Regional Train-the-Trainer Workshop for Africa Phytosanitary Programme (APP) Phase 3

Agriculture contributes up to 30 percent of total economic value and provide livelihoods for more than 80 percent of the population. Yet, plant pests and diseases continue to take a heavy toll, destroying about 30-60 percent of crops annually, threatening food security, livelihoods and international trade.

Across the continent, countries are rising to meet this challenge by strengthening their national phytosanitary systems to protect plant health, agriculture, trade and the environment. One of these key initiatives is the Africa Phytosanitary Programme (APP), coordinated by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretriat.

APP also fosters regional cooperation and peer learning, bringing countries together to share experiences, strengthen coordination and build a stronger collective defense against plant pests.

What: Train-the-trainer workshop to launch APP Phase 3. The workshop will be hosted by the Government of Ethiopia through the Ethiopian Agricultural Authority, which is also Ethiopia’s national plant protection organization (NPPO).

When: 7-10 July 2026

Where: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Why: Building on the pilot and second phase, with 20 participating countries, the workshop will introduce plant health officers from an additional 18 African countries to the programme and support their implementation of better surveillance.

APP supports African countries to enhance effective pest surveillance, early detection, accurate diagnostics and timely response tthrough specialized training of phytosanitary personnel, harmonized survey protocols and cutting-edge digital tools with advanced data collection and analysis applications.

APP is helping to accelerate the shift from paper-based systems to digital field data collection. With more reliable, geo-referenced data and accurate pest information, countries can secure better foreign market access for agricultural products, improve compliance with international standards, and boost rapid pest detection, effective, coordinated response and recovery from high-risk plant pests.

Who should attend: Phytosanitary personnel (surveillance inspectors + national GIS experts) nominated by their respective national plant protection organizations of countries participating in APP Phase 3: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Libya, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Togo and observers from Yemen.

Other participants will include FAO plant health officers, representatives of selected APP countries of phase 1 and 2; representatives of Africa’s regional plant protection organizations (AU-IAPSC and NEPPO); representatives of APP Working Groups and IPPC Secretariat staff.

Learning by doing: A field visit to a commercial farm in Ethiopia’s Oromia Region will enable participants to use APP digital tools for real time phytosanitary data collection, while gaining hands-on experience in pest surveillance, inspection, and data management to support national implementation and cascade training.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

1. Use harmonized survey protocols and diagnostic principles to correctly identify and analyze plant pests such as Bactrocera spp., Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Red palm weevil) and Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense TR4, which countries in Phase 3 outlined as high-priority risks.

2. Use APP mobile applications and the APP GIS Hub for field data collection, management, visualization, and reporting.

3. Design, plan and deliver national training workshops tailored to country priorities, using APP ToT methodologies to transfer knowledge and APP digital tools and applications to strengthen national pest surveillance and reporting capacity.

4. Develop National Action Plans with budgets, implementation timelines, and monitoring and evaluation frameworks.

5. Practice field operations (trap setting, scouting, identification, sampling, biosecurity) and translate results into maps and dashboards to support action.

Language: The workshop will be conducted in English, and interpretation will be provided in Arabic and French.

Collaborators and partners:

1. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Subregional Office for Eastern Africa (SFE)

2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for Africa (RAF)

3. Ethiopian Agricultural Authority (EAA)

4. African Union Inter-African Phytosanitary Council (AU-IAPSC)

5. Near East and North Africa Plant Protection Organization (NEPPO)

6. European Commission

7. Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Attending the workshop: The IPPC Secretariat will provide logistical and travel support for all national participants nominated by their countries and invited participants, based on IPPC Funding Criteria.

For more information, please contact: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]