Transforming the value chain one Cooking banana at a time
Cooking banana, a roadside staple in Uganda
In Uganda, (green) cooking banana is a staple item. An integral part of daily life, it is found in every marketplace and kitchen and is an important part of traditional family meals in households across the country. A source of food security, nutrition and wellbeing and offering livelihoods and economic opportunities to many, the cooking banana is a much loved crop that for many Ugandans has both economic importance and emotional meaning. It is the key ingredient in the much loved dish known as matoke which features in the daily diets of most Ugandans. As you drive south west from Kampala towards the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo, its bright green color catches your eye everywhere you look. Fields of cooking banana are dotted throughout the countryside and the bananas are being sold at roadside stalls and at open air markets in every town through which you pass.
Transforming the cooking banana value chain
With food and nutrition insecurity a major issue in Uganda and across sub-Saharan Africa finding ways to decrease food waste is vital and cooking banana is one crop that could benefit immensely from improved practices. This crop is part of a large group of locally domesticated cooking bananas known as the East African highland banana.
Characterized by high post-harvest losses due to short shelf-life, highly seasonal production and poor post-harvest handling, there are many challenges along the banana value chain. However, with these challenges come opportunities to create change and to find new, improved ways of doing things. And the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas is doing just that through the expanding utilization of roots, tubers and bananas and reducing their post-harvest losses (RTB ENDURE) project. The initiative is tackling food waste head on and is focused on finding innovative ways to reduce post-harvest losses, to even out annual supplies through the use of diverse varieties as well as investigating options for upgrading storage, transport and marketing in response to changing consumers' preferences.
Enoch Kikulwe and his team at Bioversity International (through the RTB ENDURE project) are working to answer some of these research questions as they strive to transform the trade of cooking banana in Uganda. We sat down with Enoch to understand what action is being taken to create change and improve lives with this crop.
Where can we make impact along the value chain
"Within the cooking banana value chain, there are losses at a number of stages in the process. This is particularly true in regards to post-harvest losses. Recently, we have witnessed demographic shifts which effect the way food, including cooking banana, is purchased, sold and eaten in East Africa. In Uganda, average family size is decreasing quickly, especially in urban areas around Kampala. Urban areas are the key market for cooking banana so this has had a sizeable impact on the industry. This project is in part an opportunity to look at the changes in the market, to find opportunities to improve efficiency of the value chain and to find new ways to market the crop to domestic and international buyers in a more targeted, customer focused way."
We want to decrease losses and diversify and grow the market
"There are many steps in the transport process taking cooking banana from the farm to the market and eventually into peoples’ homes, and the bananas often get damaged along the way. In Uganda, cooking bananas are sold both as single fingers and as bunches. When they are sold as fingers, they are tightly packed in bags with little ventilation. This often means that the bananas ripen in the transport and storage process. By the time they get to market some of them are already rotten, while others are already ripened and need to be sold very quickly. Sometimes very few are good for sale. Damaged produce can only be sold at a lower price which means the farmer, the transporter and the seller lose out and the customer gets a lower quality product. So it is vital that we find ways to improve the system to improve the returns that farmers are receiving for their products and the quality that customers have access to.”
Multi-pronged, multi-stakeholder approach to improve the value chain
"To address these issues we are looking at a multi-pronged, multi stakeholder approach. From a technical aspect we want to promote varieties with a longer shelf life and find ways to reduce post-harvest losses by evening out annual supplies through the use of diverse varieties and sucker staggering. We are exploring ways to upgrade storage, transport and marketing especially in relation to specific consumer preferences and getting a better understanding of potential shifts in the value chain so that players can more effectively respond to emerging market opportunities. We are also carrying out research on the shelf life of cooking bananas and how can this be extended as well as exploring optimal temperature and conditions for storage of peeled and unpeeled bananas. Along with experiments to understand what is the optimal time to harvest the banana to improve shelf life and to retain product quality.”
