Bananas stems are known to keep water for along time. This is done by digging small holes in the stem with the help of a knife or panga, add soil and plant food crops as required. This allows plant growth even during dry periods without irrigation. This type of planting minimizes spaces and resources. It is affordable since banana stems are readily available to farmers in Uganda and does not require a lot of technical know how.
Banana Trunk Organic Farming is addressing the challenge in the following ways.
It is an innovative method of farming in urban areas that has not been explored in urban centers in Uganda. It can be adopted in every house hold including the landless city dwellers with single room apartments to produce their own food.
This method reduces the long food supply chains as the food is grown by in the city. It will cut out the transport costs uncured in transporting this food from rural areas to the towns. We shall develop a mobile application which will connect the farmer to the buyer direct and this will increase efficiency and reduce middlemen that lead to increase in food prices. When the supply chain is reduced through our mobile application, the food wastage will automatically reduce since food moves direct from the farmer to the buyer.
The method provides equitable and affordable access to healthy and low carbon food in the cities. This is so because Banana stems are organic, biodegradable and moisture rich in nature. There is no use of fertilizers needed since the banana stems act as manure when they decompose. There is less use of pesticides and absolutely no use of artificial chemicals. The plants are purely organic in nature as they are frown in natural soil and are eaten or sold while fresh. The method is equitable because it can be practiced by every body in the urban area. It requires no technical know how.
The method has also proved to reduce hunger, malnutrition and all food related illnesses. This is so because 98% of the foods grown with this method are vegetables and fruits. They include, Broccoli, Ginger, Spinach, Amaranthus spp., Phaseolus vulgaris, Phaseolus lunatus, Vigna unguiculata, Sesamum indicum, Manihot esculenta, Corchorus spp., Cucurbita spp. and Solarium aethiopicum. All these are known as immunity boosting foods. They are grown by the families for both domestic consumption and commercial purpose.
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