Cassava Mosaic Disease and Cassava Brown Streak Disease have devastated the food security and income of millions of cassava-dependent farm families. The Great Lakes Cassava Initiative (GLCI), managed by CRS and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was developed to respond to the crisis. GLCI operates in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda with the goal of distributing healthy cassava planting material of farmer-accepted disease-tolerant varieties to 1.15 million farm families to alleviate food insecurity and increase incomes. The initiative is a multi-dimensional project that includes a combination of research and development activities. Research activities include studies to improve disease control through improved varieties and quality management, as well as the development of a diagnostic tool for CBSD. Other activities include building capacity among national agriculture research and development partners, strengthening farmer group development, and conducting multiplication and dissemination of planting material.--From the CRS web site.