Climate change has continued to be a global concern that threatens food security resulting in pests and diseases with increased or decreased potency.
Among the major crops in Zambia, Cassava is affected by Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) and Cassava Brown Streak Disease. Sweet potato is affected by Sweet Potato Virus Disease (SPVD. Maize is affected by the fall Army Worm pest (FAW) which causes significant damage to maize. this calls for accurate identification and sustainable management of the FAW, Cassava diseases, and sweet potato diseases among major stakeholders, the small-scale farmers, which is lacking and inadequate due to mainly inadequacies in the extension services.
Therefore, the development of the PlantVillage app as an innovative solution that uses Artificial intelligence (AI) through Google’s open-source TensorFlow technology is being proposed to be used to identify symptoms of CMD, CBSD, the feeding damages of Cassava Green mites (CGM) and maize fall armyworm (FAW) infestations. The app will be used in the development of risk assessment tools, predicting the potential distribution and damage of the targeted pests and diseases due to climate change, and supporting farmers at scale in pest and disease management.
The newly launched Plant Village project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) aims to upscale the PlantVillage application for monitoring, forecasting, and mitigating the effects of climate change on pests and diseases of maize, cassava, and sweet potato in Zambia.
Speaking at the training workshop for PlantVillage Zambia Field technicians, which was held at Relaxin Lodge in Nchelenge district, Mathias Tembo who is the Senior Agriculture Research Officer under the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) in the Ministry of Agriculture says they are promoting the use of the PlantVillage application which uses Artificial intelligence (AI) among farming communities. This is an app that is installed on a mobile smartphone, and it is free of charge with a lot of information.
“The current problems we are facing are the effects of climate change, this season Zambia has been hit by the effects of climate change, with over 70 percent of the country failing to receive rainfall” He said.
Mr. Tembo who is also the principal Investigator for the PlantVilage project in Zambia expressed concern that crop production among farmers has adversely been affected by different pests and diseases. The PlantVillage application comes in very handy as it will be used by the farmers in their fields to identify problems of different types of diseases and pests.
Mr. Tembo said for now, the project is targeting Maize, Cassava, and sweet potato.
“In the first phase of the project we want to upscale this technology so that more farmers can be able to accept and utilize it, the target within the next six months is to reach out to about 20,000 farmers who will be utilizing this technology” Hehe said.
Mr. Tembo said they are utilizing the newly recruited Technicians who are graduates from different universities, who will be working with camp extension officers who are on the ground and will go out in the field to train farmers to adopt this technology.
“They will go out in the field to survey for pests and diseases out there in the fields, and this app will be able to collect this data and once the information is sent it will be used to solve future problems” Tembo said.
“This technology has been tested against experts from the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture in its ability to identify pests and diseases, it was equal in strength in identifying these pests and diseases, and it was further tested against the extension officers, “ he said.
He said that AI technology is a new tool that should be welcomed and applied, it will not eliminate the jobs for human beings, itbut willrather speed up the process of finding solutions to problems.
And officiating at the same event, Nchelenge District Agriculture Coordinator Arnold Muimui says the PlantVillage application has come at the right time when the population of Nchelenge district is growing and needs good yields.
The DACO said factors such as climate change, pest infestation, and disease infections have become an important issue that affects crop production which has resulted in reduced yields hence food security is threatened.
He explained that said due to the effects of climate change pests and diseases have become evasive to the human eye and more evasive to his crops.
“For CBSD and CMD, mankind has not sat idle, people are working day and night to invent several means to resolve these stumbling blocks to food production, this is through utilization of Artificial Intelligence” He said
He said through financial support from USAID, Feed the Future program, ZARI has adopted the use of the PlantVillage app an artificial intelligence tool for detecting pests and diseases in crops.
The PlantVillage app is a game changer, I would rather call it a next-age extension service technology, it would not have come at a better time than this, I am happy we have this kind of technology in agriculture” he said.
Mr. Muimui said the objective of this training is to orient the field technicians on the utilization of the PlantVillage app to establish and facilitate data transfer, and development of approaches and means to control plant pests and diseases.
“My appeal is to the facilitators of this project, let them extend the PlantVillage app to the camp extension officers so that they can also be empowered to utilize this tool which will help our farmers to increase their crop yields” he said.
