Plant health knowledge helps residents of wildlife conservancy turn from poaching to farming
Simalaha Community Conservancy aims to protect endangered wildlife. However, several years ago, it faced a big challenge. People living within the parks’ boundaries were poaching animals for food and income. The Conservancy is managed by Peace Parks Foundation. They addressed the problem by helping residents to shift from poaching to smallholder farming. But in 2020,…
Empowering Nepalese students with CABI digital platforms: Exploring the PlantwisePlus Toolkit
Gaurav Thakur, a student of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal, writes here about CABI’s presentation of its digital platforms for plant protection and other agricultural applications.
Why we need a skills framework for agriculture
Agriculture has changed dramatically over the last 50 years. Technological progress and scientific research are constantly reshaping the roles within agriculture and the skills required to do them. As such, it is essential to have a well-defined skills framework to guide the workforce. The Skills for Agriculture (SfA) is a structured approach to identifying, developing, and…
Training Kenya’s young farmers and women to help ensure greater food security
The theme for this year’s United Nations World Youth Skills Day was ‘Skilling teachers, trainers and youth for a transformative future.’
Youth Skills Day: empowering and supporting young people in agriculture
To mark Youth Skills Day, Deogratius Magero, CABI’s Youth Engagement Manager for Africa, discusses why youth skills development programmes are vital for food security.
Permanent Crop Clinic Programme in Sri Lanka to be strengthened following stakeholder meeting
The CABI-led Permanent Crop Clinic Programme (PCCP) in Sri Lanka is to be strengthened further and provide greater help to the country’s smallholder farmers looking to sustainably protect their crops from devastating crop pests and diseases.
PlantwisePlus India: challenges and opportunities
Agriculture forms the backbone of India’s economy, employing nearly 44% of the workforce. However, farmers in the country face many challenges, not only pests and diseases, which destroy up to 40% of crops. Outbreaks, such as the locust swarms of 2020 and, more recently taro caterpillar in Madhya Pradesh, can affect food security, national security and human health.
Empowering farmers in Burundi through Plantwise plant health rallies
Plantwise is making big strides in Burundi to enhance food security and boost rural livelihoods. The CABI-led programme aims to equip farmers with essential plant health knowledge. This information enables them to minimize yield losses and increase their incomes. One of the key approaches involves conducting mass plant health rallies. These are community events where…
Use the Crop Sprayer app to improve your Integrated Pest Management strategy
The Crop Sprayer mobile app is the latest tool in the PlantwisePlus Toolkit. The free app helps users apply just the right amount of pesticide to treat and protect crops from pests.
Empowering young men and women through agricultural skilling in Uganda
Youth unemployment continues to be a pressing issue in Uganda, particularly among secondary school graduates. The lack of job opportunities not only affects individuals but also poses challenges to the overall development of society, writes Harrison Rware, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, and Caroline Aliamo, Projects Officer, based at CABI’s regional centre for Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.