Abstract:
Beer banana farming systems in central Uganda are important for the livelihoods of smallholder farmers’,
especially for those that process the bananas into beer and spirits, but also for rural retailers that sell the
products. We conducted an exploratory study focusing on the different actors involved in the beer banana
value chain, on its importance for those actors and on the dynamics within the chain. The value chain of
banana beer and spirit is short and local, with most of these products being consumed in the locality. Only
small amounts of banana beer and spirit from central Uganda find their way to urban centres such as
Kampala. The bacterial disease Xanthomonas wilt has greatly affected the production of beer bananas, and
we report production declines of 65% in two of the study sites. Improved linkages between non-brewers
and brewers and between brewers and markets could assure supply and increase prices, giving an incentive
for both brewers and non-brewers to invest more in disease control and in quality production.