Cassava, plantain and cooking/starchy bananas are major staple food for more than 300 million people in sub-saharan Africa. Africa produces 44.3 and 68.5 of the world's total output of cassava and plantain/cooking bananas, respectively. Major diseases of cassava are the African cassava mosaic virus, the cassava bacterial blight and the cassava anthracnose disease. Others include the Cercospora leaf spots and root and tuber rots caused by various fungi and bacteria. Research over the years at IITA has focussed on the improvement of cassava through breeding and has produced many varieties that are adaptable to various ecological zones, disease resistant and high-yielding.
The major disease of plantain and cooking/starchy bananas so far reported in Africa is the black Sigatoka which was first reported in Zambia in 1973 and has since spread to nearly all the countries in Africa. Since chemical control of the disease is very expensive, ITTA has started to breed for black Sigatoka resistant plantain and cooking/starchy bananas. The breeding program is supported by a worldwide collection of Musa germplasm and their screening for black Sigatoka resistance at the IITA's Onne sub-station situated in southeastern Nigeria.