Sarah Hilliar, CABI
UPDATE DECEMBER 2013
CABI takes home NEF Innovation Award for Plantwise At this year’s 10th annual Innovisions Conference in London, the National Engineering Foundation (NEF) honoured CABI with an Innovation Award for its achievements through the Plantwise programme. Hosted by NEF and presenters from the BBC, the Innovation Awards were established to celebrate ‘game-changers’ proven to be the very best of innovation in public policy. Judges were looking for ideas which will not only promote sustainable growth, but also inspire others. Plantwise was chosen as the best example of government policy supporting innovation,
with the early stages of the evolution of the programme supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and government partners who have been key to its success. Professor Sa’ad Medhat CEO of the NEF said: “Nominees were judged for their clarity of intended purpose, uniqueness of approach, potential impact, and whether they stimulated and galvanised others. The winners will contribute to a culture of generation innovation which will help promote sustainable growth in the UK.”
CABI CEO Trevor Nicholls, who accepted the prize from the BBC’s Maggie Philbin, says that the Innovation Award is an acknowledgement of the unique and powerful model Plantwise provides for transferring actionable information into the hands of farmers. “Early seed funding from DFID in the UK helped us pilot the plant clinic concept and fostered a spirit of innovation leading to development of the global Plantwise programme. This is already making a difference in the lives of rural farmers in over 30 countries and now has substantial funding from a number of major donors worldwide. CABI is honoured by the recognition and support of our efforts.”
The annual Plantwise Implementation Meeting, held in the mountains outside Lucerne, Switzerland brought together CABI representatives to discuss major developments across all regions, as well as shared challenges. This year, the exchange took stock of positive growth and optimism in all areas of the programme including progress made in establishing sound plant clinic data management, monitoring and evaluation in each country, and national buy-in to the programme’s sustainability. Most importantly, this exchange was an opportunity to thank the tireless work of CABI staff committed to the success of the programme, and look forward to exciting new developments for 2014.
Heike Kuhlmann, CABI
Swiss meeting brings CABI together for a new year in Plantwise
The 2nd Annual Plantwise Donor Forum, held at the CABI Netherlands office in Leusden, brought together key representatives from the core of Plantwise support and programme coordination in one meeting. The aim of the annual event, which all donors are invited to attend, is to elicit valuable feedback on the programme’s progress across more than 30 countries, as well as shape future priorities for Plantwise in 2014 and beyond. Members of CABI involved in Plantwise implementation joined donors from the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the European Commission (DEVCO-EuropeAid), and Irish Aid to offer insight on recent developments and lessons learned. The Netherlands itself is a lead donor of Plantwise and we were pleased to also welcome representatives from the Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS) and Ministry of Economic Affairs. An important question on the minds of donors in attendance was whether or not Plantwise has hit important targets since the last Donor Forum in October of 2012. Plantwise has not only reached its goals - for example, with over 400 plant clinics in 31 countries - but has ambitious new commitments on priorities such as quality assurance and sustainability. The question for donors was not only whether Plantwise can grow, but whether Plantwise can sustain successes gained. Contributing answers to such questions from a recently completed external evaluation was SDC-contracted evaluator Urs Scheidegger. He reported on Plantwise activities in Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya after visiting the three countries and meeting with partners, plant doctors and farmers. “Plantwise contributes to more efficient and sustainable crop protection at a farmer level,” shared Urs Scheidegger from his findings. “And in terms of the other technical people, those involved in the technical operations working closely with Plantwise, they are very motivated, willing and eager to takeover.” Carmen Thönnissen of SDC commented that this report was well-timed, just at the early stages of Plantwise, and the Donor Forum will be a good opportunity to involve donors in harmonizing needs for similar evaluations in the future.
Julia Dennis, CABI
Discussion outlined future external evaluations across Africa and into Asia and South America.
Julia Dennis, CABI
Coming together: Plantwise Donor Forum hosted by CABI in the Netherlands
Donor delegates and key Plantwise representatives hold a round table in Leusden, NL.
