Kenya

PlantwisePlus in Kenya

Smallholder farming in Kenya is pivotal in the country's agricultural landscape, contributing significantly to food security and rural livelihoods.

PlantwisePlus works with partners to empower farmers to have increased incomes and grow safer and higher-quality food through sustainable approaches to crop production. Key projects in Kenya include the successful release of a biocontrol agent to mitigate the impact of papaya mealybug and training young people in agri-service provision.

Latest blogs

Current activities

Browse the PlantwisePlus activities currently being delivered in Kenya, highlighting our current areas of work and collaboration.

Pest preparedness

Support partners to apply pest risk analysis (PRA) to assess pest risks.
Support partners to compile and apply pest risk registers to identify and prioritize pest threats.
Hold a regional MEL risk register workshop to track and evaluate pest risk management.
Hold an East Africa Community PRA workshop to build regional capacity.
Address invasive papaya mealybug through response planning, public awareness raising, and surveillance with the national plant protection organization, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), to manage spread.
Support the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) to utilize a Pest Alert System (PRISE), including developing, validating, assessing, and disseminating messages to farmers to enable early response to pest outbreaks.

Pesticide risk reduction

Identify lower-risk plant protection products and practices, and showcase their use and impact through practical demonstrations where farmers can learn by observation to increase uptake of pesticide alternatives.
Pilot the National Pesticide Residue Monitoring Framework and share lessons with other countries (Uganda and Ghana) to strengthen compliance.
Develop guidelines for re-evaluation of registered pesticides and pilot review of molecules applying this new approach to improve regulation.
Radio outreach in a number of counties with partners.
Outreach on safe disposal of containers with the AgroChemical Association of Kenya (AAKgrow) to promote safe pesticide handling.
Continue the Ukulima True campaigns that promote Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to increase farmer awareness of pesticide risks and alternative products.
Establish demo farms on lower-risk products such as pheromone traps, working with Koppert to share how to use them and their effectiveness.
Hold sensitization workshops on Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) to improve food safety and market access.
Support the classical biological control of papaya mealybug, tomato leafminer, and fall armyworm, including: rearing, awareness raising, release, and impact assessment.

Farmer advisory services

Promote digital tools and courses to users through agriculture faculties in colleges and universities, public sector, and private sector to increase awareness and uptake.
Raise awareness of the tools during meetings, farmer field days, agricultural shows, and conferences to increase awareness and uptake.
Identify and train champions to use and promote the digital tools to increase engagement.
Undertake a digital tools impact study to understand reach and effectiveness.
Support the delivery of complementary extension methods for farmer outreach, such as plant clinics, by training plant doctors to run them to improve farmer access to crop health advice.
Support farmer compliance with integrated pest management (IPM) aspects of production standards, including awareness of such standards and training on IPM approaches to meet buyer and market requirements.
Conduct technical skills training, including pest identification and management, to improve pest diagnosis and response at farm level.
Conduct soft skills training, including how to set up and run a business, and support youth to be peer mentors to equip youth to start businesses and share their learnings.
Build the capacity of youth groups and cooperatives through training, mentorship, and technical support to establish and grow agribusiness ventures, enhancing entrepreneurship and local economic opportunities.
Explore the possibility of women and youth undertaking kale seed bulking in collaboration with KALRO to understand potential income opportunities

Research and publications

Reducing pesticide risks through social and behavior change communication: a case study of the Ukulima True campaign in Kenya

Type Journal article

Published in Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 9:1627249

Language English

Year 2025

Pest Risk Information SErvice (PRISE): impacts, partnerships and next steps

Type Briefing

Published in CABI Briefing: PRISE

Language English

Year 2025

Biocontrol for papaya mealybug: lessons learnt from Kenya

Type Study brief

Published in Study Brief 47: Impact

Language English

Year 2024

Use of the CABI BioProtection Portal increases awareness of safer plant protection products among farmers and agricultural advisers in Kenya

Type Working paper

Published in Working Paper 29

Language English

Year 2022

Contact us

Florence Chege

PlantwisePlus Country Coordinator, Kenya

Project Scientist

E: f.chege@cabi.org

Countries we work in

Bangladesh

PlantwisePlus is working to empower farmers to use more sustainable crop management processes, including the use of a new biocontrol agent to fight fall armyworm.

Burundi

In Burundi, our initiatives focus on integrating plant clinic networks into the national plant health system and promoting gender-inclusive services.

Ghana

PlantwisePlus activities in Ghana are working to improve extension services for the country’s female farmers.

India

Through our work with local and national partners in India, PlantwisePlus supports farmers in protecting crops, increasing yields, and improving livelihoods.

Nepal

In Nepal, PlantwisePlus and partners are working to improve access to agricultural advice, helping farmers manage pests and diseases that threaten crops.

Pakistan

Key PlantwisePlus projects in Pakistan include the release of a biocontrol agent to safeguard crops from invasive parthenium weed.

Uganda

In Uganda, PlantwisePlus is working with partners to provide training to young people and agro-dealers.

Zambia

In Zambia, PlantwisePlus activities include supporting Zambian farmers manage invasive species such as cassava brown streak disease.

Where we work

PlantwisePlus aims to reach 75 million smallholder farmers in 27 countries. Find out where PlantwisePlus activities are taking place.

Learn more about PlantwisePlus

Delivered through gender-sensitive and climate-resilient approaches, PlantwisePlus is tackling the challenges facing smallholder production through three impact pathways: Pest Preparedness, Pesticide Risk Reduction, and Farmer Advisory.

Pest Preparedness

PlantwisePlus supports the development and enhancement of processes that enable countries and regional organizations to quickly and effectively identify, prioritize and respond to pest threats, integrating the latest information on pest distribution and climate change models.

Pesticide Risk Reduction

Due to increasing plant health threats, more pesticides are used every year around the world. PlantwisePlus recognizes the urgent need to increase the uptake of lower-risk plant protection products by farmers.

Farmer Advisory

The Farmer Advisory pathway is focused on enhancing knowledge and uptake of integrated pest management (IPM) practices through responsive digital advisory tools.

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Kenya

PlantwisePlus in Kenya

Latest blogs

From skills to success: How young agripreneurs are strengthening farming communities

How Kenya is preventing mango mealybug through early detection

How youth-led agri-services are transforming livelihoods in rural Kenya through a business-first lens

"Before CABI Academy, I used to avoid fieldwork because I lacked confidence.“

Current activities

Pest preparedness

Pesticide risk reduction

Farmer advisory services

Research and publications

Reducing pesticide risks through social and behavior change communication: a case study of the Ukulima True campaign in Kenya

Pest Risk Information SErvice (PRISE): impacts, partnerships and next steps

Biocontrol for papaya mealybug: lessons learnt from Kenya

Use of the CABI BioProtection Portal increases awareness of safer plant protection products among farmers and agricultural advisers in Kenya

Contact us

Florence Chege

Countries we work in

Learn more about PlantwisePlus

Pest Preparedness

Pesticide Risk Reduction

Farmer Advisory

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