The Project

WIKWIO aims to strengthen science and technology orientation to achieving food security by enhancing agricultural productivity in the Southern African region. Agricultural productivity is hampered by many factors, one important among them being weeds. Wikwio aims to build and leverage a Science & Technology network which will consolidate existing scientific knowledge and facilitate sharing of new scientific knowledge on weeds of food and cash crops of the region and effective management practices.

Wikwio will deploy appropriate ICT solutions to build a multi-stakeholder community of researchers, extension services, civil society and farmers around an ICT knowledge base of weeds. The action aims at enhancing the capacities of researchers, reinforce the institutional capabilities of the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) and Universities, empower extension services and improving their quality of service, through a participatory, technology facilitated platform.

OBJECTIVES

Relevance of the action

• Agriculture is the mainstay of the livelihoods of population in the Island states of the Indian Ocean, and South Eastern African region too
• Weeds cause enormous economic loss in food and cash cropping systems
• Optimisation of weed management can result in significant boost of production
• WIKWIO will focus on weed knowledge and management through informed scientific and technological approach
• Limited production due to ineffective control of weeds (responsible to 20-80 % of yield losses)

Relevance of the proposal

• New science and technology framework
• Weed research
• Weed management in food and cash cropping systems
• Centralised platform of information on weeds

Specific objectives

• Consolidation of existing scientific knowledge for the weed species of food and cash cropping systems
• Enhancing exploitation and dissemination of best weed management practices
• Support the stakeholders in their use of Web 2.0 tools and improve the tools based on their feedback