CARPS student

Rose Njeri Kamau is a Msc. Student at University of Nairobi. She holds a Bsc. Agriculture general and currently pursuing a Msc. in crop protection in University of Nairobi. She is an extension Officer under Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Kenya. Having served as a Crop Officer for 16 years in five sub Counties within four Counties, she understands quite well the challenges that need to be addressed if Kenya has to make a difference in food security and if small scale farmers have to make a meaningful living out of subsistence farming. Among the greatest challenge is pests and disease infestation. Globally farmers’ lose upto 40% to pests and diseases infestation and the loss are even higher in developing countries due to farmers’ limited knowledge on plant health issues, control options that may not be readily affordable and accessible. Unlike agronomy plant health is highly dynamic and the farmers have to consult continually. She served as a plant doctor, Nakuru North District, from 2010 after which she rose to the position of assistance national coordinator in charge of implementation of plant clinics in Kenya by 2013.  She was responsible of training extension officers on how to do good diagnosis and give farmers good recommendation. Having worked in 14 Counties by 2017, she gained a wealth of experience on challenges the farmers go through in pests/disease management. Among them are increased pests resistance to pesticides, pests re-emergence and emergence of new pests/diseases all which threaten food security and farmers livelihood. This motivated me to acquire more knowledge on pest management without compromising human, food and environmental safety. My project area is effective management of whiteflies in cassava which will provide affordable and accessible options with an aim to increase productivity for farmers living in marginal areas in Kenya