How a tiny wasp can save the livelihoods of papaya farmers
“We have a problem with the attack of mealybugs, which are becoming a menace to the production of papayas. I fight them, but they are also fighting back.” Ben is a farmer in Machakos County, Kenya, east of the nation’s capital, Nairobi.
CABI shares important new evidence on the legacy of Plantwise
CABI has published a working paper assessing the legacy of Plantwise programmes in six countries: Nepal, Pakistan, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Jamaica. The paper, entitled Plantwise Sustainability: Two Years on, finds that the sustainability of a Plantwise programme hinges heavily on the country in question. This means that while it is difficult to engineer or…
Controlling the papaya mealybug pest – progress made in coastal Kenya
An initiative to combat the destructive papaya mealybug in Kenya is reaping rewards. A natural predator – a parasitic wasp – has been introduced to coastal counties to help control the pest. This tiny wasp is helping to prevent the damage caused by the mealybug. It’s not only helping to save papaya farms. It’s safeguarding…
How has a ‘writeshop’ helped to address invasive apple snail in Kenya?
Invasive species, like apple snail, are a threat to food security. It’s important that they’re quickly managed before they start to spread. One of the best ways to do this is to share plant health knowledge with smallholder farmers. And writeshops are an excellent tool for gathering evidence-based information to do this. In this blog,…