taking one course of action works, then doing more of it should amplify that work. It turns out this really is the case regarding agricultural extension. A PlantwisePlus-funded study has discovered the benefits of ‘multi-channel agricultural extension’. The research focused on…
Read Further

Better Cotton Initiative: biocontrol training in India

Cotton ready to harvest
India is the world’s largest producer of cotton. It is one of the country’s major cash crops with nearly 6 million farmers making a living from growing cotton. The Better Cotton Initiative helps make cotton farming a more climate-resilient, environmentally friendly and responsible business. Working with smallholders, farm workers and communities, the Better Cotton Initiative…
Read Further

Assessing gender and rural advisory services in Ghana

women's farmer group meeting in rural Ghana
In Ghana, as in many other developing countries, women face challenges in accessing extension advisory services. Most services are geared to the needs of male farmers. On top of other challenges faced by women farmers, this lack of access only extends the gender gap in agricultural productivity in the global South.
Read Further

Mass rearing training strengthens papaya mealybug biocontrol programme in Kenya

Farmer field in Kwale County, during Biocontrol training in Kenya
PlantwisePlus has been working in collaboration with partners in Kenya to implement a classical biological control strategy to manage papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus). The invasive pest has been devastating papaya crops in Kenya. A CABI study in 2019 found it caused an estimated 57% yield losses across five counties.
Read Further

Plantwise: helping female farmers in Nepal access advisory services 

Female tomato farmer in Nepal
In almost all regions of Nepal, women have a greater involvement than men in farming activities. The World Bank estimates that 74% of Nepalese women work in agriculture, yet they struggle to have equal access to agricultural resources.  A new study highlights gender integration in the Plantwise programme and identifies the strengths and limitations in Nepal. It focuses…
Read Further

Apply now for an online course on Integrated Crop Management

Applications for two new Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Integrated Crop Management (ICM) are now open. CAS 2: ICM – Aspects of Implementation and CAS 3: ICM –  Biological Control and Ecosystem Services, are the latest courses launched as part of a set of online programmes developed and run by CABI and the University…
Read Further

CABI Academy and Accessibility

CABI Academy
The CABI Academy team continues to make improvements to ensure the CABI Academy is accessible to as many people as possible. We have nearly 12,000 registered users from all over the world. Through a programme of continuous user research and ongoing improvements, we aim to minimise the barriers to those users accessing high-quality educational resources…
Read Further