“False Banana,” a key agricultural product of Ethiopia, is considered by scientists to be a superfood that could save humanity in the face of climate change.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climate change is negatively impacting food security by increasing temperatures, altering rainfall patterns, and increasing the frequency of certain extreme weather events. Researchers warn that Africa is particularly vulnerable to challenges posed by the climate crisis, which is expected to change the distribution and yields of staple crops in the region.
Climate change is predicted to severely affect the yields and distribution of staple crops across Africa. Therefore, researchers suggest that implementing crop protection measures could help mitigate these impacts.
The plant with the potential to become a new superfood is the false banana, a close relative of the common banana. This indigenous plant resembles the banana plant found in Ethiopia.
“False Banana” is scientifically named Ensete ventricosum, commonly abbreviated as enset. The false banana is largely unknown outside of Ethiopia. In this East African country, enset is often used to make porridge or bread.
According to a recent study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, “false banana” has the potential to feed over 100 million people as the Earth warms, making it difficult to cultivate certain crops.
Enset, or false banana, is a close relative of the banana. This plant resembles the banana plant. (Photo: RBG Kew).
Great Potential
“False Banana” belongs to the Ensete genus and is a close relative of the banana. The fruit of this plant is inedible, but its stems and roots are rich in starch, which can be fermented and used to make porridge or bread.
“False Banana” is also highly valued for its nutritional content. The components of enset include various essential minerals such as phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, while its sodium content is relatively low.
Enset is a staple crop in Ethiopia, where approximately 20 million people use “false banana” as food. However, enset is currently only consumed in a specific region of Ethiopia and is largely unknown in other areas.
There is evidence that the wild relatives of enset grow far to the south in Africa, indicating that this plant could adapt and thrive over a wider range, at least outside of Ethiopia.
Through agricultural surveys and predictive modeling, scientists have estimated the potential range of enset populations over the next four decades.
The research team found that “false banana” could feed over 100 million people, thereby ensuring food security in Ethiopia and several other African countries, including Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.
Earlier, in 1999, a study published by the Ethiopian Society of Soil Science also indicated that “false banana” has significant development potential in the vast Waliso region of Ethiopia.
A banana fruit (left) placed next to an enset fruit (right). (Photo: RBG Kew).
Dr. James Borrell, a researcher at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK), stated that growing “false banana” in intercropping systems could enhance food security.
“Enset has several unusual characteristics that make it a unique crop,” Dr. Borrell remarked. “We can plant them in any season, harvest them outside of traditional harvest times, and this plant is perennial. That is why ‘false banana’ is called the famine fighter.”
In a study published in 2021, researchers Bewuketu Haile, Bizuayehu Tesfaye, and Temesgen Magule Olango also described “false banana” as “one of the most important crops cultivated to ensure food security in Ethiopia.”
Enset can grow up to 10 meters tall. (Photo: RBG Kew).
Addressing Food Security Challenges
Ethiopia is often considered a center for the domestication of major crops in Africa. This East African country is the birthplace of coffee and many other crops.
Climate change is predicted to severely impact the yields and distribution of staple food crops across Africa and, more broadly, globally.
As a result, more individuals and organizations are working to find new crops to provide food for the world. This is a consequence of humanity’s dependence on a limited number of popular crops. Nearly half of the calories consumed by people today come from three crops: rice, wheat, and maize, according to the BBC.
“False Banana is a crop that has the potential to play a pivotal role in addressing food security and sustainable development,” Dr. Wendawek Abebe of Hawassa University in Awasa (Ethiopia) remarked.
Similarly, Dr. Borrell made a metaphorical statement: “We need to diversify the plant species used globally because all our eggs are currently in one very small basket.”
