Agricultural performance in Africa is hindered by factors like inaccessible inputs, limited credit, unfavorable weather, pests, diseases, and poor management. The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) implemented a project funded by CGIAR to develop digital advisories for Rwanda and Ghana. They created models to forecast fall armyworm invasions and Striga weed risk, which cause significant crop losses. These models, integrated with climate forecasts, run on a Python back-end and are accessible online.
The advisories, sent via SMS, help farmers take timely action. In Rwanda, over 90% of farmers in high-risk areas acted on these advisories. The project used a straightforward data integration matrix to derive various risk levels for each country and month. These risk levels were linked to concrete advisories for different administrative units and formulated with partners in each country.
The advisories were linked with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices, including cultural practices and land tillage advice. A bottom-up approach was taken, and the private sector was consulted to find the best subscription or commercialization model. In Rwanda, an ex-ante survey showed that most farmers implemented measures like early weeding or plucking of larvae within five days of receiving the advisory SMS.
Existing scaling support methodologies often fail to consider the socially differentiated impacts, including gender effects, of innovation uptake. To address this gap, GenderUp was developed as a conversational tool to enhance the inclusivity, reflexivity, and responsiveness of scaling initiatives. GenderUp...
Cette publication offre de nombreux exemples concrets détaillant différentes manières de réengager les jeunes dans le secteur agricole. Elle montre à quel point des programmes éducationnels sur mesure peuvent offrir aux jeunes les compétences et la perspicacité nécessaires pour se...
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The purposes of this course are to review the major reforms being considered internationally that aim to change the policy and institutional structure and operations of public sector agricultural extension systems, and to examine the advantages and disadvantages of each...
