Smallholder and emerging farmers in South Africa are particularly vulnerable to plant pests and diseases, leading to significant yield losses. However, the bio-economy strategy implemented by the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) is aimed at addressing this issue.

TIA funds and supports technology innovations that can be commercialised to improve the competitiveness of the South African economy.

The bio-economy strategy’s objective for agriculture is to strengthen agricultural biosciences innovation to ensure food security, enhance nutrition and improve health, as well as enable job creation through the expansion and intensification of sustainable agricultural production and processing.

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The biosecurity platform stationed at the University of Pretoria’s Innovation Africa @UP is designed to assist stakeholders with surveillance and early warning systems for pests and diseases in crops and livestock.

Farmers are vulnerable to plant pests and diseases, which result in significant yield losses. This impact is often more detrimental to small-scale farmers.

Currently, limited specialist support exists to help reduce yield losses caused by pests and pathogens. Through this project, an information hub has been developed to support farmer decision-making using biosecurity data and to provide early warning services that alert farmers of possible pest invasions.

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