UNDERSTANDING THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON

Cassava has been described as a super-crop for its role as food crop, cash crop and industrial raw material. Its production is vital to the well-being of more than 700 million people globally. Cassava viruses and their vector (B. tabaci) are one of the greatest constraints to cassava production. Among the insect pests of cassava, B. tabaci stands out as an economically important pest, causing direct damage to a wide range of crops by producing sooty moulds and transmitting plant viruses. B. tabaci is a species complex consisting of more than 34 morphologically indistinguishable species. B. tabaci is known to vector over 100 plant viruses, including at least 11 viruses of cassava, driving disease epidemics across cassava production systems globally. Cassava farmers across Africa incur annual losses of over 1 billion USD due to viruses transmitted by B. tabaci. Even though cassava is expected to be resilient to climate change, at the moment, there is a dearth of information on temperature-dependence, and the potential impact of climate change on an African population of cassava-colonising B. tabaci. To fill this knowledge gap, this study was initiated to: evaluate the effects of temperature on the developmental characteristics of cassava-colonising B. tabaci, evaluate the effects of temperature on the reproductive performance of cassava-colonising B. tabaci, review the potential impact of climate change on whiteflies, model the distribution and abundance of cassava-colonising B. tabaci under climate change scenarios, and investigate strategies for adapting to cassava whitefly and virus disease under climate change scenarios.