FAO warns of likely outbreak of crop, livestock diseases in Ethiopia

NaijaAgroNet:

The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Representative to Ethiopia, Amadou Allahoury, has warned that if the current floods in the country continues, it could lead to crop and livestock diseases, reports NaijaAgroNet.

"If floods worsen later this year, there could be outbreaks of crop and livestock diseases, further reducing agricultural productivity and complicating recovery,” Allahoury declared.

The situation, Allahoury said, is critical now and urged the world make sure that farmers will be able to plant between now and September and grow enough food to feed themselves and their families thus avoiding millions of people having to rely on food assistance for another year.

“Ethiopia needs urgent global support to respond to its humanitarian needs, we have no time to procrastinate," Allahoury said.

The FAO official described the meher season as Ethiopia's main agricultural season and produces up to 85 per cent of the nation's food supplies.

Also, Allahoury warned that if the farmers do not plant enough now, Ethiopia may face significant food shortages, which may further exacerbate food and nutrition insecurity in the country.

“To ensure the last remaining planting window of the year is met, an estimated $8.8 million is needed to provide root crop planting materials, legumes, vegetable and cereal seed to 530 000 households,” the representative said.

NaijaAgroNet reports that FAO estimated that households who lost small ruminants such as sheep may need at least two years to return to pre-drought levels, while cattle-owning households may need up to four years to recover. While animals that survived the recent drought are still weak and susceptible to diseases during the rainy periods; $36.2 million is required to undertake the necessary interventions to support 2.4 million livestock-dependent households or 12 million people.

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FAO injects N97,117m to fight pests, diseases in Botswana

NaijaAgroNet

The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has said it has injected P281 000 million, about N97,117 million in a bio security joint project with the Ministry of Agriculture to fight pests and diseases in Botswana.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the project which was officially launched at Ramokgwebana border post by the assistant Minister of Agriculture, Fidelis Molao, is expected to clamp down on the risks of unsafe and contaminated plants and foodstuffs from being brought into Botswana, even though the awareness campaign which is targeted at cross-border travelers is expected to educate the public on the importance of bringing into the country plants and non plants which have been inspected and pest free.

According to THEVOICEBW, an FAO representative, David Tibe, said that bio security is critical if Botswana is to maintain and upscale its food security: “Increased travel is also creating more pathways to spread diseases, pests and other hazards that are moving faster and further than ever before,” Tibe said.

Tibe added that the joint project will help the ministry of agriculture and other stakeholders to improve their capacities at all levels to provide public services to plant and animal health as well as food safety, NaijaAgroNet learnt.

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CABI says 40% food lost to diseases annually, establishes plant clinics

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

United Kindgom-based Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) has said that despite the advances made in science and technology, crop disease continues to plague farmers everywhere as 40 per cent of the food grown worldwide is lost to pests and diseases before it could be consumed. 

This postulation was made by CABI while trying to change the trend through a crop protection programme called Plantwise, maintaining, there are about 90 of these clinics in Uganda, while this year donors spent $290,000 about N46, 907,501.64 training plant doctors and expanding the system in the country.

                                                  

NaijaAgroNet learnt from CABI that it has trained nearly a thousand plant doctors in 24 countries, including one near Kampala, Uganda since 2010  and set up Plantwise clinics in 12 African countries - nine in East Africa and  three in West Africa.

One of the trained plant Doctors, according to a press statement from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Daniel Lyazi on arrival in Mukono, a village about 15 kilometers from Kampala to set up a clinic discovered that there is no remedy for the diseased plant samples that people bring to the clinic while the farmers have been using the wrong insecticide.

“I’m recommending the use of another insecticide called Fenkill, and in another planting season they should plant with onions. Onions can repel the caterpillar and so they can get income,” he said.
 

The head of a local farmers’ group, Erifazi Mayanja, said that they are really benefiting from the twice-a-month clinic, which started last year as Lyazi’s recommendations may save the next season’s crop by inter-planting onions between the rows of cabbages as an additional protection measure.

The Coordinator the Plantwise program in Uganda and Zambia, Joseph Mulema opined that plant clinics are far more effective model for getting advice to farmers than the traditional one where agricultural extension workers, in theory, visit farms. 

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