蜜芽传媒

The "false banana" is a close cousin of the banana that could have a huge potential for food security in Africa and further afield. Its Ethiopian name is "enset" and has been used for ages in southern parts the country.

Scientists there, working in partnership with the Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew in the UK, believe the staple has a huge potential and they are now working on a plan to grow this crop on a much bigger scale.

James Borrell from Kew Gardens, who was involved in the research, told Newsday it could be used as a buffer to food insecurity events.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been trying to understand what is the potential for it to be grown at least more widely in Ethiopia to help support the food security of more people and perhaps elsewhere at some point in the future too. What we鈥檙e excited about enset is it can be this emergency food. It has amazing properties: it鈥檚 perennial鈥� and just keeps growing.鈥�

(Pic: Enset fruit; Credit: RBG Kew)