Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 20
THE RECENT EPIDEMIC OF CASSAVA MOSAIC VIRUS
DISEASE IN UGANDA
G.W. OTIM-NAPE AND J.M. THRESH
20.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter differs from many of the other contributions to this volume in that it
deals with only one specific disease. Cassava mosaic virus disease (CMD) justifies
special treatment for several reasons:
•
Cassava provides one of the main staple foods in many tropical areas and it is
particularly important in several of the poorest countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
•
CMD is the most important disease of cassava in Africa and also in Sri Lanka
and southern India.
•
The disease has a long history in Africa, where research has been in progress
for many years. Indeed, CMD is likely to have received more attention than any
other vector-borne disease of an African food crop.
•
CMD is a prime example of a particularly important group of virus diseases -
those that have a dual strategy of dispersal as they are disseminated in vegetative
propagules and transmitted by an arthropod vector.
•
A very damaging epidemic of CMD in Uganda in the 1990s caused serious
food shortages and affected the livelihood and well-being of rural communities
in many parts of the country. This necessitated major interventions and
numerous cassava improvement projects were mounted by governmental and
non-governmental organizations.
•
When the first attempts were made to control the epidemic in Uganda, it
became apparent that there was insufficient information available to initiate
effective management strategies and this led to greatly increased research on
CMD, not only in Uganda but also elsewhere in Africa.
•
The Ugandan epidemic spread to the adjacent countries of Kenya, Tanzania,
Burundi and Rwanda and so attained the status of a pandemic, which currently
poses a threat to other important cassava-growing areas in Africa.
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