An Economic Assessment of Banana Genetic Improvement and ...

C H A P T E R 3
Overview of the Banana Economy in the Lake
Victoria Regions of Uganda and Tanzania
Robert Kalyebara, Jackson M. Nkuba, Mgenzi Said Ramadhan
Byabachwezi, Enoch Mutebi Kikulwe, and Svetlana Edmeades
This chapter summarizes the major features of the banana economy in the Lake Victoria
region of Uganda and Tanzania, describing the economic importance of the crop, banana
types and uses, and production and economic constraints. The East African highlands
are recognized as a second center of banana diversity (the first being the Indo-Malaysian
region of Asia), and most cultivars grown are endemic to the region. The numerous cultivars
are distinguished by genome, phenotype, and use. Biotic pressures and declining soil fertility
have caused major production problems in recent decades. A major food staple, bananas are
also traded in local markets, but their perishability and transport costs contribute to risks for
traders and to difficulties linking supply areas with areas of strong demand. Processing opportunities
have not been fully exploited. Exports are largely regional or directed toward a
niche market of emigrants. Tastes and preferences in the region favor the endemic types compared
with sweet dessert bananas most often demanded by consumers on the world market.
Economic Importance
The banana is a major food staple in both Uganda and Tanzania, as well as an important cash
crop in the local economy. An indispensable part of life in Uganda, bananas provide an estimated
30 percent of the calories, 10 percent of the protein, and 5 percent of the fat intake of
the population, representing 25 percent of the total value of agricultural output (FAO 2002).
Per capita annual consumption of bananas in Uganda is the highest in the world at approximately
0.70 kg per person per day (INIBAP 2000; NARO 2001). Compared with other important
crops in the country, banana occupies the greatest proportion of utilized agricultural land
(about 1.4 million hectares, or 38 percent of total utilized land), making it the most widely
grown crop. It serves as one of the most important food security crops for Central, Western,
and Eastern Regions of Uganda (NARO 2001).
Similarly, in Tanzania, bananas are the staple food of an estimated 20–30 percent of the
total population (Walker, Hebblethwaite, and Bridge 1984). In the heavily banana-based farming
systems, such as Kagera and Kilimanjaro regions, about 70–95 percent of households grow
bananas for food and/or cash, and the average field size of the bananas grown ranges from 0.5
to 2.0 ha per household (Byabachwezi and Mbwana 1999). In other areas, only a few banana
plants are maintained by households, mainly for dessert and roasting. Banana ranks first as a
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