Opportunity in Plant Protection

June 24, 2015

African Biosecurity Workshop Oct 2014
African Biosecurity Workshop Oct 2014

We previously reported on our involvement in a project that will see a cadre of ‘change champions’ trained to improve plant biosecurity in east and southern African countries (read story here).

The Australia-Africa Plant Biosecurity Partnership is led by Australia’s Plant Biosecurity CRC and funded by the AIFSRC within ACIAR, CABI and the Australia Awards scholarship program. The program is being delivered by a consortium of PBCRC, ACIAR, CABI, CSIRO and the Crawford Fund.

The project is now calling for Senior Biosecurity Fellows. Interested individuals from National Plant Protection Organisations and other public sector agencies from Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe are encouraged to apply by 10 July 2015.

Senior Biosecurity Fellows will be supported to take part in the following activities:

  • A networking workshop in Nairobi, Kenya 18-20 August 2015
  • A six-week placement during October-November 2015 at an Australian plant biosecurity institution or agency. Hosting agencies will be matched to Senior Fellows’ areas of interest
  • Long term mentoring between Australian plant biosecurity experts and the Senior Fellows
  • Two 2-week training workshops in 2016 in Africa, at which Senior Fellows will be both participants and trainers. Training will cover both technical areas and soft skills such as communication
  • Preparation of action plans on specific biosecurity issues

For more details and to apply, see the Australia-Africa Plant Biosecurity Partnership website.