Factsheet of the month: November 2015 – Using natural nematicide plants against banana nematodes
Researchers at Queen’s University, Belfast, have developed a new method to control the parasitic nematodes that devastate banana crops and cause billions of dollars of crop losses annually. It is hoped that this new technology will reduce these losses, boosting the incomes of subsistence farmers in developing countries. Nematodes are notoriously difficult to control, and…
International Day of Rural Women
Today, 15 October, is the International Day of Rural Women. The majority of rural women depend on natural resources and agriculture for their livelihoods. In developing countries, rural women represent approximately 43% of the agricultural labour force, and produce, process and prepare much of the food available, thereby giving them primary responsibility for food security.…
Factsheet of the month: October 2015 – Grain storage in metal silos against insect pests
Last week, 193 Member States of the United Nations adopted the new Sustainable Development Agenda to end poverty by 2030. This came at the beginning of a three-day Summit on Sustainable Development during which focussed on implanting changes that will see the Agenda achieve its ambitious aims. The Agenda, consisting of 17 Sustainable Development Goals…
Plantwise Initiative Equips Farmers with Knowledge in Zambia
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…
Perú: nueva clínica de plantas en de la región de Lambayeque
Texto preparado y editado por Martha Passador, Melanie Bateman y Javier Franco Los agricultores de la región de Lambayeque recibieron el día 20 de Julio del 2015 un nuevo servicio para mejorar su producción agrícola. Una nueva clínica ubicada en el poblado de Batan Grande fue inaugurada, dónde los agricultores de esta región podrán acercarse…
Plantwise-Farmer Field Schools; Synergies in Mozambique
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…
Bridging the Agricultural Extension gap through Plant Health Rallies in Uganda
Article published in the Agribusiness Digest, Uganda
Plant Health Rallies Launched in Zambia
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…
Healing Plants to Feed a Nation
Growing up in a small village in Western Kenya, I often accompanied my mother and other village women on customary weeding expeditions. Whenever we came across sick plants in the fields—which was all too often—my mother would instruct me to pull them out and cast them aside. I did as she asked, but wondered to…