Bananas and Food Security - Bioversity International

132 Les productions bananières / Bananas and food security – Session 1
Increment in soil fertility
The leaves and other parts of the crop are cut down and decompose into the soil which
again contributes to its fertility.
Like many other horticultural crops banana is produced using organic materials such
as manure and ash near homesteads in zones like North Omo, K.A.T and Hadiya. Such
practices are also intense in Konso special woreda. Organic materials sustainably build
up the fertility of the soil.
Banana is produced using irrigation in some areas in the region. By moistening the
soil, irrigation water used for crop production helps in the decomposition of organic
matter in the soil.
Minimum disturbance and tillage of the soil. Once banana is established it usually
occupies the land permanently in the region. Therefore, the frequency of tillage or
cultivation may be reduced.
Banana protects crops from solar radiation. Banana serves as a shade tree for
associated crops in multiple cropping systems. In this case, the performance of the
associated crops will be better and the soil gets moist in conserving the available
moisture. For instance, in the coffee state farm of Bebeqa, southwest Ethiopia, banana is
grown as a shade crop for the coffee plantation. In this case, it is important as
agroforestry and an additional source of income.
It serves as shelterbelts and holds back desertification.
It is also planted near roadsides serving as hedges and at the same time bearing fruit.
Despite the tremendous potential of horticultural crops, among which bananas are
the most important because of their many uses (environmental protection, food security
and economic development in the region) their development and promotion is poor due
to a number of constraints (Shamebo et al. 1996).
Constraints to the promotion of banana in SRE
The following are the major constraints to its promotion identified during the appraisal:
Unlike many other crops such as cereals, development of bananas has been given a
low priority by government.
Although the crop is familiar to the farmers in the region, a full understanding of the
economic, ecological and nutritional advantages is lacking in many parts of the region.
Absence or shortage of planting material is a serious problem for most farmers.
The current status of research on bananas to boost their production and development
is low. This is due to a shortage of trained manpower and facilities.
Diseases such as bacterial wilt and pests such as nematodes limit production.
Marketing constraints. Lack of organised market channels affects profitability and
discourages production especially in areas where there is high production of the crop as
in the Bench/Maji zone. During the survey a kilo of bananas was being sold for 0.15 cents
in the zone at Bebeqa State farm compared with 3.0 Birr the towns far from the zone.