Bacterial Wilt and Drought Stresses in Banana Production and Their Impact on Economic Welfare in Uganda: Implications for Banana Research in East African Highlands

The East African Highland banana (Musa spp. AAA), in particular the cooking type, is one of the most important staple food crops in Uganda and the adjacent countries, in particular Rwanda and Burundi. Ugandans consume 185 kg of cooking bananas per capita per year, comprising one-third of the caloric intake from starchy staples (FAO, 2004). A household spends about 35-50% of the household food budget on banana consumption (Kiiza et al., 2004). Bananas are also an important income source for about 30% of the Ugandan farmers as cooking bananas are marketed at a rate of 25-50% of production (Okech et al., 2004a). Uganda is one of the largest banana producers in the world, being second only to India. Trade in bananas is particularly important between Uganda and Rwanda, where 400,000 metric tons are traded annually (FAO, 2004).