How an Australian mentoring program is improving plant biosecurity in Africa

Plant biosecurity management can be a boon to agricultural economies in sub-Saharan Africa, and Australia has a wealth of expertise to share. That’s the logic behind a mentoring program that helps the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and the Plant Biosecurity CRC partner with fellows working at agricultural institutions in 10 African countries.

The resulting program, the Australia-Africa Plant Biosecurity Partnership, aims to transfer skills in designing, delivering and managing plant biosecurity — measures to safeguard plants from pests and diseases. 

Australia’s experience is particularly relevant for sub-Saharan Africa, according to Andrew Campbell, CEO of ACIAR. “Australia is one of the few rich industrialized countries that still has a big agricultural sector which runs from the deserts to the tropics largely unsubsidized,” he told Devex. “So many of the solutions our farmers have come up with are quite relevant in developing countries.”