Banana-based beverages in East and Central Africa - 
a money-maker for rural male and female value-chain actors?

Banana-based beverages (BBBs) are consumed on a daily basis by millions of people in East and Central Africa. They are consumed as juice, which is often from auto-production, or as beer, wine or gin, which are highly commercial products. The large majority of BBBs is produced in homesteads using traditional processing technology. A study was conducted to analyse BBBs value chains in major BBB-producing regions in East and Central Africa. Selected sites were: Kagera region in Tanzania; Kabaale, Nakaseke and Kiboga districts, Uganda; Cibitoke, Makamba and Muyinga provinces, Burundi; and Kamonyi, Rwamagana and Nyarugenge provinces, Democratic Republic of Congo. The paper assesses the economic importance of BBBs production for all direct actors involved in the value chain, differentiated for male and female actors and sex of household head. The different direct value-chain actors identified were: producers of raw material (banana), home-made processors of BBBs that either produce raw material or not, and traders and retailers of BBBs. Annual profit for raw material was highest for male household heads in Burundi (USD 3,523) and lowest for female-headed households in Tanzania (USD 105). Profit of beer and gin from processing a batch ranges between USD 123 to USD 136 and USD 37 to USD 204, respectively. Labour input (family and hired) was found to be the major cost in both production of raw material and production of BBBs in all sites. Gross revenue for BBBs (Beer) is highest in DRC. Retail of BBBs provides important income-generating opportunities for rural actors especially for those without access to land. Profit per month was highest for female-headed households retailing in beer (USD 5) and gin (USD 47).