Alemnesh Habile, a resident of Tajene Kebele Enset or false banana
Indigenous to Ethiopia, enset is a plant that is often referred as false banana because of its resemblance to the banana plant. According to sources, approximately over 15 million Ethiopians use enset as a staple food.
According to some Ethiopian researchers,the plant is an extremely hardy and versatile crop with high nutritional value: rich in potassium, calcium, and iron, although low in protein. Kocho made of false banana is often eaten with other foods, like kitfo, which creates a high-calorie and a highly nutritious meal.
Sources also indicate that enset as an important plant in increasing the long-term sustainability of food production by reducing soil erosion and increasing soil fertility through leaf decomposition. Leafs and stalks could as well be used for animal fodder.
While the plant is highly important for food security, the importance and attention given to it in is underwhelming.
With high cereal prices and low yield , the importance of creating awareness and investing in research and resources on enset production is very important.
Meselech Gebreselassie is a farmer at Guma Kebele in Endagegn Woreda of Gurage Zone. Approached by this reporter she said : ” We are suffering from enset wilting disease. The problem has persisted for a long period. In a traditional way, we have tried to cure the disease but that has not so far brought us lasting solution. Our forefathers and mothers had used enset to raise their children. Enset means a lot to us. It is our staple food. Our livelihood heavily depend on it. We seek urgent solution to this problem.”
Alemnesh Habile is also a resident of Tajene Kebele. She notes that enset is a basic food for kids and animals in the locality. The disease is creating loss and anxiety on residents, for without enset life becomes very hard. Enset is a multi-purpose plant. It is used to make ropes and mats. It as well serves for fencing and housing construction. It can be used as animal fodder, mattress and etc. For us life without enset is unthinkable. No crop on earth could replace the value of enset in this locality. We are asking concerned bodies to come up with an immediate trouble-shooting mechanism that helps us eliminate this dangerous disease, Alemnesh added.
Gurage Zone Natural Resource Department Head Mera Mohamed said that enset is a staple food in the surrounding community. It is hard to imagine life without enset in the area. However, the head believes that nothing has been done to rescue the plant from the disease that plagues it. As the wilting diseases is transmitted up on contacts created , it spreads through the decomposed wastes of cattle. Since the problem remains deep-rooted, currently efforts are underway to prevent the spread of the disease by a traditional means — burying the infected plants, avoiding any contact with the uninfected plants and burning the roots of the infected one.
Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples State Agricultural Research Institute Technology Expansion Coordinator Teshome Mamo on his part said that the plant has not been given the necessary attention. However, there are still opportunities to prevent the disease through multiplying enset varieties and improving those through research activities. Research trials are underway at Areka Agricultural Research Centre. So far, six varieties of enset are released and currently, activities are afoot to sustainably mitigate the problem by multiplying the improved varieties.