Thirty prominent agricultural scientists and development specialists from around the world (GCP21 partners) assembled for four days in Bellagio, Italy, to develop a plan of action to arrest the spread of the deadly Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) in Africa; to develop coherent intervention programs to limit the negative impact of brown streak disease and cassava mosaic disease (CMD) in Africa; and to build the human resource capacity and knowledge base to prevent the global spread of these deadly plant diseases.
These diseases present urgent challenges that call for ‘game changing’ agricultural technologies.