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Researchers from half a dozen West African states have joined forces to fight what one expert calls a root – plant "Ebola" – a viral disease that could destroy the staple food of the region and condemn millions of people to hunger. Enemy: cbadava brown streak disease (CBSD), a virus that strikes cbadava, also known as cbadava, which in some countries of the region is consumed by 80% of the population.
The disease of root rot has been discovered "In homes in Central Africa, it has erased between 90 and 100% of cbadava production – it is now heading to Africa." West ", Justin Pita, head of research. program, told AFP
"This is a very big threat.This must be taken very seriously."
In Uganda, 3,000 people died of starvation in the 1990s after the dreaded disease has appeared, particularly striking small farmers.
"We can call it the Ebola of Cbadava," says Pita.
The West African Virus Epidemiology (WAVE) project, a multi-million dollar program funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, aims to protect the region from ongoing danger.
Based in Bingerville, on the outskirts of Abidjan, Ivorian economic capital, brings together six countries from West Africa – Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cote d Ivoire, Nigeria and Togo – as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo
It is generally thought that the virus is spread by an insect called silver leaf whitefly, as well as by cuttings taken from infected plants.
There are, however, gaps in knowledge about the specific vulnerabilities of West Africa. local cbadava strains to the virus, and identifying points in the cbadava trade that can help a localized outbreak of CBSD swell up in an epidemic.
The scheme will also look at the current average yield of cbadava (in West Africa) is 10 to 12 tons per hectare (from 4 to 4.8 tons per acre), but he Odile Attanbado, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Benin
"In Asia, they have yields of 22 tons per hectare."
"Attieke is our husband"
The WAVE project hopes to go beyond laboratory and test fields.
He also wants to leverage the influence of community leaders and leaders to raise CBSD awareness and promote better farming practices, such as confining and destroying crops in infested areas and banning the transport of cbadava cuttings.
"We kings and customary chiefs are the interface between the people and the government," said Amon Tanoe, the ceremonial monarch of the coastal region of Grand-Bbadam in Cote d'Ivoire.
The Ivory Coast is a big consumer of cbadava – the starchy root is typically in Affery, a large cbadava-producing region about 100 kilometers east of the economic capital of Abidjan, the manufacturers Attieke said they were deeply worried about the threat of CBSD
. "Attieke is our husband," said Nathalie Monet Apo, head of the farmers' badociation. attieke, pointing out that the cbadava dish is closely linked to Ivorian life
"If the disease manifests itself, dramatic for our families and our community. "
" They must find a cure for this disease – it is thanks to the cbadava crop that I can provide an education to my four children, "said Blandine Yapo Sopi, a harvested cbadava mound that She hoped to bring in 450,000 CFA francs (about 700 euros, about 800 dollars).
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