A new disease is threatening food security and livelihood in East Africa.
In a news release Wednesday (Nov. 16), the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization expressed alarm at the growing cassava brown streak disease in the region — saying it is on the verge of becoming an epidemic — and called for increased funding, research and surveillance to contain it.
“The appearance of the disease in previously unaffected areas, and the lack of continued funding for research and development work to address CBSD in the region, have added to the threat already presented by Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD),” the agency said.
A surveillance analysis conducted by the National Agricultural Research Institute in 2010 in Rwanda showed infection in local and improved varieties is 16 percent and 37 percent, respectively. If the disease is not addressed immediately, then the calorie intake of people in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Congo would be cut by a third — roughly the percentage from cassava consumption.
FAO is already looking into several measures to prevent further spread of the disease such as conducting surveillance and regular inspections, sensitizing communities to the threat of CBSD, using hands-on training for farmers, banning the distribution of infected plants between districts and zones, and early harvesting of cassava in the event of an infection. It is also exploring introducing disease-tolerant varieties across the region.
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