Are bananas good bedfellows with coffee?
This question is not quite as silly as it sounds. It relates in fact to some brand new farming methods which are being piloted in Rwanda in Africa, to help to address climate issues and help their coffee industry at the same time.
According to some predictions, things are going to get much hotter around the great lakes in Central Africa. It is said that temperatures could increase by about 2 celsius over the next 30 to 40 years.
This could have potentially dire consequences for the local farming communities and so many have put on their thinking caps to see what new innovations can be trialled to address this potential issue.
And this is where the issue of the compatibility of bananas and coffee beans is relevant – the Rwandan farmers are seeing whether they can grow both crops together to prepare for the new climate and help to meet concerns about the economy.
The combination of a food source for farmers (the bananas) mixed in with the coffee product which they can sell, has increased the income of some farmers. Some farmers have reported having success by planting coffee directly under the banana plants.
This ‘intercropping’ can also be useful in terms of fertilizing – other countries which are also using this method use the banana tree bark to fertilize the coffee and the banana trees give shade to these plants too. It has also been pointed out that the growth of the two crops together could also reduce carbon emissions.