Fifth Strategic Meeting of GCP21

Back to Strategic Meetings

Summary of the workshop

Communication team

List of participants

Program and ppts

Outcomes of the workshop

Fifth Strategic Meeting of The Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century, St Pierre de La Reunion, France, June 10 – 13, 2014

Surveillance and Control of Cassava Diseases in Africa

Organizers:

Dr. Claude M. Fauquet
Director GCP21
CIAT, Apdo. Aereo 6713
Cali, Colombia
Cell: +1-314-477-3973
Email: c.fauquet@cgiar.org
Web: www.gcp21.org
Dr. Valérie Verdier
IRD-UMR RPB

Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1177
Cell: +1-970-491-6604
Email: valerie.verdier@ird.fr
Dr. Bernard Reynaud
CIRAD-UMR PVBMT

Pôle de Protection des Plantes
97410 Saint-Pierre
Ile de La Réunion
Tél: +33-2-62-49-92-34
Email: bernard.reynaud@cirad.fr

Organizing Committee:

CIRAD-3P Dr. Bernard Reynaud
Dr. Jean-Michel Lett
Dr Michel Roux-Cuvelier
Dr Hélène Delatte
IRD Dr. Valérie Verdier
IITA Dr James Legg
CIRAD Dr. Robert Domaingue
Dr. Philippe Vernier
RTB Dr. Graham Thiele
GCP21 Dr. Claude M. Fauquet

Workshop Summary:  Under the initiative of the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century (GCP21), a selected number of donor organizations and world specialists of cassava viruses and their vectors, belonging to national and international research organizations, met In Bellagio, Italy, May 5-10, 2013, and decided to create a global alliance to fight these viruses and undertake a series of measures to prevent their spread in Africa and in the rest of the world. The global alliance is calling on all world scientists and developers to contribute to this immense task.

A group of CIRAD (Centre de Coopération International en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement) and IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement) experts in viruses, whitefly vectors and bacteria infecting cassava, have met in Montpellier, France, June 20th, 2013, to form a team to respond to the international call of the global alliance and to contribute to a better control of cassava viral and bacterial diseases on the African continent.

In Africa, diseases represent the main constraint of cassava. Cassava is affected by two virus diseases respectively called cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) and also by a bacterial disease called cassava bacterial blight (CBB). CMD is present all over the African continent and is estimated by specialists to cause a minimum of 50 million tons of losses per year. CBSD, for now present in East Africa, is inducing necrosis in the roots of the plants rendering them unfit for consumption and processing, and farmers loose the whole harvest and cannot plant the crop from infected stem cuttings. CBB is a major bacterial disease, endemic in tropical and subtropical areas. This foliar and vascular disease severely affects cassava production worldwide. Losses between 12-100% affect both yield and planting material. Over the last years a significant recurrence of the disease was reported in different regions in Africa and Asia.

The widespread of the cassava viruses in Africa is promoted by the development of a new super-abundant population of whitefly vectors. It is not known why these whiteflies adapted to cassava to become super-abundant and by the same token to become a key element in the spread of these diseases in Africa and potentially in the rest of the world. These populations, which are present in almost all the Eastern African countries are now present in east Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, north Angola and Cameroon, and they could therefore propagate CBSD in central and west Africa, with potential huge impact on cassava production.

GCP21 convened an important meeting in Bellagio in May 5-10, 2013, to review the virology situation of cassava in Africa and answer questions relative to the spread of these diseases on the African continent and in the rest of the world. The international group of experts decided to create a global alliance to “declare a war on cassava viruses in Africa” and undertake a series of action to slow down their spread and the alliance also called on more institutions to be involved in the war against cassava viruses. The cassava world experts who convened in Bellagio also expressed the need to collect all biological and molecular information of these pest and pathogens to be gathered in a centralized and unique site in the world.

