This week Philippe Kikobo and I made a rapid survey of the district east of the Kwilu River.Because there are Baptist church centers scattered throughout the area, Lusekele used to have a very active extension program there.Then in the 1990s, political unrest and draconian budget cuts forced the program to downsize.Essentially that meant withdrawing to the part of the Vanga rural health zone west of the Kwilu River, abandoning Busala, Mbelo, Sala, Moyene, Dula, Mayoko, Mikingi.As far as we know, there has been no significant agricultural extension work in the area since Lusekele left.

My major concern since we started multiplying and distributing disease-tolerant and disease-resistant varieties of manioc in the area, is that the people in villages on the eastern bank of the Kwilu were slowly descending into crisis and no one was paying the slightest attention.Lusekele didn't have the resources to send an extension agent there.I had to be content with seeing Lusekele share a few meager cuttings with particularly highly motivated groups.

The three-day trip this week confirmed that farmers in the region have a very serious problem with manioc mosaic virus.At Kimbanda, Philippe and I tramped down into one valley to see a half-acre field of stunted manioc planted by a cooperative group.Leaves curled up, chlorophyll bleached out to a light yellow rather than the rich dark green of healthy plants.At Busala, the president of the Baptist women's association took us to her field, a fertile plot at the base of the hills east of the church center.Tall plants, but again almost every plant with the blotchy yellow deformed leaves of mosaic disease.Only a handful of plants remained free of the disease, a recently acquired variety they call "Christine."But planted among the diseased plants, even that variety already showed the tell-tale light green patches of mosaic in its early stages.

Surprisingly, we found that women do not recognize mosaic as a plant disease.They know that something is wrong, but they have no idea what to do about it ... nor even that one CAN do anything about it.

We were surprised (and pleased) to learn that SECID / USAID, the group that is supporting part of Lusekele's manioc multiplication program has one multiplication field at Nkwebe near Dwe.And working with an association based at the Baptist church center of Dula, they have just provided new disease-resistant cuttings for short-rainy season field.We talked with another group at Sala that had received cuttings from the Nkwebe field too, but on their own initiative.So the good news is that the first tentative multiplication is starting.But in both cases, the groups have no regular technical supervision.With more sense of urgency than farmer's sense, they have planted late in the year on sites that will have little residual moisture through the long dry season.Hopefully the results will not be too discouraging.

At Mayoko Kwilu we encountered the same theme: motivated farmers, people who had heard about new manioc varieties, impressive initiative to obtain a small number of cuttings, and no technical supervision.They told us they had three new mosaic-resistant varieties.Philippe and I trekked off with seven members of the association to see the field.I was dismayed to see the blotches of mosaic disease on about 20% of the plants.Obviously some of the new planting material was tolerant rather than resistant and they were not practicing a rigorous sanitation regime to keep the plants disease-free.Then in one corner of the field we found a 30m x 30m plot of two disease-resistant varieties mixed together.Our visit was the first time anyone had explained that mosaic is a disease, that rigorous selection of planting material is the first line of defense, and that multiplying cuttings should be done in a location apart from diseased fields.

We still need to work out where to locate manioc multiplication fields in September.Lusekele doesn't want to duplicate efforts that other groups are already taking.But what we saw this week underlines forcefully that farmers desperately need the real deal in agricultural extension.Even before the trip we had already decided to extend the manioc program to the Kwilus eastern bank in September.But now we have a concrete idea of why it is so important.I hope that SECID will agree to support an expanded program of extension visits to groups that already have the new planting material.But even if they don't, Lusekele will start with a program of farmer training on mosaic disease in June or July and 8 - 10 large multiplication fields in strategic locations in September.

The tragedy of people's suffering here is that they think it is normal, maybe even that God in his caprice wills it to happen.Yet God has created the marvels of new disease-resistant varieties of manioc.He has given us understanding of how His creation works and a vision for how it can meet our needs.Even in crisis, He provides for our needs for the sake of His name.There is no reason for people to remain ignorant of God's love and His provision, no reason to suffer in silence thinking that that suffering is humankind's lot, inevitable, ordained.The image of Easter shows us.God is not indifferent.God is love.God intervenes.God rescues.God transforms human beings.God gives new life.Jesus emerges from the grave.

And I imagine that he is laughing out His joy.Oh how we long to see people following along behind him walking toward eternal, abundant life, marveling at the plan of God.

May you have a joyous Easter, marveling anew at the resurrection and New Life.

Ed