The Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, yesterday, completed a three-day regional conference on banana development in the Eastern and Central African region.

The workshop was aimed at sharing experiences and best practices on the banana crop as a genetic heritage and an economic commodity chain in the region.

Among the issues discussed were the various interventions used in the banana sector to promote diverse components of banana production and economic system.

The BTC representative, Jean Yves Saliez, stated that through networking and exchange of information, value will be added to improve banana as a food and cash crop.

He added that to improve the banana sector, action should be taken following the integrated recommendations floated at the conference.

The Minister of Agriculture, Agnes Kalibata who presided over the conference said that banana is one of Rwanda’s priority crops and covers the biggest land area, hence its importance to the country.

"A lot of bananas are grown in Rwanda. Productivity wise, we have great potential and bananas could become a major food commodity,” she said.

She, however, noted that despite covering large acres of land, the volume of output is still very low.

"A number of meetings are held on banana (production) but there is little action taken thus leading to low production of the banana crop,” the minister added.

minister urged the participants to take action and get the best out of the banana crop in their respective countries.

Ends