CIRAD and IRD have several scientists who are world experts of cassava viruses, of the whitefly virus vector and plant bacteriologist experts on cassava bacterial blight disease. The French team members are confident to rally CIRAD and IRD bio-informaticians to the team. The CIRAD team is hosted by the Plant Protection Platform (3P) laboratory of St Pierre in La Reunion, an island located 700 km off the coast of Madagascar, and this lab has the capacity, the equipment and the expertise to safely host a variety of pathogens infecting cassava. The CIRAD team in La Reunion has expertise in tissue culture and virus/bacterial diagnostic capacity and because of the physical isolation of La Reunion, could develop an international virus-free transit site to permit safe international exchange of cassava material in the near future. The IRD team based in Montpellier has studied the etiology and ecology of CBB for several decades in Africa and South America. Altogether they have developed expertise on the comparative genomics of CBB, the identification of bacterial virulence factors and resistance genes in the host plant and the development of molecular typing/tracing tools.

Finally the French team is deeply involved into capacity building of young scientists in Africa and Latin America and expressed their commitment to train a larger number of African scientists to study these three important cassava pest and diseases.

CIRAD and IRD recently released their strong commitment to participate to the CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) Root Tuber and Bananas. GCP21 is an independent non-for-profit organization also collaborating to several CRPs and to a number of R&D organizations in the world.

Proposal:
The proposal is to convene a workshop at the Plant Protection Platform (3P) laboratory of St Pierre in La Reunion, to present to the international cassava community their expertise and their capacity, in order to make it available to the cassava international community to fight cassava diseases on the African continent and beyond. The 3P laboratory is a very large facility hosting more than 40 scientists and technicians with updated equipment and storage facilities to study fungi, bacteria, viruses and insects, and has the capacity to perform genomic studies of all these pests and pathogens. The scientific track record of these scientists is remarkable and will ensure a top quality work and training, although the activity was so far not based on cassava with the exception of the virology work, there is no objection from the scientists and technicians to work on cassava pest and pathogens if there is a request from the African and international community.

The investment made by the French research organizations and the European Community in La Reunion, in the 3P laboratory of St Pierre in La Reunion, offers the possibility to host any cassava pathogen or pest, for in-depth comparative studies and for reference collection purposes. In addition the 3P lab has the capacity to virus-clean any cassava material, and to guaranty through advanced diagnostic technologies that this material is free of these pathogens for international exchanges. The 3P lab has access to screen houses and experimental fields for long term cultivation of this material and even for crossing purposes if needed. The physical isolation of La Reunion is offering a suitable location for African exchanges of material as well as global exchanges of material.

Through their long term investment, the scientists at the 3P laboratory have trained, in collaboration with the local university and African universities, a large number of students from several African countries and are dedicated to extend their expertise and commitment to more African countries.

The isolation of the 3P laboratory allows importation of pathogens from all the African countries and even from the rest of the world for comparative studies. This 3P lab could become a global reference for these very important pests and pathogens. The 3P laboratory could host students and scientists from all African countries for training in advance technologies and to develop and transfer relevant and uniformed diagnostic tests. In collaboration with African partners and other advance labs CIRAD and IRD could offer to develop a unique global center for training about cassava pathogens for the global benefit of the community. Finally the isolation of the 3P laboratory permits to consider developing an international transit site for virus-clean cassava material.

The main objective of the workshop is to let the international cassava community know about the scientific expertise and technical capacity that the French team (CIRAD and IRD), and the 3P laboratory, can offer in the field of cassava pests and diseases in order to create a Pan-African Surveillance Network on Cassava Diseases : PanAf-SNCD and an international transit site for virus-free cassava.

Subsequent objectives of this workshop will be to discuss the following topics:

  • Establishment of a Pan-African Network on Cassava Diseases to survey and study the presence and the biodiversity of whiteflies, viruses and bacteria infecting cassava in Africa.
  • Establishment of a unique data center collecting information about cassava pests and pathogens.
  • Establishment of a reference collection of cassava pests and pathogens.
  • Establishment of an international transit site for virus-free cassava material.
  • Participation to training courses and formal education of young African scientists.

The short-term outcomes/impacts expected are:

  • A common press release with all participants of the meeting.
  • A formal proposal to establish a Pan-African Surveillance Network on Cassava Diseases to be put in place in Africa, with all participating organizations and networks such as IITA, WAAPP and EAAPP, Prasac, ProVeg, CotaCassav and EUMOA networks.
  • A formal proposal to develop a unique datacenter on these pests and diseases.
  • A formal proposal to create an international cassava transit site for virus-free material.

