Lake Victoria: Cashing in on Bananas

Originating in South-East Asia, bananas have become popular the world over

Classified as a berry, since they grow on plants rather than trees, bananas are both nourishing and low in fat, containing many of the minerals and vitamins essential for humans. They are often the first solid food tasted by babies. Bananas, or plaintain, are a staple diet in many countries and are eaten raw or cooked. The preoccupation with healthy eating in industrialized nations has led to an increase in the number of banana products on supermarket and health food store shelves. So-called high-energy, vitamin drinks are often banana-based.

Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest inland body of water and borders Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. Many farmers eke out a living along its shores, including banana and fruit farmers. Those who cannot earn a livelihood for their families are forced to move to the already overcrowded urban areas in search of alternative employment. In an effort to help banana farmers organize themselves more efficiently and improve their income, a number of United Nations bodies are launching a pilot project to strengthen theparticipation of farmers in banana and fruit-based processing. The Pilot Project on Increased Farm Income from Banana-Based Beverages in the Lake Victoria Basin will be largely financed by the United Nations Common Fund for Commodities.

In addition to UNIDO, the other agencies involved are the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (HABITAT) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). UNIDO’s role will be to establish five collection centres and two processing plants for high-quality long shelf-life banana and other fruit-based beverages; provide services to some 400 farmers, turning farms into viable and certified horticultural business units and providing training and support in mobilizing fixed and working capital; and increase the value received by farmers directly as a result of banana farming for the project.

Originally seen as a coffee diversification project, the overall development goal is to alleviate the poverty of banana farmers in the Lake Victoria region through commercialization of banana drinks in urban areas, thus contributing both to reducing the rate of rural-to-urban migration and achieving the poverty-related targets of the Millennium Development Goals.