The contestations of diversity, culture and commercialization: why tissue culture technology alone cannot solve the banana Xanthomonas wilt problem in central Uganda

Lucy Mulugo (), Paul Kibwika (), Florence Birungi Kyazze (), Aman Omondi Bonaventure () and Enoch Kikulwe ()
Additional contact information
Lucy Mulugo: Makerere University
Paul Kibwika: Makerere University
Florence Birungi Kyazze: Makerere University
Aman Omondi Bonaventure: Benin - Bioversity International C/O IITA/Benin Research Station
Enoch Kikulwe: Uganda - Bioversity International

Agriculture and Human Values, 2022, vol. 39, issue 3, No 20, 1158 pages

Abstract: Abstract Several initiatives by the Government of Uganda, Research Institutes and CGIAR centers have promoted the use of tissue culture (TC) banana technology as an effective means of providing clean planting material to reduce the spread of Banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) but its uptake is still low. We examine factors that constrain uptake of tissue culture banana planting materials in central Uganda by considering the cultural context of banana cultivation. Data were collected using eight focus group discussions involving 64 banana farmers and 10 key informant interviews and subjected to thematic analysis. Results showed that banana cultivars in the study communities were important for food, cultural practices and medicine. Cultivars supplied through TC were based on commercial considerations focusing on market value and household income and insufficient attention was given to their cultural importance. Farmers regard banana from TC planting material to be incompatible with their tastes and preferences for traditional food and drinks, culture and medicine. Furthermore, the plantlets are perceived as complicated to use, and farmers report requiring more knowledge and information on how to plant and maintain the plantlets on-farm. In these aspects, TC planting material does not align with cultural values linked to societal welfare. Future efforts aimed at controlling pests and diseases would benefit from more location-specific and holistic approaches that integrate cultural dimensions alongside planting material hygiene, quality and vigor.

Keywords: Banana tissue culture planting material; Cultural values; Diversity; Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW); Technology uptake (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10460-022-10306-5 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:39:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10460-022-10306-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/10460

DOI: 10.1007/s10460-022-10306-5

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture and Human Values is currently edited by Harvey S. James Jr.

More articles in Agriculture and Human Values from Springer, The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().