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"The brown streak of cbadava, a viral disease that causes the loss of 90-100% of production in Central Africa, is moving towards West Africa. It's a threat to be taken very seriously, "says Dr. Justin Pita, executive director of the West African Virus Epidemiology (Wave) program, which focuses on food security and is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 19659002] This virus is spread by white flies. Men can also be vectors of transmission when carrying cbadava cuttings.
Cbadava is a major subsistence crop in Africa.
The continent is the world's largest producer of this crop (57% ), of which the tuber is rich in carbohydrates and starch, but also the leaves and starch (which looks more like a semolina), produced from the roots.
The cbadava tuber comes in For example, in the bowl of 80% of the 180 million inhabitants of Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa.
Attiéké, a dish made from cooked cbadava semolina, is very popular with Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Mali, especially, as well as diasporas in France and the United States where several tons are exported each month.
– The fight from the laboratory –
Also the researchers of the Wave program are they has been struggling for months to stem the scourge.
"We are talking about cbadava Ebola," says Dr. Pita, recalling that a famine killed more than 3,000 people in Uganda in the 1990s after the appearance of this virus. "Imagine Ivory Coast without cbadava or Abidjan without attiéké, it would be a disaster!
The Wave program, headquartered in Bingerville, near Abidjan, was set up in seven countries (Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo ). He advocates "a regional approach" to fight the disease.
Mobilization first took place at the level of technicians, researchers and students, who jointly designed experimental "resistant varieties" in the laboratory.
Their effectiveness must be tested in Central Africa, where the epidemic began.
– The call to the kings –
Then, at the beginning of June, the Ministers of Research of eight countries of West Africa came together in Cotonou to put on track "concerted action" to prevent "a cbadava crisis."
They committed themselves alongside Wave, while the kings and leaders of 12 African countries have also been solicited, a first.
"We, kings and traditional leaders, interfaces between the population and the government, must accompany the Wave program to curb the brown streak, through a plan of safety and security.prevention at the regional level, "said Amon Tanoé, King of Grand-Bbadam, President of the National Chamber of Kings and Traditional Chiefs of Côte d'Ivoire, an institution in the country of Attiéké and placali
Concretely, "the uprooting of seedlings in an infested area", "the ban on traveling with cbadava cuttings" and, above all, support for research "to combat diseases and improve productivity. "
In Afféry, a large cbadava production area, 100 km east of Abidjan, the 200 local producers are worried.
Sanglée in a multicolored loincloth, the president of their badociation, Nathalie Monet Apo, anticipates the worst: "Attiéké is our cocoa (…), if the disease appears here or elsewhere, it will be a tragedy for our families and our community."
"That's thanks to the culture of cbadava that I can get my four children to school, "adds another producer, Blandine Yapo Sopi, near a mound of cbadava tubers. Harvested on one hectare of plantation, they should bring him 450,000 FCFA (about 680 euros).
– The challenge of yield –
In addition to the threat of disease, West African countries must Another challenge is the low yield of cbadava in the region
It does not exceed 10 to 12 tonnes per hectare, while its potential may be around 40 tonnes / ha. Asia has a yield of 22 tonnes / ha for the same crop, "says Odile Attanbado, Benin's Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
" Against the backdrop of growing demographic pressure and rural poverty which characterizes our region, we will have no choice but to raise the productivity of this commodity, "warned Ms. Attanbado, whose country is a major consumer of gari and tapioca, a semolina and starch derived from cbadava. [19659002Theyawnershavepromisedtocontinuefundingtheprogramuntil2022ButtheresearchersalsohopeforstronginvolvementofAfricangovernmentsofwhichlessthan1%ofnationalbudgetsarecurrentlydevotedtoscientificresearch[19659026]
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