The document discusses approaches to institutionalizing plant doctor training at Makerere University in Uganda. It describes including plant doctor training in the undergraduate curriculum through recess term training, internships, or classroom teaching. It also discusses designing an in-service training course for current agricultural extension workers. The goal is to establish a sustainable system for training plant doctors by integrating it into the university's programs and activities to strengthen plant health systems in Uganda. This would provide a permanent resource for plant clinic support, diagnosis, knowledge sharing, and research. Various considerations for implementing training options are discussed.

1. Plantwise:
Building linkages between education and
practical knowledge resources
Washington Otieno, Julia Dennis & Willis Ochilo
CAB International
4th RUFORUM Biennial Conference
Maputo, Mozambique
July 20 – 25, 2014

2. Overview
Establishing/strengthening
linkages between ag-extension
research, education, regulators
in solving plant health problems
– biotic and abiotic
Use of networks of plant clinics
supported by KB as a technical
resource
Career-enhancing platform to
connect and share knowledge

3. Key components
Information collection… and delivery (the last 1 km)
Plant ClinicsKnowledge Bank

4. Plantwise approach
Trains extension workers on field
diagnosis and recommendations for
solving plant health problems
Trained extension staff establish and
operate plant clinics
Plant clinics – situated at locations
easily accessed by farmers – regular
time & place
Plant clinics offer advice to farmers
on practical options for managing
plant health problems – documented
in a prescription form

5. Approach (cont.)
Prescription documents the crop,
farmer, plant health problem and
recommendations:
One prescription copy for the
farmer
One feeds into the Knowledge
Bank and/or national plant health
registry

6. Data validated and analysed by
national experts (drawn from
universities, research organizations,
regulatory authorities, etc.)
Validation confirms:
Diagnoses valid for the crop
Recommendations valid for the
problem
Diagnosis and recommendation
are correct in relation to the status
of the problem (if cause is biotic) &
approved management methods
Approach (cont.)

7. Plant clinic data
Use of plant clinic data takes care of
country interests, benefitting:
Research
Extension
Trade
Regulations
Access is subject to data sharing
agreement between governments and
CABI
Options by countries for access may be
open or
restricted

8. Simplified plant protection and
agronomy knowledge at extension-
farmer level
Module 1: Field diagnosis & plant
clinic operations
Module 2: Giving good
recommendations
Other trainings:
Development of factsheets & pest
management decision guides
Monitoring clinic performance (M & E)
Data management
Data validation
Training of “plant doctors”

9. Current scenario
Training by CABI staff but
Transitioning to training
by national trainers –
from universities,
ministries, research
organizations,
universities (initially
shadowed by CABI staff)

10. Universities involved in training
incl. integration of modules in
university curricula
Pretested at Makerere: recess
term, possibility for in-service
training, and full integration
CABI seeking opportunities to
work with universities in
exploring prospects to
strengthen curricula for
agricultural extension in the
area of plant health systems
Desired Situation

11. LOSE LESS, FEED MORE
www.plantwise.org
Thank you
We wish to acknowledge the support of our donors, as well
as our national and international partners who make
Plantwise possible

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CAB Abstracts & Compendia
David Onyango, 22nd July 2014, RUFORUM Biennial Conference-Mozambique

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23. TOWARDS INSTITUTIONALIZING
PLANT DOCTOR TRAINING:
Experiences from Makerere University,
Uganda
Herbert Talwana, Mildred Ochwoh, Geoffrey
Tusiime and Settumba Mukasa

24. Background
 2005/2006: Four mobile plant health clinics started
in Uganda – largely by NGOs (SOCCADIDO,
CARITAS, SG2000) and MAAIF
 The Global Plant Clinic (CABI) provided training,
technical backstopping and operational costs (small
grant)
 Sustainability! – All clinics ceased to operate in mid-
2009 due to shortage of funds and plant clinic staff

25. Background
 By 2009 the potential of plant clinics had been
demonstrated:
 Enhancing outreach of the agricultural extension
 Capturing wider farmer demands
 Improving plant disease surveillance
 So 2010 – plant clinics were reactivated as part of
Plantwise Programme [http://www.plantwise.org]
 There is growing commitment among implementers and
policy makers to expand and consolidate plant clinics
services

26. Plant Health Systems
Input
supply Extension
Research
Farmers
Regulation
Plant
clinics
 Have a core Trainer of
Trainees within the country
that:
 Will backstop all plant
clinics (esp. diagnostics)
 Continuously train plant
doctors
 Validate fact sheets
produced for farmers by
plant doctors
 Validate data captured
in plant clinics
 Initiate publications from
such data in consultation
with MAAIF and CABI

27. A new strategy for Institutionalizing
Plant Doctor training
Input
supply
Extension
Research
Farmers
Regulation
Plant
clinics
University
The current ToTs are
inadequate; chosen
individually with
limited involvement
of stakeholders/
Institutions

28. Institutionalizing training of
Plant Doctors at a University
 Fits well within the core of the university – training and
outreach
 May not require sustained support to run – owned by the
university
 Authenticity/certification – university quality assurance
systems
 A permanent and responsive system linking and
integrating plant clinics with a technology and knowledge
source, and a referral point for diagnosis and research

29. The Approaches
 Include Plant Doctor training in the
Undergraduate curriculum
 Design and implement an “in-service”
training for current agricultural extension
personnel

30. Inclusion of Plant Doctor training in
the Undergraduate curriculum
 Low hanging apple -
offers an opportunity
for mainstreaming
plant doctor training in
universities and
colleges
Include Plant Doctor training in recess term
training
Include Plant Doctor training in internship
Streamline within normal class teaching

31. Plant Doctor training in recess
term activities
 CORE TRAINING (5 days); one go or
staggered?
 MODULE 1: How to become a plant doctor (2.5 days)
 Field diagnosis
 Operation of clinics
 MODULE 2: Plant healthcare (2.5 days)
 Managing plant health problems
 Choosing options

32. Plant Doctor training in
Internship
 Offers a window for grounding the skills of students newly
trained as plant doctors
 The student participates in scheduled activities of an existing
plant clinic over a period of 10 weeks
 Not yet tried out at Makerere University

33. Streamlined within class room
Teaching arrangement?
 Stand alone course unit:
 Scheduling – which academic year?
 Use or modify existing Plantwise modules –
examinable?
 Identifying gaps within Crop Protection courses to
include plant doctor training
 Do staff have the plant doctor training skills?
 University and other stakeholder approval?

