Swift, Coordinated Combat Strategies

In the face of the threatening crop infection like the Bunchy Top Disease currently ravaging the ba­ nana sector in some parts of the country, rescue efforts need to be immediate and well-targeted. The sector concerned, its contribution to individual, household and national growth is so crucial that any delay and or haphazard measures may leave far-reaching consequences. It is undiluted truth that banana production is an age-old activity that spans several regions in the country and involves thousands, if not millions, of the citizens. Whether at industrial or even small- scale levels, the place of the crop is great and the number of its dependents huge. As a matter of fact, banana is consumed across the national territory and it is a source of livelihood for many citizens and families right from production, pro­ cessing to marketing. Getting it bucked down by a disease as devastating like the Banana Bunchy Top Disease that stunts and deforms the banana stems, reducing and even misshaping the bunch in the rare cases that it even gets to produce, could endanger the health of millions of consumers as well as the economic stability of the huge number of Cameroonians in the banana chain. In effect, it is common knowledge to most, if not all, that banana is a highly-consumed food staple, known to have several nutritional values and many logically go for it to boost their calorie intake. It is also reported that banana consti­ tutes one of the major drivers of the national eco­ nomy owing to its place in foreign exchange earnings and generates significant jobs for citizens all through its value chain. It is therefore a life and livelihood catalyst that must be painstakingly saved from collapse once danger looms like the current banana ailment. The powers that be should thus draw full length with practicable combat strategies and so urgently in order not to chase after the wind when the da­ mage would have been irreparable. Reports say since its outbreak, government has federated efforts and resources with p...