Banana Bikes: Bananas come into Rwanda from as far as southern Uganda

Kigali: Government says the country urgently needs some 30,000 hectares of bananas to take care of internal consumption and export, RNA reports.

Rwanda has just about 100 hectares of bananas which are spread mainly to the east, according to the Rwanda Agricultural Development Authority (RADA).

Dr. Charles Murekezi from RADA told a stakeholders’ workshop in Kirehe district on Friday, including banana growers’ cooperatives that more land needs to be found to grow the ‘Kamparamasenge’ banana species common in Rwanda.

He said markets had been found in France, UK and United States for this banana type.

However, Murekezi encountered resistance from the farmers who said they had been encouraged to cultivate Moringa before which did not yield the benefits they had been promised.

The Moringa plant is used in a variety of fields including cosmetics, food, medicine and dye.

Some 500 hectares of banana will be planted by the end of September, according to RADA.

The farmers also expressed concern over the expanding banana wilt disease which has been ravaging the crop across this region. Banana experts from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have described the bacteria as “banana HIV”.