The app can be used to gather information on the dynamics of these crop protection matters to develop approaches and tools that can be used to control pests and diseases in crops, such as the use of natural enemies to control pests.
Authored by National Agricultural Information Services (NAIS)
The agriculture sector in Zambia is key to the economy of the country as it contributes average about 19 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs about three quarters of the population.
However, the current food system and the livelihood of people is facing a hard time due to the advent effects of climate change, whereby calling for a strong transformation in both food production and consumption patterns in a sustainable way.
Further, strengthening climate resilience of agricultural livelihoods calls for farmers to adapt and build resilience to the increasing challenges of climate change where nutritious food is available for all.
It is against this backdrop that agricultural experts are calling for farmers to develop an efficient, competitive, and sustainable agricultural sector which assures food and nutrition security, increased employment opportunities and incomes.
And one of the ways to build resiliency in agriculture is for farmers to adapt the agroecological approachwhich strengthens the capacity for farmers to plan for climate risks that threaten to derail development gains, promote climate resilient agricultural production and diversification.
Agroecology is a holistic approach that seeks to reconcile agriculture and local communities with natural processes for the common benefit of nature and livelihoods.
The farmer’s traditional knowledge combined with innovations in practices and the sustainable use of technologies is at the core of an agroecological farming system.
Joseph Ngenda Mwitumwa from the Community Technology Development Trust says agroecological approach is naturally designed to mitigate the effects of climate change as it is a natural way of farming.
He said that the approach is a holistic way of farming which promotes planting of trees, the use of manure and indigenous crop varieties.
“As Community Technology Development Trust, we are promoting a number of agroecological practices and among them is promoting the utilisation of bokashi and the use of indigenous seeds because they are resilient to climate change, considering the environmental challenges caused by climate shocks,” he said.
He said indigenous seed varieties that are late maturing perform better than hybrid crops adding that indigenous seeds easily adapt to the local environment which makes them perform well compared to hybrid seeds.
He further stated that despite the high cost of fertilizer, farmers are able to produce with the utilization of manure which is less costly when using indigenous crops.
Mr. Mwitumwa however said they face challenges when implementing the agroecological approach due to the knowledge gap when it comes to the use of manure that can help preserve other traits found in indigenous seeds.
“There is significant knowledge gap on the benefits of agroecology approaches and most farmers especially smallholder farmers are not aware of indigenous seeds which promotes diversification of farming practice,” he said.
He said diversification can help farmers to become food secure and households will have different types of sources of nutrition from different crops produced.
He however commended the government’s efforts in recognizing and improving agroecological practices through the introduction of the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CATSP) which seeks to promote the adoption of the approach.
“Government has changed the policy on plant variety and seeds act while breeders act is being changed and we are optimistic that these approaches will be included in the new seed loans,” Mr. Mwitumwa said.
Indeed, building an effective agricultural adaptation strategy is imperative to ensure food security in a country challenged by climate change constraints.
Government and the private sector in the country should work together to adopt short and long- term response strategies to cope with erratic climate change impacts.
Authored by National Agricultural Information Service
#FARA’s Institutional Capacity & Future Scenarios Cluster Lead and African Seed and Biotechnology Partnership Platform #ASBPP coordinator under the auspices of the African Union, Dr. Abdulrazak Ibrahim, is at the #AU Headquarters, Addis Ababa, facilitating the 2nd #ASBPP General Assembly.
The assembly holds significant weight as it aligns ongoing dialogues concerning the 2nd decade of the African Union #Agenda2063 and the post-Malabo process.
The theme of the General Assembly is Humanitarian Development and Peace (HDP) Nexus alongside transforming food systems in Africa.
Key assembly elements encompass the interconnection between #ASBPP Working Groups, Clusters, and the Integrated Seed Sector Development #ISSD Africa Community of Practice, as well as the unveiling of the Africa Seed Sector Performance Indicator #SSPI spearheaded by The African Seed Access Index.
The meeting features deliberations on the evolving strategies within Africa’s seed sector, including initiatives like the Partnership for Integrated Seed Sector Development in Africa #PISSA. These endeavours contribute to the ASBP-CAADP Goals.
