Growing Plant Biosecurity in the Pacific

September 10, 2019

The Crawford Fund recently delivered another Communication Master Class for biosecurity professionals from nine Pacific countries. The Master Class was run as part of the Pacific Plant Biosecurity Partnership (PPBP), delivered by Kalang Consultancy Services and supported by ACIAR. The PPBP follows a similar program from Easter and Southern Africa, in which the Crawford Fund was also involved.

We are pleased to bring you this short video that features the experiences of the 19 biosecurity professionals and representatives of ACIAR and Kalang who attended the Master Class from 26-31 May in Brisbane.

In the video, participants explain their training experiences in a variety of Australian work placements and highlight the importance of the biosecurity communication training and the networking opportunities they received.

“While we all come from different Pacific Island countries, networking and establishing those point of contacts within our biosecurity will help us to share what happens within our countries and also in your own countries,” said Touasi Tiwok from Vanuatu in her presentation.

Partners agree that the ability to clearly and strategically communicate the importance of biosecurity and its impacts on market access, food security and plant health to political leaders, policy makers, regulatory bodies, researchers, farmers and the general public is a significant part of the overall project.

An important element to this ‘boot camp on communicating’ has the participants develop a communication strategy and action plan so that they can hit the ground running when they return to their home countries.

“I learned so much, and I am happy about it because it has broadened my knowledge on certain issues. It has certainly improved my skills, particularly my communication skills. So, I will take back what I have learned and apply it in my workplace. I will conduct workshops and training courses for the junior officers.”

“Most importantly I would like to maintain the network I have developed over the 5-weeks with the other fellow participants to ensure that we continue to develop together, that we continue to grow together, and continue to strengthen our respective biosecurity systems, and regionally, by continuously communicating and learning from each other,” said Lennard Powell Kalang’s  Fiji-based technical adviser.

The Crawford Fund once again partnered with Econnect Communication to present this Communication Master Class. We have worked with Econnect Communication on previous Master Classes in Thailand, India, Ethiopia, Nairobi, Fiji, and Perth.