Banana cultivation and trade provides a major source of income and employment in many rural areas of Kenya. However the cultivation of bananas in Kenya is threatened by diseases, pests and other environmental pressures such as drought. Due to those threats, the Institute of Biotechnology Research (IBR) developed tissue culture protocols for bananas 12 years ago and established a lab for en masse production of bananas with funding from the World Bank, Netherlands govt. and UNESCO. By using participatory approaches IBR established village nurseries and demonstration fields in the Mt. Kenya region and introduced TC banana technologies.
The Operators of the village nurseries are currently harming the environment by using unsustainable agricultural practices, e.g. the use of forest topsoil to pot seedlings and firewood for soil sterilization. The projects` aim is to introduce sustainable practices that will ensure optimum economic returns from tissue culture while conserving the environment. The activities include: production of suitable compost material (e.g. compost from coffee pulp), solar sterilisation of the compost, introduction of biodegradable containers for potting tissue culture, train farmers on post-harvest handling.