This project aims to strengthen regional and national capacities in banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) diagnostics, surveillance, monitoring, and management across ten banana-producing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda). The project seeks to improve market access, minimize losses, and safeguard banana-dependent livelihoods in the beneficiary countries by raising stakeholders' awareness, developing harmonized Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), developing ICT-based tools for BBTV management, and promoting the production and trade of clean banana planting materials
Bananas, including plantains (Musa spp.), are a crucial crop for food security, trade, and livelihoods in Africa, which accounts for nearly half of the global banana production area. The fruit, planting materials, and processed products are widely traded and serve as a vital source of income for many smallholders in the region. With African countries' exports reaching up to 700,000 tons annually and global demand projected to grow steadily, Africa’s banana sector could reach 36 million tons in production and a market value of US$32.4 billion by 2035.
However, the rapid spread of Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV), a classified A1 quarantine pathogen and one of the world’s top 100 most invasive species, poses a major threat to banana production in Africa. Over the past 15 years, BBTV has aggressively expanded in 18 out of Africa’s 42 banana-producing countries, affecting 80% of production areas. BBTV causes severe yield losses and is exacerbated by limited awareness, weak surveillance, inadequate diagnostic capacity and informal trade in planting materials, leading to an estimated annual economic loss of US$200–600 million in Sub-Saharan Africa.