ABSTRACT
All the Haya individuals whom I spoke to said they prefer bananas to all other available carbohydrate foods. There are thirty varieties of cultivated banana in the region but these can be classified into four major divisions: 1. ebitoke or plantain, a hard green banana which are generally boiled with beans, fish or meat, to make matoke the staple food, about 60% of the trees are of this type; 2. embire or kishubi, harsh bananas used in beer brewing, about 30% of the trees are of this type; 3. obwise or sweet bananas, the type commonly consumed as bananas in the industrialized countries: the Haya eat these for desserts or as a snack, about 7% of the trees are of this type; 4. ekonjwa or "bananas of the king", this type are roasted or fried, they command a premium price but are consumed infrequently, they make up most of the remaining few percent of the trees (Ngaiza, 1981, p.73; Tibaijuka, 1979, p.36).
