Project Aim: To contribute to enhanced and sustainable food availability and poverty alleviation in the coastal lowlands of Eastern and Southern Africa.  

Project Purpose: To increase the availability and utilization of improved cassava varieties and to strengthen the national germplasm generation and deployment capacities in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. 

Background Information: Cassava brown streak virus disease (CBSD) is now the most economic important biotic stress affecting cassava in these areas. The project activities will in part address the CBSD problem. However, strong emphasis will be put in developing varieties with multiple resistances (to major pests and diseases) with end-user acceptance qualities.

Project Activities

• characterize local germplasm and elite genotypes to identify sources of resistance to all the major pests and diseases and preferred quality characteristics for use in the improvement program; 

• provide target countries with broad-based genetic stocks with multiple pest and disease resistance, important food quality traits for diverse end uses and ecological adaptation through open quarantine or tissue culture and seed populations; 

• backstop on-station and on-farm germplasm selection and evaluation using farmer participatory approaches in collaboration with NARS; 

• improve the capacity and capability of Plant Quarantine Services (PQS), Muguga for germplasm clean up, micro-propagation, virus elimination, indexing of cassava propagules, conservation and international exchange; 

• in-vitro maintenance of national core germplasm collection at PQS, Muguga; 

• avail germplasm developed to bilateral multiplication and distribution programs existing in target countries; 

• identify and improve facilities of a post-harvest laboratory to determine functional (physical, chemical, and sensory) variety characteristics that meet specific end use requirements; and

• undertake plant health and genetic studies to support national breeding schemes.

Collaborators