West African states in common struggle against root culture "Ebola"

ABIDJAN – Researchers from half a dozen West African states have joined forces to fight what an expert calls a root plant. Ebola "- a viral disease that could destroy the basic food of the region and condemn millions of people. 19659002] Their enemy: cassava brown streak disease (CBSD), a virus that strikes cassava, also called cassava, which in some countries of the region is consumed by 80% of the population.

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Root rot disease has been discovered for the first time in Tanzania eight decades ago and is gradually moving to the west. Justin Pita, head of the research program, told AFP: "This is a very big threat that needs to be taken very seriously." [19659002] In Uganda, 3,000 people died of hunger in the 1990s after

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"We can call it the Ebola of cassava," said 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 banks of the Ivory Coast Economic Capital Abidjan, it brings together six countries from West Africa – Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cote d 'Ivoire. Ivory, Nigeria and Togo – as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo

We already know a lot about CBSD – the virus It is generally believed that it is spread by an insect called the whitefly silver leaf, as well only by cuttings taken from infected plants.
But there are still gaps in knowledge about the specific vulnerabilities of the disease in West Africa.

Understand the understanding of the susceptibility of local cassava strains to the virus and the identification of points in the cassava trade that may contribute to a localized CBSD outbreak.

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The program will also examine initiatives to increase yield – a major challenge in a region where population growth is booming .

The current average yield of cassava (in West Africa) is 10 to 12 tons per hectare (4 to 4.8 tons per acre), but could reach 40 tons per hectare. said Odile Attanasso, Benin's Minister of Higher Education.

"In Asia, they have yields of 22 tons per hectare."

'Attieke is our husband & # 39;

The WAVE project hopes to go beyond lab and test fields.

He also wants to leverage the influence of community leaders and chiefs to raise awareness of CBSD 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 and the government," said Amon Tanoe, the ceremonial monarch of the coastal region of Grand-Bassam in Ivory Coast.

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Ivory Coast is a big consumer of cassava – The starchy root is typically pulped and fermented and served in a side dish called attieke

In Affery , a large cassava-producing region about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of the Abidjan economic capital, attieke manufacturers said "Attieke is our husband," said Nathalie Monet Apo, responsible of the Attieke Producers' Association, noting that cassava is intimately related to Ivor

"If the disease manifests itself, it would be dramatic for our families and our community."

"They have to find a cure for this disease – c "It's thanks to the cassava crop that I'm able to teach for my four children," said Blandine Yapo Sopi, peeking a harvested cassava mound that she hoped would bring back to 450,000 francs CFA (about 700 euros, about 800 dollars).

AFP