Building a stronger plantain seed system in Cameroon: Empowering local actors to deliver healthy planting materials
Plantain is a major food and income-generating crop in Cameroon, cultivated on about 303,000 hectares. Plantain farmers face challenges including pests and diseases, declining soil fertility, limited access to quality planting materials, low productivity, and climate variability.
Plantain is a major food and income-generating crop in Cameroon, cultivated on about 303,000 hectares. Plantain farmers face challenges including pests and diseases, declining soil fertility, limited access to quality planting materials, low productivity, and climate variability. The emergence of Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD) has added another serious threat to production and livelihoods.
Traditionally, Cameroon’s plantain seed system has relied on farmer-to-farmer exchanges of natural suckers, which can carry soil-borne pests such as nematodes and weevils, as well as diseases such as Black Sigatoka. IITA-Cameroon is working with national partners, including the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), to strengthen capacity for producing healthy, disease-free planting materials through improved propagation technologies.
From 20–23 July 2026, IITA-Cameroon hosted a four-day Training of Trainers at its Yaoundé campus for IRAD researchers on the acclimatization of plantain tissue-culture plantlets, or vitroplants. The training was facilitated by Jules Lienou, Officer in Charge of IITA-Cameroon’s Tissue Culture Laboratory and combined theoretical sessions with hands-on practice.