Horizon scanning for emerging pests and diseases in Pakistan: Collaborating to safeguard agriculture
Pakistan’s agricultural sector is constantly struggling with the emergence of pests and diseases that pose a serious threat to the livelihoods of millions of farmers. CABI’s PlantwisePlus programme recently held a five-day Horizon Scanning workshop in Islamabad from April 29 to May 3, 2024.
Empowering women in agriculture: The digital leap in Bangladesh
In the heart of Bangladesh, where agriculture embroiders the vast landscape of rural livelihoods, a digital revolution is quietly unfurling. Although gradual, this change holds the promise of transforming the traditional agricultural practices that have been the backbone of the nation. However, the fulcrum of this transformation—empowering women farmers through digital advisory services—remains a story…
Agricultural digitalization: Opportunities and challenges discussed at workshop in India
Authors: Dr R. Rajkumar, Principal scientist, (MSSRF) and Akanksha Nagpal, Manju Thakur (CABI) Digital tools have the potential to improve agricultural productivity, sustainability, and adaptability. Alongside longtime partners, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), CABI recently participated in a workshop hosted by the Resilience Project. The workshop, entitled “Digitalization of Agriculture: Current Challenges, Responses and Opportunities…
What are CABI’s Horizon Scanning and Pest Risk Analysis tools, and how do people use them?
In 2018 and 2019, CABI launched two innovative decision-support tools for identifying pest risks. They are the Horizon Scanning Tool (HST) and the Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) Tool, both of which are used in PlantwisePlus capacity building activities. They help users identify potential future pest threats, especially those working in areas like plant protection and…
6 ways that PlantwisePlus tools are transforming digital development
Digital development has come a long way over the past decade. And it’s helping farmers to access agricultural knowledge. Reaching smallholders with farming know-how can be challenging. Most smallholders have limited access to agricultural information. Moreover, public extension services are becoming more difficult to access. Tanzania only has four extension agents per 10,000 farmers. In…
Boosting the usage of CABI’s digital tools through communication, collaboration, and co-creation
Food security and food safety are two complementing elements of a sustainable future. Unexpected crop losses due to pests and diseases lead to food insecurity, and indiscriminate pesticide usage to control the pest/ disease hamper food safety. In such situations, countries need novel solutions that maintain food safety while addressing food security issues.
Spotlight: The team behind the PlantwisePlus Digital Tools
PlantwisePlus Digital Tools: The PlantwisePlus programme is working to increase access to digital decision support tools and information. These can support farmers and extension workers to make more informed decisions in crop health management. The delivery of these advisory tools across the programme’s member countries is improving the capacity of public and private stakeholders to…
Free CABI Academy eLearning courses for extension providers available in Rwanda
CABI’s new digital learning platform, the CABI Academy, is now available for free for users in Rwanda. The digital courses are designed for agricultural extension and advisory service providers. They provide important practical advice and resources to participants to grow their knowledge and provide the best possible advice to farmers.
Anonymisation: Protecting User Rights and Security
With the ever-increasing shift of focus to data-driven practices, the legal obligations around sharing data are a common barrier. Data protection is an important aspect of data security, with the rights of the users within a dataset needing to be maintained and protected. By following the appropriate data protection principles, the risk of harm to…
PlantwisePlus Toolkit: Applying Digital Development Principles to real life
Claire Curry is the Global Team Leader for Specific Objective 1 of CABI’s PlantwisePlus programme, focusing on knowledge delivery to agricultural service providers through digital tools. Claire is a member of the Digital Development team and a ‘Digital Ninja’ at CABI.