African Youth Empowerment in Surveillance: PlantVillage Ethiopia Training Towards Sustainable Crop Monitoring
Written by Emmy Neema
To empower farmers through AI-powered pest and disease identification, PlantVillage Ethiopia team recently received training on PlantVillage AI. In addition to the AI tool, the team learned about the PlantVillage observatory platform. The platform allows them to monitor and manage data on crop threats effectively.
The training aimed to build the team's capacity to monitor biotic and abiotic threats to crops and improve their problem-solving skills by sharing experiences across countries.
The three-day training was conducted by experts from Kenya and Malawi. Stella Amakove, PlantVillage E-Extension Lead, and Chrissy Awali, PlantVillage Field Officer-Malawi, led the training, which included practical and theoretical sessions along with insightful field visits to banana farms. The purpose of the visits was to strengthen early detection and rapid responses to emerging threats such as the Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV), safeguarding livelihoods.