The start of 2017 brings good news to the West African Virus Epidemiology (WAVE) team as four of its students successfully defend their Masters theses. N’guessan Beugre, William Amoakon, Mariam Combala and Tatiana Boka will now further explore the epidemiological study of cassava viral diseases in Côte d’Ivoire as they progress further in their academic careers as PhD candidates.

Speaking to a member of the AgShare.Today team, N’guessan explains the wider implications of cassava viral diseases in the country, “I am interested in cassava because it is very important in Côte d’Ivoire […]. Cassava is important for food security because it is accessible for the whole population as it is not expensive to buy.”

The students are now keen to further explore the impact of viral diseases across all the regions of Côte d’Ivoire. Their work will contribute to the WAVE project’s overarching goal: to identify, characterise and manage the viruses that infect root crops across six West African countries.