English: Banana Planting among the Luhya Tribe of Kenya

Bananas are some of the delicacies among the Luhya people. The Luhya are among the people groups who live in the Western region of Kenya. The climate in the Western region and especially where the Luhya tribe reside is conducive for banana planting among other crops. The tropical climate allows for planting all year round. Hence the Luhya plant bananas. They plant bananas all year round not just for sale or consumption but also as a mark for homes. In the past, banana plantations were used to mark homes, and to date, most of the Luhya dialects plant bananas, especially behind their houses. They use banana products for different uses. Other than marking homes, bananas are planted for consumption. There are different types of bananas. But among the Luhya, they generally plant two types one that they eat ripe, and the other which is more common which are the green bananas which they peel and boil and take with tea in the morning. They also cook the green bananas in a mixture of potatoes and bananas. The bananas and potatoes are chopped into small pieces and cooked together, similar to what is commonly known as ‘‘matoke’’ in Uganda. Bananas were also used especially in the past to indicate the presence of a function somewhere. Especially functions like weddings. Banana stalks are often given to livestock, especially cows. Since a lot of the livestock in this community are zero-grazed. The banana leaves can be used as covering for meals on cooking pots, or ‘Sufurias‘ as they are known in Kenya, as food cooks. The leaves help to keep the heat in food. In earlier times, the banana leaves would act as mattresses for sleeping. There are also mats that are made from pieces of dried banana stalks. The dried pieces of banana stalks were also used to make something called ‘Ingata’ in one of the dialects which is placed on the head and then one can carry a jerry can of water from the springs where they often fetch water for use in their households. The Ingata is also used when carrying the bananas to the market for sale. The red-purplish part of the banana known as ikinu in one of the dialects of the tribe is sometimes used to cover the jerry cans when the lid is missing.

The banana leaves are also used when making chicken which is a delicacy among this tribe.