'Matooke' is a staple food made from Highland cooking bananas in the Great Lakes region of East Africa. Genetic improvement of these bananas for resistance to pests and diseases has been a priority breeding objective. However, there is insufficient information on fruit quality characteristics that different users prefer, resulting in sub-optimal adoption of new varieties. This study identified matooke characteristics preferred by farmers and traders, using survey data from 123 farmers, 14 focus group discussions and 40 traders. Gender differences were considered. The main characteristics that were found to drive variety preferences were agronomic (big bunch, big fruits) and quality (soft texture, good taste, good aroma, yellow food). There were minimal geographical and gender differences for trait preferences. Quality characteristics need to be defined in terms of physical-chemical underpinnings so that breeding programmes can apply accurate high-throughput systems, thereby improving adoption and impact of new banana varieties.

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This paper analyses the effect of farmer characteristics, variety attributes and agro-ecological conditions on farmers' banana variety choice decisions in Uganda. A Multinomial Logit (MNL) model was used to estimate the determinants of variety choice. The results show that M9 was the most preferred hybrid variety, followed by M2 and M14. However, many of the respondents (39.4%) chose Mbwazirume, a local variety, as their most preferred variety. Good taste, large bunch size, soft food and good flavour were the most desirable attributes, while longer maturity period was a notable undesirable attribute. Results from the MNL analysis suggest that small land size, taste and regional location were negatively associated with variety choice, while perceptions that hybrid bananas could reduce food insecurity and tolerance to pests and diseases were positively associated with probabilities of variety choice. Probabilities of choosing hybrids for food security increase in favour of M2 (by 6.13%) and M9 (27.60%), and decrease by 23.05% for M2, 6.89% for M14 and 9.36% for M9 due to taste relative to Mbwazirume. Farmers' involvement in varietal improvement and development programmes is vital for meeting their preferences. Future breeding efforts should consider attributes such as bunch size, good taste, soft food and agronomic characteristics. Farmers with large land sizes should be targeted for on-farm promotional activities to increase the potential adoption and impact of the hybrids. After the hybrids are popularized and used by farmers, there will be a need for an impact study to evaluate their acceptability in terms of household food security and income.

This article presents the attributes of the first East African highland banana hybrid, 'Kiwangaazi' (Fig. 1), which was recently selected, released, and added to the national cultivar list in Uganda. The 'matooke' hybrid 'Kiwangaazi' was conventionally bred at Kawanda by crossing the tetraploid hybrid '1201k-1' ('Nakawere' AAA • 'Calcutta4' AA) with the improved diploid 'SH3217' AA. The main target was black Sigatoka resistance, a disease caused by the fungal pathogen Mycosphaerella fijiensis, ranked as the most important constraint to the production of the East African highland bananas, especially in the low lands (covering most of central and eastern Uganda). 'Kiwangaazi', together with other hybrids was evaluated for black Sigatoka response, nematode and weevil damage, yield, and consumer acceptability. The cultivar was evaluated under the code 'M9', and released by the national variety release committee as 'KABANA 6H'. The name 'Kiwangaazi' was coined by farmers who participated in the on-farm evaluation studies. In the local language (Luganda), 'Kiwangaazi' means ''long lasting.'' Due to high pest and disease pressure, banana plantations can only last for 3-5 years, especially in central and eastern Uganda. However, due to its pests and disease tolerance, farmers observed that 'M9' plants remain vigorous after 5 years, hence the name 'Kiwangaazi'. Description

This paper analyzes farmers' perceptions regarding the consumption and production attributes of new banana hybrids in Uganda. The data were collected from a sample of 454 farmers. Following descriptive statistics and a factor analysis, a zero-in°ated poisson (ZIP) regression model was estimated to understand the e®ect of farmers' perceptions and other factors on the likelihood of adopting the new hybrids. The results show that, compared to a local variety (Mbwazirume), four of the hybrids are preferred in terms of production attributes but regarded as inferior with respect to consumption characteristics. Resistance to nematodes, tolerance to weevils and high performance in good seasons in terms of bunch size mainly explain early-stage adoption of the hybrid banana varieties. Hybrid M9 is regarded as having a relatively good performance with respect to most of the production and consumption characteristics. In collaboration with extension agents, variety M9 could be disseminated to a wider farming community that targets larger households, younger farmers and farmers with relatively large sizes of land.