People arriving in Uganda for the first time will be struck by the sheer volume of bananas that dot the side of the road on bicycles, piled high in trucks on their way to market, eventually creating the mountains that adorn them. The banana, musa accuminata and musa balbisiana, is perhaps one of the most important crops grown in Uganda.

The Great Lakes region has become the second centre worldwide for the world’s largest herb, second only to India – never mind the fact that India’s population is approximately fifty times that of Uganda! Uganda alone produces more than 11 million tonnes per year, the majority of it locally consumed. Though hard to measure, it is estimated that the average Ugandan consumes more than 400 kilos of banana each year!

There are many theories that try to explain the origin of the banana. What is known is that musa accuminata originated in Malaysia and musa balbisiana came from India. At some point, perhaps even well before Mohammed’s followers took refuge in Abyssinia during the sixth century, these two species of banana mixed and created a wide diversity of different species. The majority consensus is that the banana was brought to East Africa via the Swahili culture’s trade routes from the Orient to the East African coast.

This also partially fits with the Baganda’s belief that their ancestral father, Kinto, brought the banana from foreign lands trekking towards the Great Lake from the North East. Historians clearly acknowledge that the rise of the Baganda civilisation, which endured centuries of prosperity, was largely due to the pivotal role the banana played in political, social, cultural, spiritual, medicinal, and economic elements of Baganda. Since then, the banana has become a cultural core of many different peoples throughout Uganda, particularly in the south west.

To the untrained eye, there is the yellow dessert banana, the big ones, and the small ones. There is also matooke, which most people commonly mistake for plantain. In truth, there is more than a hundred different species of banana in Uganda, dozens of which are endemic, therefore unique to this particular region. The Byankore people believe that the ownership of a banana plantation is symbolic of a man’s passage to manhood, and thus his capacity to marry. Social prestige is derived from the ‘proper’ state in which he keeps his plantation – it must be ‘smart.’

A thick wad of steamed matooke on a dinner plate signifies that the meal is worthy of being called ‘food.’ One Muganda man describes matooke as, “…a special food. When you eat it, it is soft and hot; it feels nice in the mouth. It makes me think that I am eating the best. If there is a special function, and there is no matooke, I would not go. The taste of matooke is smooth in the mouth, in the throat, and I feel satisfied when I eat it.” Though many foreigners beg to differ regarding these perceptions, the majority of the people who have been eating it for more than a thousand years vouch for its quality!

The edible part of the banana is used not only as food, but as ceremonial gifts and for making locally distilled alcohol called ‘waragi.’ The actual plant and its parts possess unique qualities and traits. Many cultural beliefs are derived from them. The banana plant is used in a vast bed of local agro-ecological knowledge including medicinal remedies. Ailments for which the banana plant and its various parts is a remedy include, upset stomachs, swelling, ulcers, lacerations, pain reduction, burns, for inducing labour, for expelling the placenta when it has failed to come out after giving birth, reducing flatulence, curing yellow fever, and even expelling evil spirits which have invaded someone’s body. However, don’t expect to find these remedies at Dr. Stockley’s surgery.

When you stroll through the local market and set your eyes upon another stock of matooke, take a moment to reflect on its cultural and historic significance in the land you have now set foot in. Uganda sits on an elevated plateau, not quite considered highlands and have potentially one of the most agriculturally rich regions of the world. With two natural rain seasons, volcanic soils, and many other positive factors, agricultural production should excel.

However, currently, the banana faces overwhelming threats from pests and diseases. The traditional banana growing areas of the northern lakeshore are no longer capable of producing banana as they once did due to environmental degradation and socio-cultural debilitating constraints, such as the inequitable way women are faced with too much work and few livelihood strategies to provide for their families.

HIV takes its toll on the labour force; soil erosion and genetic mining exacerbate the situation. Pests such as nematodes and weevils stunt the growth of the banana. Fusarium wilt, black and yellow sigatoka disease, and the horrid bacteria wilt devastate banana plantations across the region, threatening the existence of countless species of banana.

Though the growing areas in the south west have not been hit as hard yet, their time is coming. The banana plant and its rich genetic diversity are endangered as never before. Collective action and environmental rehabilitation are required to reverse this devastating trend, otherwise, the Globe could lose one of its most unique resources and Uganda may face unprecedented food shortages. Such a tragedy must be avoided!

As you chow down on a bogoya, throw some sukaali ndiizi into your picnic lunch, or munch on some Gonja at the Karuma pit stop on your way to Arua, remember, you are biting into Uganda’s history and future.