The long-term outcomes/impacts expected are:

  • A better evaluation on the status of knowledge about pests and diseases of cassava in Africa, to better identify and control them.
  • An updated unique international center of information on these pests and pathogens.
  • Participation to a better control of pests and diseases of cassava in Africa.
  • Participation to the training of a new generation of cassava scientists in Africa for cassava pathology and entomology.

Communication Plan
We are planning on some level of communication being done before, during and after the Cassava-Base Feed System meeting. Therefore a communication team (ComTeam) will be assembled to report about the meeting and to interact with journalists.
The team is composed of:

Dates: June 10-13, 2014
Location: 3P lab, St Pierre, La Reunion
Format:

  • Day 1: Presentation of the expertise of the different components of the French team
    Visit of the 3P Laboratory and experimental fields
  • Day 2: Discussion about virus, whiteflies, and bacterial diagnostic for Africa
    Discussion about a unique data center about cassava virus and diseases
    Discussion about training and education
  • Day 3: Presentation of virus cleaning capacity
    Discussion on the possibility to create an international cassava transit site
    Conclusions and plan of action

List of Participants

#

Name

First Name

Email

Institution

Group


CIRAD

1

Lett

Jean-Michel

jean-michel.lett@cirad.fr

CIRAD

virologist

2

Reynaud

Bernard

bernard.reynaud@cirad.fr

CIRAD

entomologist

3

Delatte

Helen

helene.delatte@cirad.fr

CIRAD

bacteriologist

4

Roux-Cuvelier

Michel

michel.roux-cuvelier@cirad.fr

CIRAD

tissue culture

5

Dintinger

Jacques

jacques.dintinger@cirad.fr

CIRAD

breeder

6

Vernier

Philippe

philippe.vernier@cirad.fr

CIRAD

network

7

Domaingue

Robert

robert.domaingue@cirad.fr

CIRAD

network

8

Verniere

Christian

christian.verniere@cirad.fr

CIRAD

bacterio

9

Pruvost

Olivier

olivier.pruvost@cirad.fr

CIRAD

bacterio


IRD

10

Verdier

Valerie

Valerie.Verdier@ird.fr

IRD

bacteriologist

11

Szurek

Boris

Boris.szurek@ird.fr

IRD

microbiologist


CGIAR and CRP key people

12

Kulakow

Peter

P.Kulakow@cgiar.org

IITA

breeder

13

Kumar

Lava

L.Kumar@cgiar.org

IITA

virologist

14

Cuellar

Willem

w.cuellar@cgiar.org

CIAT

virologist

15

Legg

James

j.legg@cgiar.org

IITA

virologist


NARS francophones et anglophones

16

Baguma

Yona

baguma1234@yahoo.com

NaCCRI

molecular bio

17

Rakotoarisoa

Jacqueline

ds@fofifa.mg and j.rakotoarisoa@cirad.mg

Madagascar-FOFIFA-DS

networking

18

Offei

Kouame

soffei@wacci.edu.gh

Ghana

virologist

19

Tiendrébéogo

Fidèle

fidelet@gmail.com

Burkina Faso

virologist

20

Zinga

Innocent

zinga.innocent37@googlemail.com

RCA

virologist

21

Diallo

Hortense

attakyhortense@yahoo.com

Cote d'Ivoire

virologist

22

Kpemoua

Kossi

kossikpemoua@yahoo.fr

Togo

bacteriologist

23

Mabanza

Joseph

Jmabanza2002@yahoo.fr

Rep. of Congo

Breeder - sanitation

24

Koita

Ousmane

oakoita@yahoo.com

Mali

Epidemiologist UEMOA/bacterio

25

Quain

Marian

marianquain@hotmail.com

CSRI, Ghana

Biotech

26

Kone

Daouda

daoudakone2013@gmail.com

UFHB

Ivory Coast

27

Onyeka

Joseph

jonyeka@yahoo.com

NRCRI, NIGERIA

pathologist


ASARECA + CORAF + Beca

28

Okogbenin

Emmanuel

eokogbenin@yahoo.com

AATF

Kenya

29

Rwomushana

Ivan

i.rwomushana@asareca.org>

Asareca

networking

30

Sangare

Abdourahamane

abou.sangare@coraf.org

Coraf

Networking


European research institutions NRI, DSMZ…

31

Gowda

Maruthi

M.N.Maruthi@greenwich.ac.uk

NRI

virologist

32

Winter

Stephan

stephan.winter@jki.bund.de

DSMZ

virologist


Donors:

33

Larry

Beach

biot1larry@gmail.com

Rep BMGF

donor

34

Sankung

Sagnia

Sankung.Sagnia@fao.org

FAO

donor


GCP21

35

Fauquet

Claude

C.fauquet@cgiar.org

GCP21

virologist


Facilitator/Communications Specialist

36

Josserond

David

david.josserond@cirad.fr

CIRAD-3P

Comm

37

Dennemont

Cynthia

cynthia.dumont@cirad.fr

CIRAD-3P

Gestion admin

38

Makila

Ethel

e.makila@cgiar.org

Beca

Com


Program

Tuesday June 10

Wednesday june 11

Thursday june 12

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3


Official opening session

Visit field stations and genetic resources

Group discussions

Welcoming

 

Bernard Reynaud

Chairs Legg / Winter

Welcome and 3P presentation

 

Virus, bacterio and whitefly diagnostic

Claude Fauquet

 

Chairs Diallo / Kumar

GCP21 and objectives of the meeting

 

PanAfrican Surveillance Network

Stephan Winter

 

Chairs Kulakow / Roux

Bellagio RoadMap

 

International Quarantine / Transit site

Rwomushana Ivan

 

Chairs Poussier / Djikeng

Expertise and needs at ASARECA

 

Training & Capacity Building

Sangare Abourahmane

 

 

Expertise and needs at CORAF

 

 


Coffee

Coffee

Coffee


Emmanuel Okogbenin    

Cassava needs for Africa

 

 

James Legg

 

 

Spread of viruses and whiteflies

 

 

James Legg

 

 

Virus diagnostic and surveillance in East Africa

 

 

Jean Michel Lett

 

Report Group discussions

3P expertise in virology

 

Group 1: Legg

Peter Sseruwagi

 

Group 2: Kumar

The whitefly project in East Africa

 

Group 3: Kulakow

Helen Delatte

 

Group 4: Poussier

Expertise on whitefly studies

 

 


Lunch

Lunch

Lunch


 Visit 3P Laboratories

 Visit 3P Laboratories

Group discussions

   

Chairs Diallo / Winter

 

 

Establishing a diagnostic network

 

 

Chairs Legg / Kumar

 

 

Establishing a pan-african surveillance network

 

 

Chairs Kulakow / Roux-Cuvelier

Maruthi Gowda

Hortense Diallo

Establishing international quarantine measures / transit site La Reunion

Point of view of NRI

Network in West-Central Africa

Chairs Poussier / Djikeng

Valerie Verdier

Fidéle Tiendrébéogo

Establishing a training program

Expertise in bacteriology at CIRAD-IRD

LMI Patho-Bios - Diagnostic of pathogens

 

Ralf Koebnik

Isabelle Robène

 

Bacteriology in Africa

Diagnostic at 3P

 

Willem Cuellar

Michel Grisoni

 

Needs for diagnostic and quarantine measures

Germplasm broad range virus indexing through NGS: the case study of SafePGR

 


Coffee

Coffee

Coffee


Peter Kulakow
Needs for International Transit Site

Henri Brouchoud
3P expertise in databases

Report Group Discussions
Group 1: Legg

Marie-France Duval

Stéphane Poussier

Group 2: Kumar

Cassava genetic diversity in RCA

Training in La Reunion

Group 3: Kulakow

Michel Roux-Cuvelier

Appolinaire Djikeng

Group 4: Poussier

Expertise in TC and virus cleaning

Training at BECA

Adjourn

Lava Kumar

Drinks

Drinks

Surveillance and example of BBTV

 

 


Dinner

Dinner

Dinner


Outcomes of the Meeting:




Go to top
Back to Strategic Meetings