34. In – Service training course
 Currently, CABI/Plantwise manages training of
plant doctors:
 Active delivery and administration of each training
 Quality control
 Responsibility and Accountability
 However, there is a huge demand for people
working as plant doctors
 Therefore, local institutions within a country should take
on the training of plant doctors

35. In – Service training: the Key
Questions
 Is there a clear need for and purpose of in-service
plant doctor training among agricultural field
extension agents?
 What competencies should be targeted in training?
 Which boundary conditions need to be considered for
an effective “how to become a plant doctor” training?
 Performance standards
 Assessment methods and tools;
 Certification
 Accreditation as a professional qualification

36. Makerere University (and
Uganda) could be Unique
 A pool of Trainer of trainees (ToTs) conversant with all
modules of “how to become a plant doctor”
 Plant clinics concept is already known and appreciated,
and in some instances, plant clinics have been
integrated into planning and budgeting of many
extension agencies
 Closer linkage with decentralized agricultural extension
structures (Govt./NAADS, NGOs and research (NARO –
ZARDIs)
 can help in the planning and prioritizing of plant health
activities and training of plant doctors

37. Makerere could be unique….
 Makerere University has experience in organizing
and running customized short-term training courses,
e.g.
 Safe Pesticide Handling and Stewardship Training
workshop series conducted in conjunction with
Department of Crop Protection [Ministry of Agriculture,
Animal Industry and Fisheries] and Uganda National
Agrochemicals Dealers Association (UNADA)

38. The potential challenges
 Student numbers
 Coverage of plant clinics to accommodate all students
 Spacing sessions
 Continuity – it is still considered a project!!!
 Scheduling: which academic year? Synchrony with
cropping seasons?
 Is the current content enough to meet the course
requirements for internship/stand alone course unit?
 Domesticating the GPC training materials and content
for local relevance vs. Global uniformity advocated by
Plantwise

39. The potential challenges …
 The linkage between plant clinics, diagnostic services
and agro-input sector is weak
 funding inadequacies limit extending services for free to
plant clinics
 Low diagnostic capacity within country
 A liberalized agro-input market that is not well-
regulated
 Limited focus of plant doctors to pests and diseases
 The ever changing government policy on agricultural
extension

40. Thank you for your attention

41. Plantwise knowledge Bank:
Expanding local and global resource
pathways for plant health education and
research in Africa
Julia Dennis, Shaun Hobbs, Willis Ochilo & Joseph Mulema
CAB International
4th RUFORUM Biennial Conference
Maputo, Mozambique
July 20 – 25, 2014

42. The need
0.9 billion people go hungry every day
An estimated 30 – 40% of the food grown worldwide is lost to
plant pests
International trade, intensified production and climate change
are exacerbating the problem by altering and accelerating the
spread of plant pests.

43. Plantwise overview
Plantwise is a global CABI-led initiative to improve food
security by reducing crop losses due to plant health problems
Establishing/strengthening linkages between ag-extension
research, education, regulators in solving plant health
problems – biotic and abiotic
Use of networks of plant clinics supported by KB as a
technical resource
Career-enhancing platform to connect and share knowledge

44. Key components
Information collection… and delivery (the last 1 km)
Plant ClinicsKnowledge Bank

45. How the Plantwise knowledge bank works
An open access gateway brings together international expert
information on pests mixed with local knowledge to deliver
actionable, best-practice advice.
An access-controlled section taps into pest reporting data which
is input by Plantwise-trained plant doctors and data managers
who run community-based plant clinics.
Since the launch of the knowledge bank, stakeholders in over
198 countries have accessed this gateway for plant health
information.
www.plantwise.org/knowledgebank

46. The knowledge bank
homepage provides
• Information about
Plantwise
• Tools for
diagnosis,
treatment and
distribution
• Sources of more
information
Select your country to
view your country
homepage.

47. Country-tailored homepage
View lists of pests
that have been
reported in your
country in the
published literature
Use the diagnostic
search tool to
identify a problem

48. Country-tailored homepage
Factsheets provide
treatment advice

49. Factsheets
How to recognise the
problem
Background information
about the problem to help the
farmer understand the
management technique
Suggestions for management
of the problem
Photos of the symptoms

50. Country-tailored homepage
View new pest
alerts in the
scientific literature

51. POMS for data management and analysis

52. Key outputs of the knowledge bank
Innovative support to provide advice farmers need to manage and
prevent crop damage, increasing income and food security
Monitoring & Evaluation systems developed with countries to
assess quality of diagnoses and advice at plant clinics.
Front-line plant health data to inform in-country policy-making,
extension and research.
Factsheets and pest management decision guides inform
teaching for institutions, while plant clinic data informs targeted
research questions.

53. Knowledge bank in action

54. LOSE LESS, FEED MORE
www.plantwise.org
Thank you
We wish to acknowledge the support of our donors, as well
as our national and international partners who make
Plantwise possible