Building blocks of life The role of plantING MATERIAL in the cooking banana value chain in uganda
On arrival, we are greeted by a sea of green. A wisp of smoke from a nearby cooking stove floats upwards, standing out against the green around us. Ms. Nabukenya and Mr. Nsubuga greet us and usher us into the shade provided by the leaves of the cooking banana plants growing in their fields. The plants look vibrant and healthy and with banana such a popular and widely consumed food in the country you would assume smallholder cooking banana farmers in Uganda would be doing very well.
But things are not always as they seem, and farmers growing the East African highland banana varieties in Uganda have been quietly fighting to improve their place in the value chain and increase their profits for bringing this much loved food to the markets and kitchens of Uganda. It is the recent battles with Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) disease that have brought to the forefront the importance of quality planting material for the industry and this is where these two farmers have chosen to focus their energies.
Contributing health and wealth to Uganda
Uganda is the largest consumer of green cooking banana in the world and it is the single most important source of calories for Ugandans. About 24% of all agricultural households are engaged in cooking banana production in some way and many communities have relied on cooking banana as a key crop for over 150 years.
Production is mainly by smallholder farmers who sell their produce to middlemen at the farm gate who then deliver the product to the urban markets. The districts of Isingiro, Mbarara and Bushenyi in southwestern Uganda produce 68% of all cooking bananas in the country. Isingiro is the main producer providing a daily average of 37,000 bunches of marketed cooking bananas.
Smallholder farmers struggle to make a profit
While it is a vital crop nationwide, smallholder producers struggle to make a profit. They face an uphill battle getting their crop to market and often receive the smallest share of profits, partly due to the large number of middle men in the value chain.
Further losses in profit are caused by the short shelf-life of cooking bananas, their highly seasonal production and the poor post-harvest handling practices which happen right along the value chain. These factors create a challenging environment for smallholder farmers, who often have limited capital, are situated far from markets and who are very vulnerable to economic and environmental shifts.
What can change?
The RTB-ENDURE project - Expanding utilization of roots, tubers and bananas and reducing their post-harvest losses - is trying to do something about this. The project, funded by the EU and with technical support from IFAD, is working to reduce losses and improve farmer capacity to meet the demands of the market. A key element is improved production of quality planting material which presents a new business opportunity for smallholder farmers and a way to even out production, creating a reliable production cycle.
In coordination with local farmers, project staff are also exploring how annual supplies could be evened out through use of diverse varieties and sucker staggering to decrease losses and improve farmer income.
A new entry point for smallholder farmers
Improving farmer access to planting material for cooking banana will improve the variety and quality of product available at market and provide a new income opportunity through multiplying and supplying quality planting material. With the recent growth of the cross border and export market (and the recent removal of the export ban) for cooking banana, the demand for new and improved varieties will continue to increase.
Ms. Nabukenya and Mr. Nsubuga, in partnership with Bioversity International and the RTB ENDURE project, are endeavoring to do just this. “We have been growing the Kibuzi variety which was very popular in this area. We have struggled to make a good income from the bananas - the market was not there and we could not sell them," explains Mr. Nsubuga
Now with technical support from the project they are exploring opportunities to bring a wider variety of cooking bananas to market through production of planting material for a number of varieties for farmers in the district. The first step is looking at market needs and where and how they can respond: "We are focusing on trying to understand what it is the market wants and making sure we have these varieties available" he explains.
Local farmer groups have been established to produce banana seedlings, which are distributed to local farmers. This allows for the production of planting material of desired varieties on a larger scale. The farmer group has grown from 25 farmers to 74 in just a few months: "We have been working together with support from the RTB ENDURE team and Ministry of Agriculture staff. Together we have educated farmers about post-harvest practices and developed ways to decrease losses and increase incomes for local smallholder farmers in the banana value chain."
"These are chambers where we do multiplication - we produce seedlings for a range of varieties that we want to take to market. We are using this approach to increase access to banana seedlings for farmers in this area". And so far they have been doing well. There has been demand for the banana seedlings from both local farmers and agricultural projects in the area.
Variety diversity
"We produce four varieties of cooking bananas: Kibuzi, Nakitembe, Mbwazirume and Musakala," Ms. Nabukenya explains as we tour the multiplication chambers and nursery. "We are working with new varieties that have a longer shelf life, which is especially important for the urban and export markets. Traders have shown a lot of interest in the varieties like Kibuzi because they have a longer shelf life and travel longer distances without being damaged,"
Ms. Nabukenya describes how they collects planting material and treats the sucker - the shoot that develops from the rhizome and emerges close to the mother plant. Next they remove the banana fibre and leaves until it is clean and the inner section appears. Incisions are made to cut the sucker into quarters and boiled water is used to treat the material of dirt, insects and pests.
Clean planting material: Are farmers willing to pay?
Planting material is commonly shared between farmers, neighbors and friends and so asking farmers to pay for the material can be a challenge. However, there is value in good planting material - research shows that lack of access to quality planting material is the most limiting factor contributing to yield gap seen in developing countries for all of the root, tuber and banana crops.
So far, Ms Nabukenya and Mr. Nsubuga, think they are on to a good thing: "From our experience and the cost involved in producing the suckers we will need to sell them for about 2500-3000 Uganda shillings. From discussions with farmers we believe people will purchase at this price - especially once we have demonstrated we have a quality product and multiple varieties" they explain. "Farmers want access to more varieties - particularly those with longer shelf life and which are appealing to the export market. These varieties are harder to find and farmers are willing to pay for this"
Disease is also an issue in the industry and many farmers still remember the devastation caused by BXW: "Farmers are willing to spend a little more money to get planting material which is disease and pest free. Also there have been challenges in supplying enough planting material to the market. So here we also have an advantage - we can assure the cleanliness of our material and provide the quantity required because we have a strong supply farmer network."
It is with optimism that they have embarked on this new venture to create change in the cooking banana value chain in Uganda. For them, they hope the future brings a chance to grow their business in selling quality planting material to the market. This will not only improve their livelihoods and economic future, but also contribute to the health and wealth of the cooking banana value chain in Uganda and help to ensure that the industry can thrive and provide all Ugandans with access to this much loved crop.
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
RTB-ENDURE is 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. Its 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 & Images: Sara Quinn, Regional Communications Specialist, International Potato Center