Building agricultural networks of farmers and scientists via mobile phones: case study of banana disease surveillance in Uganda

Figures & data

Table 1. Name and description of the community-based organizations in Bushenyi and Mbale districts from which the 38 Community Knowledge Workers (CKWs) were sourced for this study.

Organization	Description
Uganda National Agro-Inputs Dealer Association (UNADA)	Non-profit organization working to strengthen network of rural input suppliers and promote use of inputs to improve farmer productivity. UNADA has a network of multiple input suppliers located in trading centres and rural villages.
TechnoServe	BMGF grantee working to develop business solutions in the banana, cotton, fresh produce and dairy sectors in Uganda. TechnoServe has a network of over 380 farmers' groups
Busoga Rural Open Source Development Initiative (BROSDI	Local NGO with over 400 knowledge brokers in two districts that could be integrated into the CKW network.
National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS)	Government agency of extension agents mandated to serve smallholder farmers operating in every district in Uganda.
Farmer Associations:	Highly active regional farmer associations in the Bushenyi and Mbale districts of Uganda
SNV, BUDAFA, Mbale Farmers’ Association

Fig. 1 (Colour online) Survey locations in Bushenyi (a) and Mbale (b) districts located within a 5 km radius of the Community Knowledge Worker’s home. First and second month survey points are in red and green, respectively, while the buffer zones represent a given number of farms as indicated in the Excel sheet.

Table 2. Frequency (%) of farms with Banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) and Fusarium wilt (FW) infection in Bushenyi and Mbale districts of Uganda surveyed in 2009.

District	BXW		FW
	Bushenyi	Mbale	Bushenyi	Mbale
Disease incidence (%)	74.9b	68.8a	29.1c	33.8c
Lsd (5%)	4.8**		5^NS
Se	45.1		46.6
CV%	63.4		146.1

Means followed by the same letter within a row are not significantly different at P = 0.05. Disease incidence (%) was calculated as the percentage quotient of number of diseased plants to the total number of plants on the farm.

NS denotes no significant difference at P ≤ 0.05 within the columns. ** denotes significant differences at P ≤ 0.01.

Table 3. Farmers’ knowledge of and ability to identify plants showing symptoms of Banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW), Fusarium wilt (FW) and Banana bunchy top disease (BBTD) in Bushenyi and Mbale districts of Uganda.

Banana disease	Proportion of responses (%)
	Knowledgeable on biotic constraints		Knowledgeable on management practices
	Bushenyi	Mbale	Bushenyi	Mbale
BBTD	1.7a	2.6a	1.7a	5.2b
BXW	82.3c	77.7c	69.5f	41.6e
FW	54.7b	23.7b	34.7d	14.6c
Lsd	2.6***		2.6***
CV%	90.2		138.1

Means followed by the same letter are not significantly different at 5% Lsd. *** denotes significant differences at P ≤ 0.001.

Fig. 2 Proportion of farms in Bushenyi and Mbale districts of Uganda that were revisited to validate if the Community Knowledge Workers correctly identified and reported accurate incidences for Banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW), Fusarium wilt (FW) and Banana bunchy top disease (BBTD) during the 2009 survey.

Fig. 3 Percentage frequency of the nature of information that farmers would like to access using their mobile phones in the Bushenyi and Mbale districts of Uganda.