27 November 2024, Belgium: The ability of the CABI-led PlantwisePlus programme to empower smallholder farmers to safeguard crops, livelihoods and biodiversity, has been featured at an InfoPoint Conference organized by the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium.
Dr Daniel Elger, CABI CEO, and Dr Janny Vos, Partnerships Development Director at CABI, spoke about how PlantwisePlus is helping smallholder farmers around the world tackle the growing threats to food security posed by climate change, pest outbreaks and unsustainable farming practices.
They were joined by Ms Zombe Sikazwe, Senior Seeds Officer, Seed Control and Certification Institute (SCCI), who highlighted how PlantwisePlus collaborates with the seed sector in Zambia, and Dr Imtiaz Hussain, Member, Plant Sciences Division, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council and CABI Liaison Officer, who spoke about how PlantwisePlus aligns with agricultural policies in Pakistan.
Cooperation on issues such as global food security
Leonard Mizzi, Head of Unit INTPA F3- Sustainable Agri-Food Systems and Fisheries, introduced the event, part of a series held to highlight the EU’s international role and international cooperation on issues such as global food security. In total, 176 people attended the conference from around the world.
Dr Elger said, “PlantwisePlus supports countries to predict, prevent, and prepare for plant health threats, helping farmers to produce safer, higher-quality food through sustainable crop production.
“Food security, food safety and environmental sustainability are critical issues for resource-poor farmers who produce for a growing global population.
“PlantwisePlus addresses three critical challenges for smallholder production: preparing for pest and invasive species outbreaks, reducing pesticide risks, and improving access to farmer advisory services.”
As well as PlantwisePlus, Dr Elger also spoke about CABI’s exploration of Integrated Landscape Management, an approach in which different land users collaborate to foster natural resources across a landscape in ways that conserve biodiversity and enhance ecosystem services, thus promoting equitable and sustainable enhancements in livelihoods.
Evidence-informed decision-making processes
He also mentioned how the Juno Evidence Alliance is a pioneering global platform at the forefront of transforming agriculture, food systems, and climate adaptation through supporting evidence-based policy. Juno produces high-quality syntheses of evidence in response to demand from national policy makers and donors.
It also champions the application of evidence to policy challenges, provides guidance on best practices in evidence synthesis, and trains and mentors researchers around the world to contribute to this effort.
In her presentation on PlantwisePlus, Dr Vos spoke about how the programme advocates the use of safer-to-use and more environmentally friendly biological control agents to fight crop pests such as the papaya mealybug in Kenya.
Releases started during 2021 of Acerophagus papayae, a small parasitic wasp that is a natural enemy of the papaya mealybug, have already started to show impact, with a 20 percent increase in yields enjoyed by farmers who used the agent on their papaya crops to curb the pest.
She also highlighted how PlantwisePlus supported cassava farmers in Zambia with an awareness campaign on how to avoid spreading cassava brown streak disease. More than 146,000 people were reached through television, and disease-free planting materials were distributed to 500 farmers.
Dr Vos said, “PlantwisePlus is helping to create well-functioning plant health systems which improve food quality, quantity, and security and contributes to more resilient, climate-smart, and safer agroecosystems.”
Introduction of biocontrol agents through Trichogramma rearing facilities
Dr Hussain, meanwhile, outlined in his presentation how PlantwisePlus has been promoting safer plant protection measures in Pakistan. This has included the introduction of biocontrol agents to control pests through support for rearing facilities for another type of parasitic wasp called Trichogramma.
“The programme has also supported the Department of Plant Protection in the registration of biopesticides in Pakistan,” he said. “And PlantwisePlus has been promoting sustainable Integrated Pest Management practices in tomato crops.”
Furthermore, gender-sensitive training programmes have been delivered to empower women in agricultural extension to encourage women’s participation in decision-making and address gender disparities in agriculture.
Finally, in her presentation, Ms Sikazwe expanded upon the work on cassava brown streak disease, including the development of a formal, locally driven and gender responsive cassava seed system.
Between 2023 and October 2024, CABI programmes including PlantwisePlus helped 642,000 farmers realise increased incomes and empowered 5.3 million farmers with climate-smart approaches to their agriculture. Twenty-eight new biocontrol agents were shown to have an impact and nearly 450,000 women had more access to agricultural inputs.
Additionally, 31 million people have been reached by CABI’s knowledge resources and journalism, the latter through SciDev.Net – the world’s leading source of reliable and authoritative news, views and analysis about science and technology for global development, which is part of CABI but editorially independent.
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