Farmers to benefit from global programme
Kenya smallholder farmers will benefit from a global programme seeking to support their efforts to produce more and high-quality food free from pests and diseases such as the fall armyworm.
Kenya farmers are among 75 million growers to benefit from a programme dubbed PlantwisePlus targeting 27 countries globally by 2027.
The programme being administered by the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), a United Kingdom-based international intergovernmental development and information organisation seeks to support use of nature-based solutions to cushion farmers against crop losses.
“The intention to use nature-based solutions as alternatives to fight plants threats is based on the fact that pesticides cannot guarantee full panacea to diseases and pests, especially currently where agriculture is struggling with increasing effects of climate change,” said Dennis Rangi the Director General in charge of Development at CABI.
Rangi explained that the programme which is in its third year of implementation in Kenya has connected with small scale farmers in 30 counties. “The current programme is a continuation of another project that lasted for 10 years benefiting 60 million farmers across the world with Kenya included.
It seeks to help countries to predict, prevent and prepare themselves for plant health threats,” he added. Countries under the PlantwisePlus programme, Rangi added, will benefit from strengthened ability to predict, prepare, prevent and protect themselves from plant health threats in the face of changing climate.
Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organisation Director Crop Systems Lusike Wasilwa said the success of the programme has been achieved through early warning systems.
