Plantwise: Building linkages between education and

practical knowledge resources

Washington Otieno, Julia Dennis & Willis Ochilo

CAB International

4th RUFORUM Biennial Conference Maputo, Mozambique

July 20 – 25, 2014

Overview Establishing/strengthening

linkages between ag-extension

research, education, regulators

in solving plant health problems

– biotic and abiotic

Use of networks of plant clinics

supported by KB as a technical

resource

Career-enhancing platform to

connect and share knowledge

Key components

Information collection… and delivery (the last 1 km)

Plant Clinics Knowledge Bank

Plantwise approach Trains extension workers on field

diagnosis and recommendations for

solving plant health problems

Trained extension staff establish and

operate plant clinics

Plant clinics – situated at locations

easily accessed by farmers – regular

time & place

Plant clinics offer advice to farmers

on practical options for managing

plant health problems – documented

in a prescription form

Approach (cont.)

Prescription documents the crop,

farmer, plant health problem and

recommendations:

One prescription copy for the

farmer

One feeds into the Knowledge

Bank and/or national plant health

registry

Data validated and analysed by

national experts (drawn from

universities, research organizations,

regulatory authorities, etc.)

Validation confirms:

Diagnoses valid for the crop

Recommendations valid for the

problem

Diagnosis and recommendation

are correct in relation to the status

of the problem (if cause is biotic) &

approved management methods

Approach (cont.)

Plant clinic data

Use of plant clinic data takes care of

country interests, benefitting:

Research

Extension

Trade

Regulations

Access is subject to data sharing

agreement between governments and

CABI

Options by countries for access may be

open or

restricted

Simplified plant protection and

agronomy knowledge at extension-

farmer level

Module 1: Field diagnosis & plant

clinic operations

Module 2: Giving good

recommendations

Other trainings:

Development of factsheets & pest

management decision guides

Monitoring clinic performance (M & E)

Data management

Data validation

Training of “plant doctors”

Current scenario

Training by CABI staff but

Transitioning to training

by national trainers –

from universities,

ministries, research

organizations,

universities (initially

shadowed by CABI staff)

Universities involved in training

incl. integration of modules in

university curricula

Pretested at Makerere: recess

term, possibility for in-service

training, and full integration

CABI seeking opportunities to

work with universities in

exploring prospects to

strengthen curricula for

agricultural extension in the

area of plant health systems

Desired Situation

LOSE LESS, FEED MORE www.plantwise.org

Thank you

We wish to acknowledge the support of our donors, as well as our national and international partners who make Plantwise possible

www.cabi.org

KNOWLEDGE FOR LIFE

CABI innovations available to students and staff

CAB Abstracts & Compendia David Onyango, 22nd July 2014, RUFORUM Biennial Conference-Mozambique

“ Drowning in information

but starved for knowledge ”

“Some information but does it have authority?”

Decision making is tough!

