Uganda: Banana Growing Successful in North

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THE traditional and colonial belief that bananas can not grow well in northern Uganda, has been proved wrong.

"The Langi and Acholi have missed out on banana and coffee. These crops also do well in our soils," says Grace Akullu, a prosperous banana farmer in Amac sub-county, Lira district.

Akullu, a former primary school teacher with a diploma in agriculture, told The New Vision at an interview recently, that she sells a bunch of bananas from sh3,000 to sh5,000 in Lira town and Amac market.

"From the proceeds, we have built a four-bedroom permanent house and I can pay fees for my two children in secondary school," she said.

Akullu said menvu (sweet bananas) and bogoya were selling like hot cakes in markets and towns.

In Uganda, bananas are a major crop in the central, eastern and western regions. The north is a preserve for cotton, millet and cassava growing. But Akullu's experiment is an eye-opener to farmers in the north.

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