Popular Fresh fruits in Uganda.

These fruits are almost accessible to every Ugandan. Some Ugandans eat these fruits at a zero cost either by planting them or as a gift from someone. Some of the trees on which these fruits grow are located in road reserves and people always claim they don’t belong to anyone; this is interesting because anyone can have them on a first come first serve basis. People who don’t have direct access to the fruits always buy them at the local markets.

Bananas.

Sweet bananas are a major fruit. It is common on every fruit store in the country. Most of the sweet bananas that feed the nation come from the western part of the country. The bananas are easily recognizable that they ready for harvest by the plant having dry banana leaves. The farmer harvests the bunch which is kept in a cool dry place until everything is ripe, ready to be eaten. The sweet bananas can be eaten fresh or used to make other delicious snacks. Some people cut the bananas into small pieces, and fry them as snacks. These are so delicious. The popular pancakes in Uganda are made with sweet bananas. All they do is to mix the bananas with cassava flour to form a paste. The paste is a bit solidified by adding more flour so as to cut the pancakes shapes that you want. Finally, the pancakes shapes are fried for some few minutes to give the real desired delicious pancakes.

Jack fruit.

These trees are everywhere around the country especially in the central, eastern, and western parts. There are several species of the jack fruit tree. Although they are available throughout the year, their peak period is during the end of the year. To plant a new plant, all you need to do is to get the seeds, dry them and plant them somewhere. It is amazing to see that most of the fruits are planted by humans without ever noticing that they are doing so. For example, when someone is eating the fruit; they throw the seeds in distant places, and this is where those seeds grow into a mature tree. To know that the fruit is ripe, all you do is to use your palm to hit it, a ripe one produces a deep sound. However, experienced kids don’t do that; they just observe down from the tree and tell that is ripe. The boys especially those who live in the village enjoy this fruit more than anyone else-some stubborn ones climb the tree, get the ripe fruit, and eat it from there without getting down leaving the girls complaining. This is really fun because I experienced it.

Mangoes.

Mangoes are not only common in Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Philippines, and Bangladesh where they are considered a national tree; Uganda has lots of them. Their peak season is mainly from April to June. There are a wide variety of these fruits in the country. During the harvesting period, mangoes collected from individual farmers by transporting agents who deliver them to big local markets like Nakasero Market, Nakawa Market, and kibuye Market were they are sold to other resellers or directly to the customers. Some of the mangoes are taken to processing companies where they are processed into juice. The juice is then sold locally or exported to regional and international markets. Mangoes have contributed to the health of citizens-during their harvesting time is the time for vitamins intake by many.

Pawpaws.

Though this fruit is not as popular as the mangoes, it is available throughout the year. Some villages consider it a shame for a family to be without a pawpaw tree. And as a result, almost every family in some villages has them in their gardens. The good thing about this fruit is it requires little care; all you need to do is plants its seeds and go away. Like any fruit, they are sold in major local market and supermarkets-I have heard several success stories where families were lifted out of poverty through papaws.

Pineapple.

Some few parts of the country have been successful at growing pineaples. One of the districts that have been successful in the cultivation of pineaples is Kayunga district where they are grown in lots of quantities-some people consider them to be the country’s basket for the fruit. Although a lot of the fruit find its way to the market, a great percentage of it is processed.

By Nsobya Micheal, CTO gorilla tour booking safaris, gorillatourbooking.com.