Plantwise Most Read 2018

With 2018 drawing to a close we take a look at the most popular articles on the Plantwise blog this year, along with some firm favourites.
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PRISE: Kenya Stakeholder Workshop July 2018

Earlier this month, members of the Pest Risk Information Service (PRISE) consortium held a stakeholder workshop in Kenya to update partners, donors and stakeholders on the progress of the project and to discuss future developments over the next four years.
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From satellites to stem borers: using earth observation to forecast pest outbreaks

Globally, over 500 million smallholder farmers provide food for two thirds of the world’s population. With 40% of crops lost annually to pests, achieving zero hunger by 2030 depends on increasing the productivity of these smallholders. We already have weather forecasts, pollen forecasts and UV forecasts, but what if farmers had access to pest forecasts?
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Space-age technology for fight against crop-devastating pest outbreaks

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Last night, the Pest Risk Information Service (PRISE), which uses state-of-the-art technology to help inform farmers in sub-Saharan Africa of pest outbreaks, was launched in Zambia at the British High Commission in Lusaka. The service is being developed by a consortium led by CABI and is funded by the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme…
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PRISE: speaking to the end user – pest alerts for plant doctors in Africa

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After 2 hours drive, we arrive in Rufunsa District located approximately 150 kilometres east of the Zambian Capital, Lusaka. After exchanging pleasantries we settle down with Brian Siame, a trained plant doctor and one of the participants in our survey to find out more about plant doctor requirements for pest alert messages. After a brief…
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How ICTs are key to Plantwise's sustainability

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The Plantwise programme has expanded in terms of its plant clinic network, the number of countries involved and the number of farmers reached since its launch in 2011. This expansion has been facilitated to a significant extent by an ICT infrastructure, i.e. the Knowledge Bank and e-plant clinics (plant clinics equipped with tablets). Mozambique, Nepal, Malawi, Nicaragua…
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PRISE Quarterly progress report – June 2017

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PRISE inception workshops were held in Kenya, Ghana, and Zambia in March 2017. In the workshops it was recognised  by partners that PRISE is a five year project and that the full benefits will only be fully available at the end. However to ensure that we deliver value in the interim we asked partners to…
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Pest Risk Information Service for sub-Saharan Africa

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The FAO estimates that up to 40% of global crop yields are reduced each year due to the damage caused by pests (FAO, 2015). Crop losses have a huge impact on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. They result in less food for them and their families and a lower income for spending on education and…
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