Working group participants: Piet van Asten, Jackson Nkuba, Alex Barekye, Leena Tripathi, Eldad Karamura, Deborah Karamura, James Ssemwanga
The group first estimated a biological yield potential for monoculture under best growing conditions of 91 t/ha/year. They then analyzed two cases:
1. Location: Lake Victoria zone (central/south Uganda, NW Tanzania, East Rwanda - Production system: Dominant highland cooking banana
2. Location: High altitude (Albertine Rift, Mt. Elgon, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Pare Mountains) - Production system: Mixed highland cooking and beer banana systems
in terms of factors explaining yield variability in farmer fields. Then, they identified factors linked to market and post-harvest, gender and household resource endowment and trends and changes in markets, climate and disease presence in the same cases. Based on the discussion, they identified the following 8 intervention options which could contribute improved yield and income with applicability across major smallholder production zones. Most important to least important:
1. Presence of diseases and pests: banana weevil, nematodes, BXW, Black Sigatoka
2. Poor soil and water management
3. Lack of clean & quality planting material
4. On and off farm post harvest losses: perishability, bulkiness, lack of value addition raises transportation costs
5. Poor markets access: fragmented (producers not organized), unlinked, disorganized
6. Limited policy support and financial investment
7. Low genetic yield
8. Lack of coordination of banana research agenda at the discipline level
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