An Economic Assessment of Banana Genetic Improvement and ...

BANANA-GROWING HOUSEHOLDS AND BANANA CULTIVARS 53
Table 5.5 Average land owned and cropped, banana as a percentage of total cropped
area, and age of banana plantations, by elevation, Tanzania and Uganda
Elevation
Tanzania
Uganda
Elevation
Characteristic Low High All Low High All
Total land owned (ha) 1.6 2.7*** 1.9 1.5** 0.9** 1.4
Cropped land (ha) 1.0 1.9 1.2 0.7 0.6 0.7
Banana as percentage of total cropped area 38.1 35.0 35.7 19.7*** 39.3*** 22.1
Age of banana plantation (years) 37 27 36 10*** 29*** 12
Note: *** and ** indicate statistical significance at the 1 percent and 5 percent levels, respectively, in the
difference of means or distributions across elevations within countries.
Table 5.6 Percentage of households participating in banana markets, selling or
buying bananas, by elevation, Uganda and Tanzania
Elevation
Uganda
Elevation
Tanzania
Type of participation
Low High All Low High
All
No Participation 22.55 24.07 22.72 41.36*** 10.00*** 36.54
Only sells 31.92*** 62.82*** 35.38 44.09*** 90.00*** 51.15
Only buys 32.03*** 5.21*** 29.02 10.00 — 8.46
Sells and buys 13.50* 7.90* 12.87 4.55 — 3.85
Notes: Differences across elevations within countries are tested by cross-tabulation using the chi-square
distribution. *** and * indicate statistical significance at the 1 percent and 10 percent levels, respectively;
— signifies no households in this category.
cated to bananas in both the highlands and
lowlands in Kagera Region, with no apparent
difference by elevation. In Uganda,
farmers in the highlands allocate nearly
twice as great a share of cropped area to
bananas (39 percent) as those in the lowlands
(20 percent), close to the levels observed
in Tanzania. Banana growers in the
high-elevation areas of Uganda have tended
their banana plantations for considerably
longer than those farming in the lowlands,
probably because pest and disease pressures
are lower. These farmers are also driven by
commercial objectives in their production
decisionmaking rather than by a need to
satisfy the food requirements of their families.
In Tanzania, the difference in the age of
plantations is not significant between zones,
and the overall average age is 36 years.
Accordingly, household participation in
banana market transactions differs significantly
by elevation. Some households choose
not to participate, while others participate
only as sellers, only as buyers, or as both
sellers and buyers (Table 5.6). The majority
of households in the survey domain report
some involvement in banana markets, although
roughly a quarter of the households
remain autarkic (without any market-based
purchase or sales of bananas). In high-