Information

Knowledge

Better decisions

● Over 100 years of publishing expertise – 1910 Bulletin of

Entomological research launched

● Not-for-profit development led organization –

publishing division & scientific research base

● Open yet selective editorial policy –

no fixed journal lists, selections approved by subject experts

● Expert indexing & regular content updates -

Controlled vocabulary and database codes, weekly updates

CABI publishing

CAB Abstracts ● Key resource for applied life sciences – agriculture, forestry,

animal and vet sciences, soil science, and nutrition,

environment and leisure and tourism

● Over 10 million records-constantly updated each year

● Over 350,000 records added each year

● 8,124 serials indexed, from 119 countries in over 50 languages,

● Over 200,000 Full Text Records (43k added in 2012) from over

680 journals plus conferences – over 80% non-open access

• Agricultural engineering

• Applied economics and sociology

• Animal production

• Animal health

• Animal nutrition

• Aquaculture

• Biofuels

• Biosafety and Bioterrorism

• Biotechnology

• Breeding

• Chemistry

• Climate change

• Crop science and grasslands

• Ecotourism

• Entomology

• Environmental science

• Food science and technology

• Forestry

• Genetics

• Helminthology

• Horticultural science

• Human nutrition

• Invasive species

• Leisure and tourism

• Medicinal plants and pharmacology

• Microbiology

• Mycology

• Natural resources, land/water

management

• Nematology

• Organic and sustainable agriculture

• Parasitology

• Plant pathology

• Plant protection

• Postharvest

• Protozoology

• Soil science

• Veterinary medicine

• Virology

• Waste management

CAB Abstracts Subject Coverage

CAB Abstracts Geographic Coverage from 119 countries

Europe 46%

North America

20%

Indian Sub Continent 9%

Far East Asia 8%

Central and South America

6%

Middle East 3%

Africa 3%

Australasia 3%

South East Asia 2%

Full Text for over 200,000 records

Forestry Compendium

Aquaculture Compendium

CABI Compendia

Animal Health & Production

Compendium

Crop Protection Compendium

Invasive Species Compendium

Encyclopaedic, mixed-media resources conveniently

located in one place

CABI Compendia Content overview

● Subject specific Datasheets –

Peer-reviewed and written by

subject experts – intuitive links

● Bibliographic records & FT –

Subset from CAB Abstracts

● Glossary & library documents -

Searchable vocab entries and

partner FT materials

● External website links -

Practical web-links to resources

such as drug DB & identification

keys

Technical Updates

● Document type facets used to refine results

● Mobile/android devise functionality added to

include; Search, view search results, refine

search results; view abstracts, view full text;

email records, select records, view search

history

● Roaming Passport for remote access

available to users in subscribing institutions with

IP authentication and remains active for 6

months

www.cabi.org

KNOWLEDGE FOR LIFE

Any Questions?

Share your experience on Twitter

@CABI_News #RUFORUM For more information on CABI publishing products

and training, please visit

www.cabi.org/training

TOWARDS INSTITUTIONALIZING

PLANT DOCTOR TRAINING:

Experiences from Makerere University,

Uganda

Herbert Talwana, Mildred Ochwoh, Geoffrey Tusiime and Settumba Mukasa

Background

2005/2006: Four mobile plant health clinics started in Uganda – largely by NGOs (SOCCADIDO, CARITAS, SG2000) and MAAIF

The Global Plant Clinic (CABI) provided training, technical backstopping and operational costs (small grant)

Sustainability! – All clinics ceased to operate in mid-2009 due to shortage of funds and plant clinic staff

Background

By 2009 the potential of plant clinics had been demonstrated:

Enhancing outreach of the agricultural extension

Capturing wider farmer demands

Improving plant disease surveillance

So 2010 – plant clinics were reactivated as part of Plantwise Programme [http://www.plantwise.org]

There is growing commitment among implementers and policy makers to expand and consolidate plant clinics services

Plant Health Systems

Input supply Extension

Research

Farmers

Regulation

Plant clinics

Have a core Trainer of Trainees within the country that:

Will backstop all plant clinics (esp. diagnostics)

Continuously train plant doctors

Validate fact sheets produced for farmers by plant doctors

Validate data captured in plant clinics

Initiate publications from such data in consultation with MAAIF and CABI

A new strategy for Institutionalizing

Plant Doctor training

Input supply

Extension

Research

Farmers

Regulation

Plant clinics

University

The current ToTs are

inadequate; chosen

individually with

limited involvement

of stakeholders/

Institutions

Institutionalizing training of

Plant Doctors at a University

Fits well within the core of the university – training and

outreach

May not require sustained support to run – owned by the

university

Authenticity/certification – university quality assurance

systems

A permanent and responsive system linking and

integrating plant clinics with a technology and knowledge

source, and a referral point for diagnosis and research

The Approaches

Include Plant Doctor training in the

Undergraduate curriculum

Design and implement an “in-service”

training for current agricultural extension

personnel

Inclusion of Plant Doctor training in

the Undergraduate curriculum

Low hanging apple -

offers an opportunity

for mainstreaming

plant doctor training in

universities and

colleges

Include Plant Doctor training in recess term

training

Include Plant Doctor training in internship

Streamline within normal class teaching

Plant Doctor training in recess

term activities

CORE TRAINING (5 days); one go or

staggered?

MODULE 1: How to become a plant doctor (2.5 days)

Field diagnosis

Operation of clinics

MODULE 2: Plant healthcare (2.5 days)

Managing plant health problems

Choosing options

Plant Doctor training in

Internship

Offers a window for grounding the skills of students newly

trained as plant doctors

The student participates in scheduled activities of an existing

plant clinic over a period of 10 weeks

Not yet tried out at Makerere University

Streamlined within class room

Teaching arrangement?

Stand alone course unit:

Scheduling – which academic year?

Use or modify existing Plantwise modules – examinable?

Identifying gaps within Crop Protection courses to include plant doctor training

Do staff have the plant doctor training skills?

University and other stakeholder approval?

