IITA, IRAD Introduce anti-Konzo Cassava varieties as Stakeholders discuss preventive strategy in Yaoundé.

The consumption of toxic compounds with improperly prepared cassava with high cyanogenic potential has caused disastrous consequences in some regions of Cameroon and Central African Republic provoking the outbreak of Konzo, a new disease that causes paralysis of both legs.

The French-based humanitarian NGO, Medicins Sans Frontières and the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) reported the disease in August last year in the East and Adamawa regions of Cameroon. Health experts and researchers say Konzo occurs abruptly within minutes or hours in previously healthy persons whose diets consist almost exclusively of foods from roots of bitter Cassava which have not been properly processed. General symptoms of the disease includes "Deafness, blindness, aggravated goiter, partial or total paralysis of arms and cranial nerves, acute cyanide intoxication which appear four to six hours after consumption and consist of vomiting, collapse and in some cases, death".

In order to overcome the outbreak of the disease in Cameroon and the Central African Republic, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) took the initiative to organize a meeting of stakeholders at IITA-Nkolbisson last Tuesday March 03 to identify strategic preventive measures and approaches to eliminate the disease. Experts, drawn from health and research institutions, International NGOs, UN agencies and universities and included representatives of partner organizations (IITA, IRAD, FAO, CRS, PNDRT, MINADER, MINSANTE, MINRESI, UNICEF, CODAS Bertoua, SARB Batouri, Universities of Buea, Ngaoundére and Yaoundé 1, brainstormed and identified strategic preventive measures and approaches to eliminate Konzo as well as build potential partnerships. In effect, the meeting brought up a multi faceted proposal including baseline survey and sensitization campaign, introduction of improved cassava varieties with low cyanogenic potential, reduction in malnutrition and empowerment of local communities in post harvest processing options and capacity building.

The introduction of safer cassava and its products is an initiative of IITA and IRAD. In effect, these agricultural research institutes have carried out research on improved cassava varieties which they intend to introduce in the Konzo affected areas as they prefer to tackle the problem from its roots, Emmanuel Njukwe, of IITA said. IITA together with IRAD has developed multipurpose cassava varieties and four main varieties are in dissemination by PNDRT to that effect, Njukwe said.

The meeting ended with an agreement of a steering committee under the coordination of MINADER and MINSANTE. Potential funding organisations for the project were proposed and include FAO, USAID, IFAD, SAKEC, JICA, Dutch embassy, and Cameroon Government HIPC funds.