The Banana Regions of East Africa: The Regional Distribution & Cultural Significance of a Traditional Food Crop

• Main Author: Randiga, Henry
• Format: Others
• Published: TopSCHOLAR® 1971
• Subjects: Agricultural and Resource Economics; Food Studies; Geography; Human Geography; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2752; https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3750&context=theses

The study of bananas in East Africa by geographers has been neglected. Some study has been made by agriculturists and anthropologists on a small scale. The anthropologist have concentrated their work more on ethnic groups than on the spatial pattern of the crop as such. In none of the studies has distribution been correlated with the Bantu people in East Africa. For a long time the banana has been a staple food la the region. The present study points out that in spite of the many changes which have occurred the banana continues to serve as the staple food crop of many people in East Africa, especially the Bantu peoples. Further, it tries to show how closely the distribution of the Bantus and bananas are related in all regions of East Africa.