This collaborative effort, led by #ASBPP under the purview of African Union‘s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment DARBE -AUC, AUDA-NEPAD, #FARA, and the Wageningen Center for Development Innovation (WCDI) of Wageningen University & Research, brings together 120 stakeholders from across Africa’s seed sector.
Agriculture plays a crucial role in the economic development and food security of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. However, the sector faces several challenges; including climate change, soil degradation, and limited access to markets, technology and information.
Access to timely and accurate information is critical for enabling farmers and policymakers to make informed decisions that promote sustainable agriculture and food security.
It is for this reason, the European Union (EU) working with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) supported the SADC member states in the implementation of SADC regional agriculture policy project known as Support Towards the Operationalization of SADC Region policy (STOSAR).
Minister of Agriculture for Botswana Fidelis Molao, commended the European Union and FAO for helping the SADC region in the development of Agricultural Information Management Systems (AIMS) for data-driven decision-making, tackling key transboundary animal diseases and crop to facilitate market and trade.
The three year ‟Support towards operationalization of the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy” (STOSAR) has three components being implemented by the SADC Secretariat and FAO. The components are: enhancing information on agricultural production, sustainability and competitiveness for evidence-based decision-making; improving access to markets through implementation of plant and animal pest and disease control strategies at regional level; facilitating the implementation of some components of Regional Food and Nutrition Security Strategy (FNSS). The latter component is being implemented directly by the SADC secretariat.
Overall, the project aims to strengthen regional integration, promote sustainable agricultural and socio-economic growth, improve access to markets, facilitate trade, and enhance food and nutrition security within the SADC region.
By investing in domestic agri-food systems, which promotes economic growth and sustainable food production, member States of SADC are leveraging on the benefits of regional value chains, access to international markets and pooling of resources to achieve economies of scale.
To facilitate regional cooperation and integration, SADC has come up with a Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP) which provides a framework of common objectives designed to harmonize, and create synergies between the agricultural sectors of its Member States, and, in so doing, strengthening regional integration, sustainable agricultural growth and socio-economic development.
The SADC Council of Ministers approved the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP) and the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy Investment Plan (RAIP) in June 2013 and July 2016 respectively.
The RAIP, which set out to operationalise the RAP, was prepared in the context of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which was established in Maputo in 2003 as a Pan-African policy framework to transform agriculture, create wealth, improve food security and nutrition and promote inclusive economic growth.
This project forms part of the 11th Electronic Data Interchange (EDF) Regional Indicative Programme (RIP) identified under the SADC region envelope in line with the 11th EDF 2014 – 2020 Regional Indicative Programme for Eastern Africa, Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean. The overall objective of this action is to accelerate progress towards implementation of SADC regional integration.
The EU and SADC Secretariat identified FAO as the lead implementing agency for the two components of the Support Towards the Operationalization of the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy Project (STOSAR).
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (FAO) Sub-Regional Coordinator for Southern Africa Patrice Talla urged SADC member states to embrace innovative approaches to manage transboundary pests and diseases which pose food safety risks that undermine international trade.
Speaking at the ‘Support Towards the Operationalization of the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy’ (STOSAR) end of project workshop, Talla said, “Working in collaboration with the Centres of Excellence, the STOSAR project has capacitated SADC countries to develop the adoption of international standards such as Commodity-based trade, that has enabled some SADC countries get access to international markets by ensuring compliance with the requirements of importing countries.”
The implementation of the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy through the STOSAR project has led to deeper regional integration by harmonizing agricultural strategies, promoting trade, and fostering collaboration among SADC member states, contributing to a more resilient and prosperous agricultural sector.
SADC Deputy Executive Secretary for Regional Integration Angele Makombo N’tumba highlighted STOSAR’s successes stating that “The implementation of the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy has already yielded significant achievements and by enhancing market access and tackling transboundary pests and diseases, the project has ensured the resilience and competitiveness of our shared agricultural sector within and beyond the SADC region.”
Officially opening the STOSAR end of project workshop, the Botswana Minister of Agriculture, Fidelis Molao commended the project for opening market access for the country.
