Let’s go bananas!

Climatic conditions in northern Babati differ from southern Babati. The rainfall is less in the north part and so crop production is more complicated and crop failure is greater, leading to increased food insecurity.  Whilst this has always been the case, climate changes are exacerbating this. Our Agricultural officers have recommended that Malindi bananas are a good way to address food insecurity as they are more drought tolerant. By training farmers how to establish small banana plots they can initially improve food security, diet diversity and in the long run, if they decide to expand the plot they can establish a good source of income.  The great thing about Malinde Bananas is that they are delicious raw and can also be cooked, making them more versatile and attractive to both markets.

LTT wants to train batches of 25 farmers at a time and provide them with 10 malindi saplings  and then mentor the farmers as they care for them. Plants take 10-14 months to provide their first harvest, and because bananas are self sprouting it’s easy to expand production. The new saplings just have to be relocated as you never want more than 3 in one hole. The important thing is that once the first tree has produced its crop, the main branch needs to be cut up for mulch as it contains a lot of water, and NOT used for animal feed. 

This project is win-win, low input from the farmers, improved diet, food security and in time income.