In Africa, agriculture is the most important sector, which, according to World Bank (2015) data, employs 65 per cent of the continent’s labour force and accounts for 32 per cent of its gross domestic product. Although Africa’s agricultural performance has improved since 2000, growth is still slow, largely constrained by pests, parasitic weeds and poor soils, and decreasing land holdings.
The aim of the bwi plant health theme is to contribute towards improving agricultural production in Africa, with the overall goal of contributing to food security, human and environmental health, and to household and national economies.
bwi aims to protect agriculture-based economies of low- and middle-income countries in Africa from devastating crop pest incursions and disease outbreaks by developing, validating and deploying inclusive innovations, and by leveraging and building viable networks across an array of national, regional and global institutions.
ACTIVITIES
This objective will be achieved by:
- 1. Bridging knowledge gaps and networks for plant health threat identification and characterization, focusing on strengthening the diagnostic and surveillance capacity of national plant protection organizations and national agricultural research and extension systems, and facilitating knowledge exchange on pests and diseases.
- 2. Building capability for risk assessment and data management and guiding preparedness for rapid response among relevant national stakeholders, focusing on controlling the introduction and spread of pests and diseases by developing and enhancing tools, standards and policies.
- 3. Improving integrated pest and disease management, focusing on designing and deploying approaches against prioritized plant health threats in targeted crops and cropping systems.
- 4. Tools and processes for protecting food chains from contamination, specifically, through innovations for reducing mycotoxin contamination to protect health, increase food and feed safety, enhance trade, diversify end-use and boost income.
- 5. Equitable and inclusive scaling of plant health innovations to achieve impacts through multistakeholder partnerships, inter-disciplinary research, effective communications and capacity development.