- 1.Pilot Project: SMS-based System for Pest and Disease
SurveillanceDr.Fred BaijukyaARI-Maruku Dar Es Salaam 31March
2008
2. Overview
- Key findings from the household survey
3.
- Project funding from Norway
- .... toSupport Biosecurity Initiatives and Policies in
Countries Facing High Risks of Outbreak of Disease and Pests
- Biosecurity initiatives understood in order to
-
- i)strengthern animal and plant health systems and
Background: 4. Thus .....
- FAO, collaborating with ARI Maruku and ARI Kachwekano (UG)
piloted a study to generate knowledge on diseases and their
socio-economic burden on rural populations on boarder districts of
Tanzania and Uganda
- Study selected 8 districts in south-west Uganda and north-west
Tanzania
5. 6. Why this study area?
- Location for disease emergence
- Analysis of cross-border issues
- Variance in impact (households, communities and farming
systems)
7. Key finding #1: Farmers have, and manage, more problems than
simply one disease or pest at a time 8. Key finding #2: means
farmers face cumulative disease burden 9. Key finding #3: Movement
of people, plants and animals can spread diseases, often with
devastating consequences Transportation of plantingTrade In search
of pasture and drinking water 10. Banana xanthomonas wilt(BXW) 11.
12.
- No analysis of reports to identify pest and disease incidence,
or trends over time
- Reports only reflect area covered by extension workers in that
month
- Hard copies of reports can be damaged or lost (in most cases no
soft backup)
- No record of phone call reports
Key finding #4: Current surveillance and reporting capacities
are inadequate 13.
- Inspection tools and technical facilities
- Surveillance and reporting procedures
Technical constraints to surveillance 14.
- Little or no incentive among farmers to provide
information
- Fear of blame and punishment
- Adoptwait and see approach
- Whether farmers report also depends on relationship with
extension worker and perception of anticipated assistance
- No culture of record-keeping among farm households
- Resource-poor households may not have access to phones and
airtime
Social constraints to surveillance 15.
- Addressing these constraints could help improve pest and
disease surveillance, and potentially early warning
16.
- Visual representation of data (graphs, maps, etc.)
- Written bulletins distributed to all interested parties
- Database on reported pest and diseases, that could be easily
accessed by decision makers and farmers, extension workers
- Improved information sharing among subject experts
A vision for better surveillance 17. So what technology?
- Personal digital assistants (PDAs)
18. SMS advantages
- High mobile phone ownership
- Quick transmission of information
- Automatic storage of reports
- Mobile phones already being used to share information among
farmers, extension workers
19. How it works: SMS gate way system Desktop PC Laptop Mobile
phone GSM modem SMS Gatewaysoftware 20. SMS-based system model
Field worker Ward extension District extension System monitor
warnings verified Research Field workers in surrounding areas
confirmed data Donors(Project funding) Decision-makers(District
budget) Decision-makers (Central government) 21. Stakeholder
benefits
-
- Early warning and response,empowerment
-
- Awareness and knowledge, empowerment
-
- Strategic planning and resource allocation
-
- Information to inform future research agenda, early worning
system
-
- Access to information for strategic planning and resource
allocation
22. Sustainability
- Publicprivate partnerships
-
- Mobile phone service providers
- Cross-border focus attractive to potential donors
- Low entry running costs are a factor in sustainability
23.
- Acknowledging funding support from the
