Willis Ndeda Ochilo

Background : Understanding gender inequalities in agriculture is essential for women’s economic empowerment, especially in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa where agriculture is the mainstay of countries’ economies. Despite women’s significant contributions to agricultural production, gender disparities persist, particularly when it comes to access to resources. Women also undertake unpaid care work, which remains unrecognized in public policies. This article explores the factors that encourage men to participate in unpaid care work, thereby supporting women and reducing the opportunity cost of their engagement in economic activities. Methods : Data collected from a random sample of 946 farm families across eight provinces in Burundi is analyzed. Additionally, insights from a Rapid Care Analysis are integrated with this dataset. Using a logit model, we analyze the factors that influence the likelihood of men engaging in unpaid care work. Results : Our findings reveal that, on average, women in Burundi work 13 h per day, with 7 h allocated to productive/market work and 6 h to unpaid care work. In contrast, men spend 7 h on productive/market work without dedicating time to care work. The results of the logit regression underscore factors such as education level, participation in plant clinics, income level, joint decision making at the household level, and household size positively influence the likelihood of men engaging in unpaid care work. Conclusions : Based on these findings, we advocate for improved access to education and the expansion of programs that integrate components aimed at addressing gender disparities. These initiatives hold the potential to foster greater male involvement in unpaid care work, thereby alleviating the burden on women and facilitating their increased participation in economic activities.

Climate change-induced invasive pests remain a major bottleneck to agricultural productivity and food security in South Sudan. Strengthening the plant health system has the potential to contribute to reducing crop losses caused by pests. A situational analysis was conducted to assess the current state and effectiveness of plant health functions in three counties in South Sudan. Descriptive findings of data collected from 960 farmers in Juba, Yambio, and Yei indicated low access to plant health services, including advisory and extension, training, and information. There was a high dependence on NGOs and UN agencies to provide plant health services, indicating a gap in government-led initiatives. The findings demonstrate a complex relationship between plant health services and on-farm practices and regional variations in access to plant health services and resources. The findings have crucial implications for the plant health system in South Sudan, requiring the need for service accessibility, government involvement in plant health systems, strengthening of the policy and regulatory frameworks, and inclusivity in service provision.

Climate change-induced invasive pests remain a major bottleneck to agricultural productivity and food security in South Sudan. Strengthening the plant health system has the potential to contribute to reducing crop losses caused by pests. A situational analysis was conducted to assess the current state and effectiveness of plant health functions in three counties in South Sudan. Descriptive findings of data collected from 960 farmers in Juba, Yambio, and Yei indicated low access to plant health services, including advisory and extension, training, and information. There was a high dependence on NGOs and UN agencies to provide plant health services, indicating a gap in government-led initiatives. Multivariate probit regression analysis revealed mixed effects of farmer advisory, agricultural training, and plant health information on crop rotation, crop diversification, row planting, chemical pesticides, early planting, and certified seed. This demonstrates a complex relationship between plant health services and on-farm practices. Socioeconomic variables also had varying effects on crop management practices, suggesting inequitable access to plant health services and resources. These findings have crucial implications for the plant health system in South Sudan, requiring the need for service accessibility, government involvement in plant health systems, strengthening of the policy and regulatory frameworks, and inclusivity in service provision.

