SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TISSUE CULTURE BANANA (MUSA SPP.) IN KENYA THROUGH THE WHOLE VALUE CHAIN APPROACH

Banana (Musa spp.) is an important staple food and source of income for small-scale subsistence farmers in eastern Africa. However, the production of this crop is hampered by various constraints, including pests and diseases. Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International, through two of its major projects and in collaboration with other partners, has continued to facilitate the provision of certified tissue culture (TC) planting material to farmers in Kenya, through a whole value chain approach, to improve productivity and income in the project communities. This has resulted in significant positive socio-economic impacts at individual farmer and community level. The technology is being seen as a boon to the majority of the adopter families who live in the rural areas in Kenya. There is potential for improvement, and scaling up and scaling out of the TC banana model project to other regions of Kenya or eastern Africa.