Botswana is currently in negotiations for exporting fresh citrus fruits to key markets such as the European Union, the United States of America, India, and China. This initiative follows a comprehensive countrywide surveillance for citrus black spot, which has led to the establishment of pest-free areas.
Advanced plans are underway by the European Union to support the second phase of the STOSAR project to build on the progress and gains that have been achieved by the STOSAR project.
Deputy Head of Cooperation Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Botswana and SADC Jose Becerra, reiterated EU’s continued support to the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-2030.
“STOSAR II will contribute towards addressing industrial development and market integration through a transformed agricultural sector that practices sustainable management of the environment and its natural resources. It would support value chain actors and improve the policy environment to facilitate their access to global markets with high-quality and safe products in line with the principles and approaches to agroecology,” said Becerra.
To emphasize the significance of strategic partnerships and innovation, a Business Expo was held concurrently with the STOSAR end of project workshop, where 12 exhibitors presented their products and services aimed at promoting sustainable agrifood systems across the SADC region.
The continued implementation of the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy promises to enhance and capitalise on trade opportunities in regional and international markets, ensuring food and nutrition security for all SADC member states. –NAIS
In an effort to mitigate the advent effects of climate change, government in partnership with International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have launched the Southern Africa Research and Administrative Hub (SARAH) and food system research delivery facilities aimed at producing state of the act research technologies.
The partnership will leverage IITA and CGIAR’s expertise in research delivery and agriculture innovation to support Government’s efforts in promoting sustainable agriculture practices, enhancing crop productivity and mitigating the impacts of climate change on smallholder farmers.
The research will work towards addressing critical issues like food insecurities, plant health and seed systems in Zambia and the entire southern region.
Speaking during the launch of the Southern Africa Research and Administrative Hub at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) held in Chongwe district of Lusaka province recently, President Hakainde Hichilema called for research in the agricultural sector to ensure high levels of productivity is attained.
Mr. Hakainde stated that the country must work together to realise the goal of boosting agricultural production and productivity, noting that IITA should help ensure there is enough food production and provide seed varieties which are drought resistance for better yields.
He said smallholder farmers should promote varieties like cassava that are drought resistant and if produced can increase household food security and nutrition.
“Farms should create jobs and value addition for people to improve on mechanization because there is money on the farms therefore youths should be encouraged to venture in agriculture to help sustain their livelihoods,” The President stated.
Mr. Hakainde further emphasized the need for collaborations with other stakeholders such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) to support agriculture and attain food security at household level.
And Agriculture Minister Reuben Mtolo expressed happiness for the support that IITA and CGIAR are working with government to developing new varieties and capacity building in the country.
Mr. Mtolo added that the ministry is committed to work with other stakeholders to heighten food security in the country amidst climate shock.
And Former President of Nigeria and IITA Ambassador Chief Olusegun Obasanjo described the launch as historical as the hub will ensure food and nutrition security for Zambia and Southern Africa added that there is need to turn agriculture into a business and make it sustainable.
“We need availability of production, processors, marketers and distributors for the agricultural sector to thrive and to achieve this we need youths to venture in agriculture to sustain their living,” he stated.
Meanwhile, IITA Country Director and Regional Director for Southern Africa David Chikoye expressed excitement for hosting the event which he said took lots of planning and engagements.
“IITA will continue to support the Zambian government to achieve the agricultural transformation agenda, enhance food security and promote sustainable development across the country and the region,” Dr Chikoye stated.
He however called upon all the researchers working in the same domain like students to visit and work in those facilities as they focus on working on diversification of farming systems and diets in Zambia and the region to improve access to science and innovations.
Despite Africa’s vast arable land, the farming community is faced with challenges to mitigate the climate effects that needs concerted efforts in scaling climate smart innovations through scientific driven solutions and market-based approach to make agriculture sustainable.
Indeed, the establishment of SARAH in Zambia 38 years ago and the launch of the food system research and delivery facilities underlines the commitment of both IITA and government to enhance agricultural productivity, food security and livelihoods for people and the Southern African Region.
The IITA Regional hub in Zambia will serve as a melting pot for innovative research, capacity building and knowledge sharing research and agriculture will further reflect in commitment to drive food systems, transformation to improve the lives for smallholder farmers in Africa. –NAIS