In – Service training course

Currently, CABI/Plantwise manages training of

plant doctors:

Active delivery and administration of each training

Quality control

Responsibility and Accountability

However, there is a huge demand for people

working as plant doctors

Therefore, local institutions within a country should take

on the training of plant doctors

In – Service training: the Key

Questions

Is there a clear need for and purpose of in-service

plant doctor training among agricultural field

extension agents?

What competencies should be targeted in training?

Which boundary conditions need to be considered for

an effective “how to become a plant doctor” training?

Performance standards

Assessment methods and tools;

Certification

Accreditation as a professional qualification

Makerere University (and

Uganda) could be Unique

A pool of Trainer of trainees (ToTs) conversant with all modules of “how to become a plant doctor”

Plant clinics concept is already known and appreciated, and in some instances, plant clinics have been integrated into planning and budgeting of many extension agencies

Closer linkage with decentralized agricultural extension structures (Govt./NAADS, NGOs and research (NARO – ZARDIs)

can help in the planning and prioritizing of plant health activities and training of plant doctors

Makerere could be unique….

Makerere University has experience in organizing

and running customized short-term training courses,

e.g.

Safe Pesticide Handling and Stewardship Training

workshop series conducted in conjunction with

Department of Crop Protection [Ministry of Agriculture,

Animal Industry and Fisheries] and Uganda National

Agrochemicals Dealers Association (UNADA)

The potential challenges

Student numbers

Coverage of plant clinics to accommodate all students

Spacing sessions

Continuity – it is still considered a project!!!

Scheduling: which academic year? Synchrony with cropping seasons?

Is the current content enough to meet the course requirements for internship/stand alone course unit?

Domesticating the GPC training materials and content for local relevance vs. Global uniformity advocated by Plantwise

The potential challenges …

The linkage between plant clinics, diagnostic services

and agro-input sector is weak

funding inadequacies limit extending services for free to

plant clinics

Low diagnostic capacity within country

A liberalized agro-input market that is not well-

regulated

Limited focus of plant doctors to pests and diseases

The ever changing government policy on agricultural

extension

Thank you for your attention

Plantwise knowledge Bank: Expanding local and global resource

pathways for plant health education and research in Africa

Julia Dennis, Shaun Hobbs, Willis Ochilo & Joseph Mulema

CAB International

4th RUFORUM Biennial Conference Maputo, Mozambique

July 20 – 25, 2014

The need

0.9 billion people go hungry every day

An estimated 30 – 40% of the food grown worldwide is lost to

plant pests

International trade, intensified production and climate change

are exacerbating the problem by altering and accelerating the

spread of plant pests.

Plantwise overview

Plantwise is a global CABI-led initiative to improve food

security by reducing crop losses due to plant health problems

Establishing/strengthening linkages between ag-extension

research, education, regulators in solving plant health

problems – biotic and abiotic

Use of networks of plant clinics supported by KB as a

technical resource

Career-enhancing platform to connect and share knowledge

Key components

Information collection… and delivery (the last 1 km)

Plant Clinics Knowledge Bank

How the Plantwise knowledge bank works

An open access gateway brings together international expert

information on pests mixed with local knowledge to deliver

actionable, best-practice advice.

An access-controlled section taps into pest reporting data which

is input by Plantwise-trained plant doctors and data managers

who run community-based plant clinics.

Since the launch of the knowledge bank, stakeholders in over

198 countries have accessed this gateway for plant health

information.

www.plantwise.org/knowledgebank

The knowledge bank

homepage provides

• Information about

Plantwise

• Tools for

diagnosis,

treatment and

distribution

• Sources of more

information

Select your country to

view your country

homepage.

Country-tailored homepage

View lists of pests

that have been

reported in your

country in the

published literature

Use the diagnostic

search tool to

identify a problem

Country-tailored homepage

Factsheets provide

treatment advice

Factsheets

How to recognise the

problem

Background information

about the problem to help the

farmer understand the

management technique

Suggestions for management

of the problem

Photos of the symptoms

Country-tailored homepage

View new pest

alerts in the

scientific literature

POMS for data management and analysis

Key outputs of the knowledge bank

Innovative support to provide advice farmers need to manage and

prevent crop damage, increasing income and food security

Monitoring & Evaluation systems developed with countries to

assess quality of diagnoses and advice at plant clinics.

Front-line plant health data to inform in-country policy-making,

extension and research.

Factsheets and pest management decision guides inform

teaching for institutions, while plant clinic data informs targeted

research questions.

Knowledge bank in action

LOSE LESS, FEED MORE www.plantwise.org

Thank you

We wish to acknowledge the support of our donors, as well as our national and international partners who make Plantwise possible