A pilot commercial tissue culture laboratory for en masse production of tissue cultured (TC) banana was established at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in 1998 with funding from the World Bank, the Netherlands and UNESCO. The pilot laboratory produces one million banana plants per year. The main aim of establishing the laboratory was to meet the need of small-scale farmers for banana planting material, especially farmers with limited resources. The main challenge for this enterprise was to create awareness of TC bananas, and by extension to create demand for the bananas and to find a cost-effective method of distributing the seedlings to the targeted farmers.

The Rockefeller Foundation has provided support to deal with this task. Through its funding, participatory rural appraisal (PRA) was conducted in the Mt Kenya region to introduce the technology to the farming community and to determine the most cost-effective way to distribute seedlings. Through PRA, it was collectively decided that village TC banana nurseries be established at strategic points to increase accessibility of seedlings for a large number of farmers. Subsequently, four village nurseries were established: Gakuri (Nkubu, Meru Central), Kibugu (Embu), Kibirigwi (Kirinyaga) and Wangu Investments (Murang’a). To create awareness and provide vital knowledge about TC banana growing, demonstration farms were established close to the nurseries.

In this paper we present the results of the project’s impact assessment, carried out by an independent consultant. Preliminary findings indicate that the approach of using village nurseries as distribution points is appropriate and effective in creating awareness about TC technology and in making bananas accessible to farmers.