
Rotten streak —
Tell-tale signs of Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD), dubbed the 'Ebola of plants,' which is ravaging crops across East Africa.

Little white flies —
CBSD is carried by the whitefly, which has infested the region in large numbers. Diseases carried by the insect destroy more than $1 billion worth of cassava each year in Sub-Saharan Africa, including areas where the vegetable is the main staple food.

Heavyweight support —
Plant virologist Dr. Joseph Ndunguru with Bill Gates at the Mikocheni Agricultural Research Institute in Tanzania. Ndunguru is a leading figure of the Cassava Diagnostics Project (CDP), which is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which works with farmers in East Africa to identify and control cassava disease.

Spreading the word —
Ndunguru with local scientists in Malawi working to identify infected crops and replace them with resistant varieties.

Disease free —
Farming family display healthy cassava that were cultivated with clean, resistant plant material.

Supercomputer —
The CDP has partnered with a research group at the University of Western Australia (UWA), which uses one of the world's most powerful supercomputers do decode the genetic sequences of diseases and identify new strains.