The influence of socio-economic and marketing factors on banana production in Rwanda: Results from a Participatory Rural Appraisal

A participatory rural appraisal was conducted in four banana-producing regions of Rwanda to: (1) determine the importance of bananas as food and cash crops, and (2) to clarify the influence of socio-economic and market factors on banana production. Bananas were generally grown on smallholdings (0.2–1.0 ha). Brewing bananas were the most important cash crop in Kivu Lake Border, Cyangugu and Kigali Rural regions. These were processed into beer at the farm level and sold to local consumers or to intermediaries for sale in the urban areas. Cooking bananas were a key cash crop in Kibungo and an important staple in most study sites. Although the Rwandan government has wished to discourage farmers from growing beer bananas, most farmers expressed unwillingness to switch from brewing to cooking bananas or to annual crops. Brewing bananas required fewer inputs, could be processed into products that had a longer shelf life and were easier to market than cooking bananas. They were preferred over annual crops because they afforded higher returns and a year-round source of income. Brewing bananas were favoured over coffee as the latter required higher levels of inputs, had a less organized market structure, and little potential to absorb increased production.