Many growers rely on good agricultural extension services to successfully grow their crops. Correct field diagnoses of plant health problems are an essential starting point. However, some agricultural extension workers may have had limited capacity building in field diagnosis during their agricultural education, and many may have had limited or no continuing education possibilities during their advisory work life. As a result, errors may occur in the course of diagnosis of plant health problems with devastating consequences. The objective of this study, therefore, was to assess the value of short and inexpensive in-service training that is intended to improve the quality of field diagnosis of plant health problems. Eight groups of agricultural extension workers totaling 165 participants were trained during a 3-day-long intensive course in the diagnosis of plant health problems as part of the plant doctor training in the Plantwise program in Burundi (44 ± 9 years of age, 14 ± 10 years of experience in agriculture and 8 ± 7 years in extension; 10% females). Empirical data from before-versus-end and after-course analyses revealed that such courses can indeed increase knowledge and skills in field diagnosis by 20 ± 8% points during the training and by 9 ± 4% points when having worked for 8 to 19 months after training. The level of variability among extension workers was also reduced by 0.8 ± 1% points pre-course versus end-course, and by 1.1 ± 0.3% points from pre- versus post-course. Interestingly, there seemed little to no influence of work experience in agricultural extension on the quality of field diagnosis of plant health problems. More advanced educational levels only slightly improved the diagnosis quality of extension workers; gender played no role; younger workers performed slightly better than older ones. This may indicate a lack of opportunities for further training as part of continuing adult education. Our results suggest regularly repeated in-service training for agricultural practitioners may be beneficial. Investments in such training seem worthwhile since better diagnoses can lead to more appropriate pest management advice and judicious use of pesticides.

The concept of a plant health system (PHS) is mainly anchored on experiences from human health where varied sources of knowledge, expertise, and technology are combined to provide healthcare. While diverse human health systems have been proven, little is known about PHS and what is needed to base effective plant healthcare services. A stakeholder analysis was carried out in Burundi. The aim is to understand the system as it is presently and to identify constraints and opportunities. This paper reports on the process and results of this assessment. The initial step in this process was to define PHS and its functions and to evaluate stakeholders’ interests and influence. The first step was followed by examining stakeholders’ perceptions concerning the sustainability of interventions geared at strengthening PHS functions. The process included a document review and stakeholder workshops. After the stakeholders defined the PHS functions, they proceeded to identify valuable actors. The assessment process highlighted several key challenges, including inadequate skills to serve farmers and insufficient capacity to diagnose pests, as significant impediments to effective PHS performance. Based on the information marshalled here, seven broad interventions are proposed for practitioners to strengthen Burundi’s PHS rapidly.

This chapter reports on the functioning of online chat groups in the context of agricultural advisory services. We draw insights from the experiences of the Plantwise programme, led by the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), embracing online chat groups to support frontline advisory staff, and national and international plant health specialists. Emerging as a spontaneous bottom-up innovation initiated by frontline advisory staff, these chat groups have matured into avenues for knowledge-sharing to support plant health systems. Through continuous monitoring, backstopping, and rapid diagnosis of emerging pests the groups played a key role in providing timely pest diagnoses, quality advice of measures, and served as an early warning system. However, to sustainably structure, embed, and support the functioning of these monitoring and backstopping chat groups, we study and reflect upon the composition, interaction, and complementary role of Plantwise and other chat groups in the pluralistic agricultural advisory systems of Africa. Using the lessons learnt we then consider how they can be more deliberately used and integrated to support service delivery.

Mobile apps are increasingly being used to answer development challenges around the world. The development opportunities that apps offer is wide-reaching but uptake of the technology varies. This article examines the ease of use and factors impacting user acceptance and behavior when interacting with an app for agricultural extension in Kenya. Results show factors including gender and age play a role in the adoption of technology by agricultural extension agents. The findings have useful lessons for apps’ development in the agricultural sector and suggest that including intended users of an app in the design process significantly increases usability.

This article examines pest management practices recommended to smallholder farmers by extension agents, and the factors influencing the same. The study focused on plant health clinics, established under the Plantwise program, as primary providers of data. A diverse range of biotic and abiotic stressors was found to hamper crop production in the smallholder agricultural subsector of Kenya. Much as extension workers prescribed Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices, albeit on a limited scale, management of crop pests was mainly by use of non-IPM practices. In addition, significant associations were observed between the prescribed practice and individual moderators (namely extension officer’s gender, age, education level, and location), type of crop and causative agent. The results of the study confirm the need for further investments in the smallholder agricultural subsector of Kenya. In particular, the sector should prioritize capacity-building initiatives for extension agents on ecological and economical sound approaches to pest management.