Specialists across Africa given plant-health training boost

The University of Bristol’s CONNECTED Network, a global effort to combat insect-spread plant diseases, has provided specialized training in ‘Vector and Virus Diagnostics’ to 21 plant scientists from 11 countries.

The course, held in Nairobi, equipped participants with the ability to identify which virus was infecting a plant and which insect was carrying it, enabling them to develop measures to protect crops from diseases. The majority of attendees were representatives of their country’s National Agricultural Research Institute or System (NARS), governmental organizations that conduct research to improve agriculture.

The training was part of a joint program co-delivered by Biosciences for Africa at the B4A-ILRI Hub, which was taught by plant virology and entomology experts from the UK and Kenya. The course aimed to build strong international partnerships and make a real impact on plant health globally. The CONNECTED Network and the University of Bristol aim to upskill more lab analysts, researchers, plant health inspectors, and officers within their institutes. This would lead to embedding interdisciplinary knowledge within the agricultural systems of multiple African countries, impacting policy, regulation, and practice.

The collaboration provided the opportunity for researchers to learn the latest techniques, enabling them to apply their learning to the crops they are working on in their own institutes, improve efficiency in diagnosing plant diseases and develop international clusters of excellence in vector-borne disease.

In July 2022 CONNECTED was awarded half a million pounds from UK Research and Innovation International, which will enable it to build on its interdisciplinary research portfolio of 20 innovative international projects (including collaborations between 55 researchers in 34 institutions) with the aim of finding practical real-world solutions for insect-spread plant diseases in 11 different crops. The funding will allow the network to move forward with its ambition to equip the next generation of plant health researchers with the skills they need to tackle insect-spread plant viruses.