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Disease of cassava brown streaks has destroyed massive amounts of cassava in West Africa
Ivory Coast is a major consumer of cassava. (AFP pic)
BINGERVILLE: Researchers from six countries in West Africa have joined forces to fight what an expert calls a root-plant "Ebola" – a disease viral that could destroy the basic food of the region and condemn millions of people.
Their enemy: cassava brown streak disease (CBSD), a virus that strikes cassava and in some countries in the region is consumed by 80% of the population.
in Tanzania eight decades ago and is gradually shifting to the west.
"In homes in Central Africa, he has erased between 90% and 100% of cassava production.He is now heading to West Africa," he said. AFP Justin Pita, Head of the Research Program
"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 cassava," 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 growing danger.
Based in Bingerville, the At the fringes of the Ivorian economic capital, Abidjan, brings together six countries from West Africa – Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo. – as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo
. about CBSD – it is generally believed that the virus is spread by an insect called silver leaf whitefly, as well as by cuttings taken from infected plants.
But there are still gaps in knowledge about the specific vulnerabilities of West Africa. inc Understand the susceptibility of local cassava strains to the virus, and identify points in the cassava trade that may help a localized outbreak of CBSD swell up in an epidemic.
The program will also examine initiatives to help increase yield – a key "The current average yield of cassava (in West Africa) is 10 to 12 tonnes per hectare, but it could reach 40 tonnes per hectare, "said Odile Attanasso from Benin. Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
"In Asia, they have yields of 22 tons per hectare."
The WAVE project hopes, however, to go beyond the laboratory and test fields.
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 cassava cuttings.
"We, kings and traditional chiefs, the interface between the people and the government," said Amon Tanoe, the ceremonial monarch of the coastal town of Grand Bassam in Cote d Ivoire. [19659004] Ivory Coast is a huge consumer of cassava – the starchy root is typically in the town of Afféry, near an important cassava growing region about 100 kilometers east. from the economic capital of Abidjan, the manufacturers of attiéké said that they were deeply buried and fermented and served in a side dish known as the Attiéké [19659004"Attiékéisourhusband"saidNathalieMonetApoheadoftheAttiékéProducers'AssociationpointingoutthatthecassavadishiscloselylinkedtoIvorianlife
"If the disease It would be dramatic for our families and our community. "
" They have to I did not find a cure for this disease – it's thanks to the cassava crop that I'm able to educate my four children, "said Blandine Yapo Sopi, looking at a slacker cassava crop that's growing. it hoped to bring 450,000 CFA francs (RM3,300)
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