These observations and recommendations for Plantwise grant both CABI and programme partners a comprehensive view of the programme’s strengths and challenges. “To have a complete picture of what Plantwise is doing all over the world is very valuable,” agreed EC’s Danila Chiaro. The future of the Plantwise knowledge bank, the global gateway to plant health, was also a major focus of the Donor Forum, especially the synergies between plant clinic data, national extension, research bodies, and policy. “It is vital to build trust in the countries where we’re working,” pointed out Knowledge Bank Global Director Dr Shaun Hobbs. “Showing the value of data sharing has started to build that trust, and hopefully others will follow with agreements soon.”
Overall, the meeting was an important step towards renewed commitment to the Plantwise mission: increasing food security and improving rural livelihoods through reducing crop losses. This goal, one that aligns closely with objectives of donor government agencies and their constituents, will require more support to build on the gains made since Plantwise was launched in 2010. Bringing quality advice to more farmers in new countries around the world does not stop in 2014. “If we are able to obtain more support,” said Plantwise Programme Executive Dr Ulrich Kuhlmann, “we can ensure that we are well equipped to meet country demands to scale up and scale out the success of the Plantwise programme.”
Potential technologies, including mobile and ICT applications will also be piloted in 2014 through funding from DFID and partners. These will help Plantwise reach more farmers in remote locations. Perhaps most important from the Donor Forum, which followed the First International Global Food Security Conference in the Netherlands (details on page 5) was the vision offered by donor representatives for what they see as the global mission for food security efforts. In addition to achieving better yields for farmers through crop loss reduction, the objective of Plantwise must also be to foster sustainable agriculture that is as beneficial to farmers as it is to the environment they depend on. As CABI CEO Dr Trevor Nicholls explained, “we do not have a policy response about resource scarcity, but CABI always tries to get more out of the existing agricultural resources.” Dr Patricia Wagenmakers of the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs agreed by saying, “I appreciate your comment that it is important to address agriculture and biodiversity in a holistic approach.”
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Plantwise is a global programme led by CABI, working to increase food security and improve rural livelihoods by reducing crop losses.
Farmer Focus: Data powering quality advice in Pakistan picture, one farmer arrives at the clinic with his cotton crop problem. The plant doctor, Saif Ullah, listens to the farmer attentively. He examines the sample, diagnoses the problem and provides both an oral and written recommendation for the farmer to manage it effectively this season, and prevent damage next season. But after the
farmer leaves the clinic, the information from his visit continues to serve an important purpose. Across the country, 38 plant clinics are now running in the districts of Sheikhupura, Gujranwala and Bahawalpur in the Punjab province. Behind the scenes of the clinics, the Ministry of Agriculture has been building a system of plant clinic data management to support quality diagnosis and plant health recommendations. By recording the clinic visit information, checking the quality and most importantly, reporting back to plant doctors, they can ensure better advice for farmers, and gain valuable knowledge of the problems they face.
Julien Lamontagne-Godwin, CABI
Julien Lamontagne-Godwin, CABI
In Uchsharif, located in the cotton and rice growing district of Bahawalpur, Southern Punjab, Agricultural Officers and Field Assistants who have undergone plant doctor training are now running weekly clinics efficiently to help farmers manage emerging plant health problems. In this
Data from plant clinic visit records is collated and analyzed to inform stakeholder decisions Plant doctor Saif Ullah (left) examines a cotton sample, recording his findings as he goes
Rose Kamau
a word with... Madam Jane Ngugi, National Coordinator for the SHDP in Kenya Between May and July this year, 22 new plant clinics were established in Kenya. Nine of these clinics were launched by the Smallscale Horticulture Development Project (SHDP), which has been funded by the African Development Bank to help smallholder farmers increase the amount that they produce and earn through irrigation and enhanced marketing. The new clinics have been initiated by the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries in irrigation schemes in nine districts. In this video, Madam Jane Ngugi introduces the scheme and explains how plant clinics can help smallholder farmers lose less of their horticultural products to pests. Last year, CABI trained 26 project staff to be plant doctors, who will play an important role in reducing crop losses in the irrigation schemes in Kenya.
Latin American push for data management and knowledge sharing Next year, many Latin American countries will be holding regional workshops for plant doctors to exchange valuable work experiences and lessons learned through running clinics, including their perspectives for utilizing the Plantwise knowledge bank. These type of clinic cluster meetings will likely begin in early 2014, following CABI’s recent data management training tour throughout the region. For Bolivia, Nicaragua and Peru, CABI representatives held workshops and intensive planning meetings to map out improved plant clinic data management training, raise awareness of data sharing benefits, and gain valuable feedback from partners.
