{"id":1855,"date":"2026-09-18T09:19:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T08:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bbtvalliance.org\/?p=1855"},"modified":"2026-09-18T10:03:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T09:03:55","slug":"iita-and-partners-launch-facility-to-combat-bbtv-in-burundi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bbtvalliance.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/18\/iita-and-partners-launch-facility-to-combat-bbtv-in-burundi\/","title":{"rendered":"IITA and partners launch facility to combat BBTV in Burundi"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\u00a0Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

Screen (left)\/glass (right) house for BBTV phenotyping<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Banana is\u00a0an important crop serving millions of households as a\u00a0staple\u00a0food and source of income in East Africa. It drives food security, nutrition, and rural livelihoods across the region, with its value deeply integrated in smallholder farming systems and local markets. But the crop faces serious threats, including banana weevils, nematodes, black Sigatoka, Fusarium wilt, bacterial wilt, and the recent invasive virus: Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV). BBTV stunts plants and causes 100% yield loss within three years. It results in annual production losses worth US$200 to 600 million in Africa and is classified as an A1 quarantine pathogen and one of the top 100 worst invasive alien species. Once a field is infected, that season is lost, and future suckers\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0fruit.<\/div>\n
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\"BBTV<\/a><\/p>\n

BBTV infected banana plants<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As part of efforts to combat the disease and build a clean seed system, IITA and the Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU) launched a modern screenhouse\/glasshouse in Bujumbura worth $174,404.35 on 15 June 2026. The facility gives the region its first dedicated space to test banana germplasm for BBTV resistance at scale. Scientists can now identify resistant parents more quickly and fast-track the breeding of hybrids that remain productive in areas where BBTV is present.<\/div>\n
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\"Left:<\/a><\/p>\n

Left: Prof. S. Musomerimana \u2013 ISABU launching the facility<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThis facility lets us test banana varieties with precision and speed we never had before so that BBTV-resistant varieties can reach farmers sooner,\u201d said Dr Valentine Nakato, IITA Banana Pathologist. Prof. Rony Swennen, Banana Crop Lead at IITA, added, \u201cWith this new facility, the IITA banana breeding program can now screen and develop new banana varieties for resistance to BBTV, which was not possible until now.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Solar Nation handing over the screen\/glasshouse keys to Dr P. Mutuo, the Country Representative of IITA-Burundi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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To turn that capacity into impact, IITA will work with National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) on a coordinated breeding strategy. All parental lines across three banana breeding programs (Uganda, Tanzania, and Nigeria) will be screened for BBTV resistance, resistant parents will be used in crossing schemes to\u00a0introgress\u00a0resistance into new hybrids, and NARS will lead multilocation and on-farm trials to test performance across\u00a0agroecologies\u00a0and drive the release and dissemination of BBTV-resistant varieties to farmers.<\/div>\n
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This milestone closes a major gap in the region\u2019s banana defense system and protects a crop that feeds millions across East Africa. The screenhouse was launched by Prof. S.\u00a0Musonerimana, Director General of ISABU, and Dr P. Mutuo, IITA-Burundi Country Representative, who emphasized that IITA\u2019s investment was driven by a shared commitment to strengthen collaborative research between IITA and ISABU. The new facility is proof that IITA and ISABU can move from shared goals to shared infrastructure, turning research plans into tools that deliver solutions to farmers.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt was a great honor for ISABU to see our collaboration with IITA growing. The handover of this glasshouse\u00a0demonstrates\u00a0our joint commitment to advancing agricultural research, innovation, and capacity-building on BBTV. This facility will help us increase tolerant varieties, reduce disease losses, and boost banana production for farmers,\u201d\u00a0said Dr\u00a0Ir\u00a0Micheline\u00a0Inamahoro, Director of Research at ISABU.<\/div>\n
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Building on what works<\/b><\/div>\n
IITA and its partners are not starting from zero. They have been building momentum against BBTV across East Africa for years. In March 2024, they aligned regional breeding efforts when\u00a0<\/span>IITA and six National Agricultural Research Centers signed the Mchare and Matooke Regional Target Product Profiles<\/u><\/a><\/span>\u00a0to boost the impact of banana breeding impact. Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania now test hybrids jointly using standardized procedures, and the new Burundi screenhouse plugs directly into that network. Before that, since BBTV hit Uganda and Tanzania in 2020, IITA led the \u201c<\/span>Combating BBTV in East Africa<\/u><\/a><\/span>\u201d project with support from USDA-FAS and USAID.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Dr Nakato-IITA giving project overview.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Through the project, IITA and partners conducted delimitation surveys,\u00a0<\/span>trained diagnostics teams in rapid Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA) and Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) tests<\/u><\/a><\/span>, and established a regional technical working group to coordinate the response. On the ground, they are also preparing farmers. Under the\u00a0Ukama\u00a0Ustawi<\/i>\u00a0Learning Alliance,\u00a0<\/span>banana growers from BBTV-free districts in Uganda toured Kasese<\/u><\/a><\/span>\u00a0to see the disease firsthand. Peer learning, plus early detection,\u00a0roguing, aphid control, and use of clean planting material, is already building the frontline defense communities need.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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\"Participants<\/a><\/p>\n

Participants at the glasshouse launch: Prof. S. Musonerimana at the front row centre, Dr P. Mutuo and M. G. Hakizimana on his left, and Dr M. Inamahoro and Ir. W. D. Emera on his right. \u00a0 Dr Nakato Valentine (far right).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

With dedicated capacity for BBTV phenotyping now in place, screening will be more rigorous, and the pipeline to resilient varieties will\u00a0be much\u00a0faster. IITA\u2019s banana breeding program has long delivered improved varieties across the Great Lakes region, including,\u00a0NARITA hybrids released through long-standing partnerships with NARS in Uganda<\/u><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0farmer evaluation of NARITA in Kenya<\/u><\/a><\/span>, and\u00a0free TARIBAN plantlets for scaling<\/u><\/a><\/span>\u00a0in Tanzania. The program has developed strong phenotyping for black Sigatoka, weevils, nematodes, Fusarium wilt race 1, and bacterial wilt. BBTV was the missing piece, and now it is in place. This screenhouse turns intent into action. It shifts the region from reactive responses to BBTV outbreaks to\u00a0proactively\u00a0breeding for\u00a0resistance ahead of time. For Burundi and the wider region, it means stronger banana livelihoods, protected biodiversity, and a staple crop that continues to feed communities for generations to come.<\/div>\n
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\nContributed by Valentine Nakato, Moureen Awori, Rony Swennen, Moses Nyine, Gloriana Ndibalema\u00a0and\u00a0George Mahuku<\/i><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Screen (left)\/glass (right) house for BBTV phenotyping   Banana is\u00a0an important crop serving millions of households as a\u00a0staple\u00a0food and source of income in East Africa. It drives food security, nutrition, and rural livelihoods across the region, with its value deeply integrated in smallholder farming systems and local markets. But the\u2026<\/p>\n

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