CGIAR and national plant protection organizations strengthen collaboration for healthier forage landscapes in eastern and southern Africa

Speaking at the opening session of the regional forage disease workshop held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 24 June 2025, Namukolo Covic, ILRI Director General’s Representative to Ethiopia and CGIAR Ethiopia Country Convenor, emphasized the urgent need for action in response to the growing complexity of climate-related challenges in the face of a changing climate.

‘We are living in a climate crisis, and the patterns of crop and livestock diseases are shifting. Our task is clear: we must understand the current disease landscape to better anticipate and manage emerging threats,’ she said.

Here we provide her full opening remarks at a training workshop on ‘Strengthening capacity and networking for forage disease identification and surveillance in eastern and southern Africa: a source for hope’.

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Photo: Napier grass in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia (ILRI/Apollo Habtamu)

Curated by Tezira Lore, Communications Officer, ILRI