www.plantwise.orglose less, feed more

Improving food security and the lives of the rural poor

Plantwise provides the knowledge farmers need to feed their families and lift themselves out of poverty...

saving mangos sends children to school

During our visit to the village of Makorie Kabbia in Magburaka, Tonkololi District, we came across a worried farmer named Mr Peter Koroma. His mango grove was seriously affected by an unknown problem which he couldn’t control. He told us that mature mangos rot and drop to the ground and he was suffering huge losses and losing money for the past two years… We invited him to come to the next plant clinic and to bring his mangos. Peter came and we confirmed the damage as fruit flies… We told him about special traps for fruit flies now available in Sierra Leone. The traps contain a natural chemical (pheromone) which attracts the flies. Together with colleagues we set up traps in Peter’s mangos and in citrus trees on neighbouring farms. The next season, Peter got an excellent mango harvest. He can now afford to pay his children’s school fees and support his family.

By plant clinic team: lahai PJ dumbuma and Isatu Beah, Sierra Leone

Averting disaster

A prominent vegetable farmer in Bendu – Nancy Kargbo – came to the clinic one day in Bonthe. She had travelled 34 miles to the clinic, a journey of several hours. She had a problem with a pest on cassava. They were devastating her plants and she was on the verge of giving up on her crop. Because the attack was so severe, we recommended that she use an insecticide, but a homemade one. She agreed to give it a try and the clinic helped her prepare the product the same day. She took the product home with her and applied it on her cassava. We later heard that it had been successful and that her cassava crop was saved from further damage.

By plant clinic team: Abu A. Kalokoh and Amadou Alami-Bangura, Sierra Leone

reaching more farmers

“The clinic can do something that no other method can. When you go to the field, you visit very few farmers in a day. And the rest will miss out… The clinic has proved to be the best approach in solving the plant health problems [for farmers].”

Plant doctor, Uganda

Community vigilance

“The clinic identified that the problems affecting groundnut, sweet potato, cassava were wide spread beyond the communities we were working with. It made it easier to catch the attention of the local government authorities. So it helped us.”

Plant doctor, Uganda

Introduction

Nearly 1 billion people are going hungry every day; over half of these are smallholder farmers who rely on income from their crops to feed their families.At the same time up to 40 per cent of the food that is currently grown worldwide is lost to plant pests and diseases before it can be consumed.

If we could reduce this amount by even one per cent we could potentially feed millions more people.

Our plan is to help the world’s poorest families – the ones who are ‘farmers’ out of necessity – to lose less of what they grow and provide more food for them and their families.

We will help these families reduce their crop losses by providing them with accessible, practical knowledge, so they can help themselves.

We have already helped over 16 developing countries do just that, by helping them establish community-based plant health clinics.

You can help... join Plantwise today

It is estimated that there are up to 500 million smallholder farmers in the world and together they provide food for nearly 2 billion of the planet’s inhabitants. Their crops are their only source of food and income; if they fail the result is hunger and poverty. Many crop losses could be prevented if the farmer had access to the right knowledge; but most of the time these farmers do not know what is wrong when their crops become ‘ill’ or how to treat the problem.

Plantwise helps developing countries establish an integrated plant health system. At the heart of this system is a series of community-based plant clinics which provide practical advice to smallholder farmers when they need it.

Plantwise supports local extension providers to establish and run plant clinics. The Plantwise clinics help the poorest farmers lose substantially less of their crops to pests and diseases and other plant health problems, and so provide them with greater food security and income.

Community-based plant clinics help farmers lose less and feed more

Transferring knowledge to smallholder farmers

The farmer brings a sample of their ‘sick’ crop to the plant clinic, which runs regularly at their local market

At the clinic a trained ‘plant doctor’ diagnoses the problem and recommends an affordable, locally available treatment that the farmer can use. The plant doctor (via extension workers) has access to information from a knowledge bank to assist them with diagnosis and treatment recommendations

The farmer follows the plant doctor’s

instructions; losses are reduced

and productivity increases

The farmer now has more food to sell and feed his/

her family

Data about the farmer’s visit is

captured in a knowledge bank

A farmer has a problem with his/her crop

reduce hunger and food insecurity

lose lessAdvice received at plant clinics can prevent smallholder farmers’ crops failing.

Plant clinics spot pests early and can advise on prevention methods to stop a major outbreak. For example, the early detection of citrus leprosis virus in Nicaragua by a clinic led to a speedy response to eliminate this threat for other farmers.