"Farmers struggle with changes in supply and demand on the market. Sometimes you have high harvests and lots of product with very little demand. And other times there is low supply for a variety of reasons. We need to find ways to better balance the supply and demand for the crop so that farmers are not so susceptible to these shifts and do not end up having spoiled crop or low prices because of oversupply.”
How you package and sell cooking bananas can really effect price
"A key component is to find out if the introduction of a kilogram system could improve quality and sales of the crop. Instead of selling cooking bananas as fingers or bunches, we would like to see what effect selling bananas by weight could have on the value chain. We believe this could create positive change for producers and suppliers. Some farmers have already started adopting the practice - particularly in the newly emerging export and wholesale market and so far we are receiving positive feedback from them."
How we can improve the position of women in the value chain
"A key theme across all our research is gender. We want to understand what role men and women play in the cooking banana value chain from production and farming to transport, processing and sales. In particular, we want to identify opportunities to enhance the role that women can play in the value chain. For example, we are looking at how certain practices along the value chain might attract (or detract) participation of women in banana production and processing. We also want to better understand household and cooking practices and find opportunities to produce and sell varieties which are better suited to the needs of women and households for nutrition and food security."
Improving knowledge and capacity is vital
"Farmers, producers, processors and exporters need improved knowledge and market understanding to be able to identify and access opportunities along the value chain. What are the best practices for cooking banana farming? What is the export market looking for? How should I store it for long shelf life? These are crucial questions which need to be researched and answered if we are going to create real change. We have begun training key people along the value chain in quality management, export market understanding, kilogram system and will continue to build and share this knowledge over the life of the project."
Cutting out the middle man for increased profits
"We want to look at opportunities to link the farmer directly with the domestic and international market. This will cut out the middle man which we hope will result in increased incomes for farmers. However, for this to happen farmers need to understand the market and how to produce a crop that the market wants. Farmers must be able to produce consistent, quality supply if they are going to get the trust of the market and this is a challenging - but hopefully very rewarding - component that we are addressing."
Increased capital required to improve opportunities
"A key limitation in the value chain is capital. Many small holder farmers or traders do not have the capital that is required to establish themselves at some point along the value chain where they can make reliable income. Women in particular struggle to raise capital. They often sell small amounts of banana in the open market with very little margins. They have limited produce and very limited ability to control the price of their product. They are very beholden to market forces which often force them to sell at a very low price."
Finding new opportunites for the Uganda cooking banana
"One opportunity we are very excited to explore is expansion into the export market. We are working closely with the Uganda Export and Producers Association whose staff are trained to link products directly to the export market. There are great opportunities to export the cooking banana - we think it could be a driving force for improved regulation and professionalism of the banana market in the country. The export market is primarily driven by East and Central Africans (Rwandese, Kenyan, Tanzania, Eastern DRC , Burundi) who are living abroad and who create a high demand for the item internationally. And with a growing East African community abroad we have a ready market we can tap into. "
"Establishing an export market is going to be a big challenge, especially for individual farmers. Quality and consistency are the two most important things for export. We have to find ways for farmers to work together to reach the export market as a collective. As a group they have a better ability to meet the high demands of the export market. It is definitely going to be an uphill battle, but it does present a huge opportunity and one that could really transform the value chain for years to come".
The team
The research team is led by Bioversity International and comprises IITA, CIRAD, NARO, the Ssemwanga Centre for Agriculture and Food Ltd., Kaika InvestCo, Uganda Fruits and Vegetables Exporters and Producers Association (UFVEPA) and other value chain actors in Isingiro, Rakai and Kampala districts.
Expanding utilization of roots, tubers and bananas and reducing their postharvest losses
A a 3 year project (2014-2016) implemented by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas with funding from the European Union and technical support of IFAD, the goal is to contribute to improved food security for RTB-producing communities in East Africa, including producers and other stakeholders along the value chain.
Words: Enoch Kikulwe, Bioversity International. Story compilation & Images: Sara Quinn, International Potato Center