AWARENESS OF BANANA BACTERIAL WILT CONTROL IN UGANDA: 2. COMMUNITY LEADERS PERSPECTIVES

Banana is a major source of food and income for about 70% of Ugandan population. The crop is threatened by banana bacterial wilt (BBW) disease, which was first reported in Mukono District in 2001. There have been nationwide campaigns, sensitising and training of the farmers and other stakeholders to contain the disease. Self-administered questionnaires, to assess community leaders awareness, were sent to Chief Administrative Officers of affected districts and to Parish Community Leaders in four Parishes in two Sub Counties per district. In total 680 leaders from 50 sub-counties in 12 districts were interviewed. The study showed that BBW was first seen in seven Districts in l 999. By 2001, when official reporting was made about 17% of the respondents from ten districts had already seen the disease in their communities. The results also show that 90% parish community leaders.were aware of BBW, 63% were aware of controlling it by roguing and 35% have tried to apply a known control measure on their farms.