CARBAP and innovation on the plantain banana in Western and Central Africa

Abstract

Plantain is considered as a major staple food in Central and Western Africa with a production estimated at approximately 8 million tons (Lescot, 2007). But almost all small producers do not have access yet or do not use the innovations from research, and yields are thus very low. CARBAP (African Research Centre on Banana and Plantain) is a novel example of a regional research partnership for plantains and bananas across Western and Central Africa and particularly Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Coˆ te d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria. It links researchers, creates novel platforms, undertakes training and disseminates materials. It encourages mass propagation by farmers – after training, some 10 million new disease-resistant plants were spread to farms over two years. Keywords: Africa; agriculture; banana; farmer; impact; innovation; participative research; plantain; small holder