IPGRI IPM project 05: Local, national and regional strategies for avoiding the spread of and managing Xanthomonas bacterial wilt

Duration: on-going

Purpose: 1) Assess the impact of banana bacterial wilt on the livelihoods of small-scale banana farmers in Uganda; 2) Put in place a regional framework for a coordinated approach to the disease; 3) Initiate research, demonstration and training activities to understand the spread of the disease and to propose adequate control options to farmers, extension officers and grass root organizations.

Background/description: For several decades, a vascular wilt disease, caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum, was the main cause of loss in enset (Ensete ventricosum, Musaceae), the staple food of some 15 million people in the highlands of Ethiopia. Over the past decade the disease has become increasingly important in bananas in that country. Then, in September 2001, it was recorded for the first time in Uganda, causing severe damage in kayinja (beer bananas) but also affecting the staple matooke (East African Highland bananas). In 2004, the disease was also confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR-Congo), though farmers’ accounts indicate that it has been there perhaps as long as in Uganda. In Uganda the disease has spread rapidly and is now confirmed in 27 districts. In some smallholdings over 90% of the plants have become infected within a year or so of the first appearance of disease. Farmers have reported yields reduced to 10-20% of pre-disease levels. It has been estimated that Uganda is losing up to US$ 360 million a year as a result of the new disease outbreak. Studies are under way to provide a more focused assessment of impacts on livelihoods. In the DR-Congo, the disease has spread more slowly, so far confined to North Kivu province, but the damage and losses appear to be as severe as in Uganda. The outbreak in DR-Congo is only some 70km from the border with Rwanda and Burundi. The disease is also poised to spread further south and east of Uganda. The islands in Lake Victoria, with informal food-trade links with the Kagera region of north-western Tanzania, and with Nyanza province of western Kenya, may be a potential route for the disease to spread into the neighbouring countries. In Ethiopia, the disease on enset is found in regions where the crop is grown but in bananas the most affected regions are below 1,800 masl. Under Ethiopian conditions, male bud infection has been observed only in bananas and below 1,700 masl. In Uganda and DR-Congo, banana Xanthomonas wilt disease (BXW) can affect all banana varieties although in varying degrees, causing wilting of plants at all growth stages. When developing fruit bunches are attacked, the terminal flower bud withers and fruit ripen unevenly and prematurely. Cut fruit are discoloured and rotten, unsuitable for consumption by humans or animals. The bacteria spread rapidly through the entire plant and bacteria-laden exudates provide the means of disease transmission to new plants. BXW drastically affects the food security and livelihoods of communities, some of which depend on the banana crop for up to 90% of their income. The implications for food security are particularly worrying for eastern districts of DR-Congo where normal economic activities have been disrupted by a long period of conflict. In all countries, the disease will pose a special problem for the nascent banana processing enterprises that have been perceived as a promising engine of economic growth. The disease also has serious implications for the natural resource base because bananas currently provide a perennial element in landscapes, protecting the soil against erosion, especially in mountainous areas with dense populations.

Agroecozone(s) and location(s): Already affected: Ethiopia [since early 20^th century], Uganda [since 2001] and DRCongo [since 2001].

Countries at risk: Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi

Expected outputs: 1) Communities threatened by outbreak mobilized to prepare for pending outbreak; 2) Communities in outbreak areas equipped to respond to the epidemic; 3) Communities in endemic areas equipped to sustain banana production; 4) Response to BXW effectively coordinated.

Potential impact and beneficiaries: The outcomes of project activities will benefit both countries where the disease is already present [control/management of the disease] but will also assist the countries where the disease is not yet present to prepare for a possible outbreak. The ultimate beneficiaries will be poor small-holder farmers who will have access to cost-effective, environmentally acceptable and appropriate means to control and ultimately eradicate the disease.

Partners: Uganda: NIDA, EGC, IFPRI, NARO, FAO; Ethiopia: SARI, Awassa; FAO

Development investor(s): Uganda: DFID, FAO, VVOB, IDRC, USAID; Ethiopia: VVOB

INIBAP contact person(s)/principal investigator(s): Guy Blomme g.blomme@cgiar.org, Eldad Karamura e.karamura@cgiar.org