Bananas — locally known as matooke in Luganda language — are a staple crop in Uganda. Cooked matooke is cherished for its distinctive taste, aroma, soft texture and golden yellow colour, a quality affectionately referred to as “tookeness”.
Around three quarters of Uganda's farmers cultivate bananas, which account for up to around a third of the nation’s daily food intake. However despite its central role in Ugandan agriculture and cuisine, banana productivity is under threat, with declining soil quality, persistent droughts and increasing pest pressures driving yields down. Climate models forecast heightened exposure to droughts in the future, posing further risks to matooke production.
Yet, agricultural models suggest that yields could increase by up to 58 percent with improved technical efficiency—highlighting a critical opportunity for adaptation and innovation.
Matooke farmers work on the banana plantation. Photo: BIRDC
The Banana Industrial Research and Development Centre (BIRDC), with support from the UNDP-Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA), has trained over 200 smallholder farmers with technical skills and introduced smartphone-based technologies to improve both crop resilience and financial stability. The organization is piloting a crop insurance system that combines two existing technologies: weather-based indexing and picture-based insurance.
Weather-based indexing allows insurance companies to agree weather thresholds — such as rainfall levels — specific to each area. Insurance is automatically paid out if the recorded weather deviates past the threshold. Picture-based insurance, adapted through the “SeeItGrow” mobile app, enables farmers to upload regular photos of their crops. The app compares images to baseline data, identifying visible damage from pests, disease or extreme weather and validating insurance claims.
Combining these two technologies provides a more comprehensive safety net, helping farmers recover more quickly from adverse events and enabling them to invest confidently in their crops.
A champion matooke farmer checks the picture-based insurance app. Photo: BIRDC
“Farmers need climate technologies. [Using apps on their phones] They can collect data for decision making and for the betterment of the farmers. Climate change must be fought; farmers must be supported and trained in good agri practices.” – Florence Muranga, general director of BIRDC
A 2020 climate risk profile identified matooke farmers are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Despite this, 97 percent of Ugandan farmers currently lack any form of insurance. Preliminary results from BIRDC’s initiative indicate that pairing picture-based insurance with weather-indexing increases interest in insurance products by 12 percent—a promising step towards broader financial security for farming communities.
Sharing knowledge on innovation
BIRDC's approach includes a network of 30 champion farmers who act as local ambassadors. These champions visit farms, facilitate registration, support use of the ‘SeeItGrow’ app and distribute seeds. They guide farmers through estimating farm sizes, capturing baseline crop photos and determining precise insurance premiums.
This hands-on, transparent process builds trust, enhances financial planning and increases participation in agricultural insurance—laying a foundation for widespread adoption and greater food security.
Director Florence Muranga (right) speaks to local farmers. Photo: BIRDC
Learning from the farmers
BIRDC’s engagement model for registering new farmers emphasizes in-person visits, allowing champions to gain firsthand insight into farmers’ practices, challenges and innovations. These site visits have uncovered valuable traditional practices, such as mixing matooke with other crops — a method that naturally lends itself to agroforestry.
Agroforestry involves cultivating complementary crops and trees together to promote soil health, reduce erosion and create natural windbreaks. This approach strengthens matooke plantations against storms and floods.
The training provided by the organization covers these traditional climate-smart agricultural practices alongside financial planning.
“We are getting farmers to take measures that they used to do in the past, especially agroforestry. We know that, traditionally, there are tree species that were comfortable growing in the matooke cropping system. We are testing this and looking at the added value, as some of these trees also have fruits that attract birds, which increases the natural replenishment of the plantations. We are tapping into this wealth of knowledge that the farmers had about cropping practices, to reduce on their costs.” – Florence Muranga
Champion farmers advocate strongly for continued uptake and distribution of the technology.Photo: BIRDC
To reach remote farming communities, BIRDC complements fieldwork with radio programming, sharing valuable insights and practical tips for boosting productivity and climate resilience. Through this medium, the organization has extended their impact to remote areas where farmers are not easily accessed by the champions. The Ugandan government is also playing a supportive role by establishing a legal framework for agricultural insurance stakeholders, thus building trust and improving access to these services for farmers.
Insurance is a vital tool to mitigate catastrophic financial losses that affect livelihoods and threaten food security. BIRDC’s integration of weather-based and picture-based insurance technologies offers a tailored solution for Uganda’s smallholder banana farmers — equipping them to manage risks and sustain their production amid an increasingly uncertain climate.
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Supported by financial contributions from the Adaptation Fund and the European Union, the UNDP-AFCIA programme has awarded 44 micro and small grants to locally led organizations across 33 countries worldwide, accelerating their innovative solutions to build resilience in the most vulnerable communities.
UNDP-AFCIA is one of two featured programmes under the Adaptation Innovation Marketplace (AIM), a multi-stakeholder strategic platform that promotes scaled-up adaptation at the local level.
