Bananas constitute an important component of farm enterprises
in the mid altitudes of central and eastern provinces of Kenya.
In recent years the crop has steadily gained importance over
traditional cash crops, e.g. coffee, and various short season
horticultural crops grown mostly for export markets. Despite
its increasing importance, the crop’s production faces intractable
constraints. Interventions have previously focused on increasing
availability of healthy seedlings and strengthening farmer
capacity to manage pests. Recent indications are that there is
need to re-think current approaches to enhancing productivity.
Interventions should consider creating micro-financing and value
addition opportunities, and extending technologies to cope with
climate change effects.