Cambria Finegold, CABI
As part of this Latin American tour, Cambria Finegold, Head of Project Development for the Plantwise knowledge bank, gave a seminar at São Paulo State University (UNESP), one of the largest agricultural universities in Brazil. The seminar, entitled “The Plantwise Knowledge Bank for research on Distribution, Identification, and Control of Agricultural Pests – Use and Potential” generated positive feedback from attendees and sparked some excellent discussions about the Plantwise initiative. Committed efforts like these will help to promote both sound data management practices for improved farmer advice, and wider recognition of the knowledge bank as an important plant health resource for the region.
A plant clinic data management workshop in Lima, Peru
Plantwise internship kicks off in China GUESS THE CLINIC?
Rob Reeder, CABI
Can you guess where in the world you would find this clinic? Watch the new Plantwise video to find out and meet Martin, one young plant doctor helping to improve livelihoods in his community.
First Plantwise intern, Gu Rui (right) conducting research in China
Meet Gu Rui. She is part of the new Plantwise internship programme, which engages young researchers to undertake studies creating and communicating new knowledge within Plantwise implementation countries around the world. Along with Plantwise representatives in China and Prof Nie Fengying of the Agricultural Information Institute of the Chinese Academy
of Agricultural Sciences (AII-CAAS), Gu Rui will be investigating where Chinese farmers get their agronomic information from and what influences their decisions to act upon the advice. As this research programme rolls out in target countries, we will continue to bring you updates on our research interns’ experiences on the new internship webpage.
Answer to last newsletter’s ‘guess this pest?’ The coconut weevil. photo by: Luigi Barraco
Plantwise goes to… the First International Global Food Security Conference The question of how we will feed 9 billion people by 2050 was the major issue on the table in the Netherlands at this inaugural food security event. Much of the discussion also called for a careful focus on the imbalance occurring today between the nearly 2 billion undernourished and 1.5 billion overnourished people on the planet. The First International Conference on Global Food Security, hosted by the University of Wageningen, brought over 800 experts together for oral and poster presentations, in addition to key-note addresses and panel debates on a variety of topics pertaining to food security. The large turnout and eagerness of individuals in attendance demonstrated that the time is right to exchange knowledge from across disciplines. More to the point, with the evolution
from the Millennium Development Goals to objectives of sustainable development set for 2015, there is an urgent need for research to inform policy for future action. From discussion of overnutrition, food waste, and alternative food sources (i.e. insects and algae on the plate) to GMO implementation and food access equity, experts presented powerful data on the challenges and solutions for feeding 9 billion. Plantwise Knowledge Bank Global Director Shaun Hobbs shared a poster with participants on the model and impacts of this global plant health resource and early warning system. Meanwhile, CABI’s Julien Lamontagne-Godwin and Muhammad Faheem presented one case study on the implementation of Plantwise in Afghanistan.
As one BBC article notes, “the organisers hope that the outcomes from the four-day event in Noordwijkerhout... will help focus the scientific world’s contribution to the UN global policy system.”
New knowledge bank demo is here Check out the latest video demo featuring highlights of the new Plantwise knowledge bank version 2.1. New translation capabilities and offline content delivery make the knowledge bank a shared resource for even more people in more communities worldwide. Regional pages focus on plant health problems that cross national boarders, and improved search and diagnostic tools bring more specific and appropriate information for users’ needs. Already reaching 198 countries with front-line pest management news, records and recommendations, the knowledge bank has become a critical resource for global food security.
Jantien Meijer, CABI
Part of the CABI team representing Plantwise at GFS 2013
Knowledge Bank Global Director Shaun Hobbs interviewed on Deutsche Welle
Plantwise is supported by:
Ministry of Agriculture People’s Republic of China
To find out more visit www.plantwise.org or contact: Janny Vos, Strategic Partnerships Director T: +31 (0)33 4321 031 E: j.vos@cabi.org
LOSE LESS, FEED MORE www.plantwise.org