Japan, FAO hand over project for emergency support to assist small-scale farmers in overcoming bird flu and FAW

The Government of Japan and FAO have handed over to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement a project that is aimed at strengthening small farmers overcome bird flu and fall armyworm (FAW).

Amongst other things the project provided the following tools - For HPAI, an active surveillance system consisting of two Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machines will be used for the rapid detection of influenza viruses.

Whereas for FAW, 340 government extension officers will be provided with smartphones equipped with the FAW Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS), a free mobile application for Android from FAO, for surveillance and monitoring of the pest.

• Read more of this story on FAO Zimbabwe page.
• Read the recent briefing on Fall Armyworm here