Hope real for false banana - 14th Feb 2022

Enset, an Ethiopian food staple, could be a superfood and lifesaver in the face of climate change, say scientists. According to a new study, the banana-like crop has the potential to feed more than 100 million people in a warming world. Yet enset, also referred to as the 'false banana', is practically unheard of outside Ethiopia.

Although the fruit of the plant is inedible, the starchy stems and roots can be fermented and then used as the core ingredient for porridge and bread. While around 20 million people rely on enset as a staple food in Ethiopia, farming of it beyond the country is rare.

Evidence gathered from wild plants related to enset suggests that it could be cultivated across a much wider area. Using agricultural surveys and modelling work, scientists found the crop could potentially feed more than 100 million people. As such, it could maintain food security in Ethiopia and other African countries, including Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.

"This is a crop that can play a really important role in addressing food security and sustainable development," remarked Dr Wendawek Abebe of Hawassa University in Awasa, Ethiopia.

Researcher Dr James Borrell of the UK’s Royal Botanic Gardens explained that planting enset as a reliable food source in difficult periods could be extremely beneficial.

"It's got some really unusual traits that make it absolutely unique as a crop," he said. "You plant it at any time, you harvest it at any time and it's perennial. That's why they call it ‘the tree against hunger’."

Climate change is predicted to seriously affect harvests and distribution of the global staple crops of rice, wheat and maize. Consequently, the search for alternative crops to feed the world is attracting greater attention.

"We need to diversify the plants we use globally as a species," warned Dr Borrell.