Harnessing data from the clinics helps countries identify and track prevalent problems, enabling them to respond more quickly to pests and disease outbreaks.

Advice received at Bangladesh clinics resulted in average yield increase of 9%.

feed moreTomato farmers in Omereque, Bolivia reported average yields increased from 18.4 tonnes per hectare to 44.57 tonnes per hectare after application of plant clinic advice; while expenses for excessive agro-chemicals simultaneously fell from $740 per hectare to $490 per hectare.

Improved livelihoodsA study of plant clinics in Bolivia showed potato farmers benefiting by an average of $700 per hectare per year.

Helping the familyA local study in Bangladesh showed farmers benefiting by an average of $325 or 24% increase in net income from the plant clinic’s advice.

43% reinvested their additional income in their farm.

25% spent the additional money on their children’s education.

21% spent the money on home improvements.

Immediate impactHelping smallholder farmers lose less is something that can be done today, now, with existing resources.

Improve lives

Building capacityPlantwise builds the capacity and skills of local people and organizations.

long-term sustainabilityGovernments and companies are investing in the on-going running and support of clinic programmes.

reducing environmental impactThe plant clinics help farmers reduce the number of inappropriate chemicals they use.

Gender equality Plant clinics provide women with direct access to independent, professional advice. Many also train to become plant doctors.

Build for the future

Goals and impacts

How Plantwise will deliver

Plantwise is a collaborative initiative, led by CABI. CABI works at a country, regional and local level with plant science organizations, agricultural ministries and extension providers to help developing countries develop a sustainable national plant health system where plant clinics act as the interface for the farmer.

Once a country has expressed an interest in establishing plant clinics we work to identify local organizations within that country who have the ability to establish a plant clinic programme.

As part of a national plant health system, we work with partners to link the plant clinics to national and international diagnostic laboratories to assist plant doctors with more difficult diagnoses and ensure scientific rigour. We also help link the clinics to all the other essential groups such as input (pesticide, fertilizer) suppliers; research organizations and government departments.

We help the local extension services train suitable candidates to be plant doctors. These individuals are local people, often with some agricultural training.

We conduct (and teach others to conduct) Plantwise training courses, which include modules on ‘how to be a plant doctor’. These courses give the fundamentals of how to: run plant clinics, diagnose plant health problems using field diagnosis, give good management recommendations, develop locally relevant extension materials; and develop a monitoring and evaluation system to assess and maintain the quality of plant health clinics.

The plant clinics are self-governed, and locally managed and staffed. We show the local extension services how to set up and run the plant clinics; and provide on-going support with training, provision of a knowledge bank, expert identification services and scientific support.

We work with local organizations to help them capture and manage clinic data. The data (location, name of farmer, type of crop, type of problem/pest/disease, treatment recommendation) is transferred into an electronic knowledge bank (with the permission of the country involved).

The data collected can give the country concerned vital information about major crops and diseases and their distribution, down to a local level. Patterns can be drawn analysing the spread and possible future movements of plant pests and diseases from these data, if properly captured. The earlier countries know about a threat and the more they know, the more accurately they can assess risk, focus research efforts, make policy decisions, begin to develop treatments and deliver advice to farmers.

This knowledge bank also provides the plant doctors, extension workers and researchers with an array of resources provided by CABI and other content owners to assist them with diagnosis and treatment options.

About CABICABI is an international not-for-profit organization working to solve problems in agriculture and the environment. CABI is governed and owned by 46 member countries. We have been established for over 100 years and have over 360 staff based around the world, producing over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers each year. We have extensive expertise in Integrated Pest Management and Knowledge Management and are the publishers of CAB Abstracts. More information about CABI and the work we do around the world can be found at www.cabi.org

Join usPlantwise is a major undertaking and we are seeking collaborators, content partners and donors. Join us, visit www.plantwise.org or email plantwise@cabi.org

ContactTo find out more and discuss how you can get involved in this exciting new initiative, contact either of the following:

Trevor Nicholls, Chief Executive Officer T: +44 (0)1491 829215 e: t.nicholls@cabi.org

Phil Abrahams, Market Development Director T: +44 (0)1491 829374 e: p.abrahams@cabi.org www.plantwise.org

lose less, feed more

Plantwise is a global alliance, led by CABI, working together to improve food security and the lives of the rural poor by reducing crop losses

Interested?

Then join us, visit www.plantwise.org to find out more, see the organizations involved, and access the latest updates, or email plantwise@cabi.org