Borel KENNE MELI

PhD (ongoing)

  • University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, 2025-
  • Subject: Mathematical modeling, analysis and
  • control of African cassava mosaic disease
  • Supervisors: J.J. Tewa, F. Grognard, S. Touzeau

Context

  • Cassava
    • major staple food in the tropics
    • about 700 million people depend on cassava
  • African cassava mosaic disease
    • viral disease transmitted by the whitefly (Bemisia tabaci)
    • can also affect other plants
  • Control methods
    • resistant/tolerant cassava plants, with different resistance levels
    • phytosanitation, including the use of healthy cuttings and roguing
    • biological control based on natural enemies

Objectives

  • Develop an epidemiological model representing the African cassava mosaic disease transmission
  • Design efficient control strategies, based on the deployment of cassava resistance combined with other control methods.

Results

  • Literature review of cassava mosaic disease models
  • Original model, taking into account wild plants acting as virus reservoirs, vector and tool-mediated virus transmission, and cassava resistance deployment
  • Preliminary model analysis

A.B. Kenne Meli, J.J. Tewa, S. Touzeau, F. Grognard. Mathematical modeling, analysis and control of African cassava mosaic disease. In: MPDEE’25 – Conference on Models in Population Dynamics, Ecology, and Evolution, Bilbao, Spain, May 2025. Poster.

Misc

  • EPITAG visit in France
    • March-May 2025
  • Conference
    • MPDEE 2025, Bilbao, Spain