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Bridging the gaps in plant health advisory services through community-based plant clinics: Lessons and prospects

Published: January, 2017

Journal article

Feleke K., Jayne Crozier, Negussie Efa Gurmessa, Solomon Mirete, Zebdewos Salato

Increasing crop pests and diseases have become a global concern posing a serious threat to food security. Farmers are in dire need of timely, relevant and practical advisory services that can help them mitigate such challenges. There are apparent. gaps and limitations in conventional extension services in delivering effective advisory service on plant health problems. Realizing such shortfalls, many have started advocating for a more responsive and demand-driven approach. Plant wise community-based plant clinics (CBPC) are one such innovative and complementary tool. Based on the results achieved in other countries, CBPCs were piloted in Ethiopia in 2013. Today, over 100 CBPCs operate and provide advice on plant health in Oromia, Tigray, Amhara and SNNP regions. The approach has demonstrated having notable potential to effectively and timely reach out to farmers with appropriate and practical advice on plant health problems. In Ethiopia unique opportunities and fertile ground prevail to effectively implement, scale up. institutionalize and sustain the initiative. These include presence of regional Plant Health Clinics. Farmer Training Centres, large number of frontline extension staff. decentralized structures, various agricultural development projects/programmes and pro-agriculture development policy. This paper presents experiences and lessons in implementing CBPCs in Ethiopia. the merits and contributions of the approach, prospects, challenges and future areas of focus.

Bridging the gaps in plant health advisory services through community-based plant clinics: Lessons and prospects

Type Journal article

Published in Pest Management Journal of Ethiopia 20

Language English

Year 2017