Selection of Principal Starchy Food in a Livelihood System
Based on Bananas: The Formation of Food Culture
in Buganda, Central Uganda

YASUAKI SATO
Osaka Sangyo University

In part of the Great Lakes Region of East Mrica, people make their livelihoods by intensively
using bananas as a principal starchy food (PSF) as well as a wide variety of other crops. This
study examines the selection of the PSF in terms of the cropping patterns and the food-use
system among the Ganda people of Central Uganda. Data on their crops suggest that combining production of bananas and other crops is essential for a stable food supply. The ecologicalcharacteristics of bananas and the decisions of each household have great influence on cropping
patterns. Regarding food use, descriptions reveal that delicate techniques and sensibilities in
preparing banana meals are remarkably developed and are also applied to other crops. In thisway, an analysis of neither a framework of people's adaptations to external conditions nor oneof food preferences is adequate to understand the complex people-nature relation in a study offood culture. Rather, it is crucial to use both frameworks in understanding the formation offood culture.
Keywords: agriculture, banana, food culture, Ganda, principal starchy food (PSF), Uganda

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. 'Ihe Ganda People and Bananas
In part of the Great Lakes Region in East Mrica, including Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda,
Burundi, and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, banana is an indispensable staple food crop.
People heavily depend on banana crops in terms of agricultural landscape, subsistence economy, andlocal customs (c£ Sato & Shigeta 2006; Shigeta & Sato 2006). The Ganda<t> people, who are called
Baganda in Central Uganda, are especially known as people who maintain their identity as "banana
eaters." They have developed a unique livelihood based on banana cultivation for hundreds of years.
A study of historical linguistics estimates that the intensive cultivation ofbananas expanded along thenorthern and western shores of the Lake Victoria between the 12th and 15th centuries (Schoenbrun
1998).
In accounts of expeditions and ethnographies, we can find two different perspectives on their foodculture. Reid (2002), who studied the context of subsistence and society in the Buganda Kingdom,refers to these points as follows.
For H. M. Stanley, who exaggerated but clearly understood its importance, the banana was'almost everything but meat and iron.' For the Ganda, the plant was closely associated with the
Nilo-Ethiopian Studies 17: 51-62 (2012)

Copyright© 2012.Japan Association for Nilo-Ethiopian Studies

51

52

Nilo-Ethiopian Studies

foundation of their kingdom and was perhaps seen to possess viviparous qualities, which would
not have been too far from the truth (p. 23).
Banana trees usually took pride of place in any homestead, but plantations were never devoted
solely to this crop and indeed diversity was one of the great strengths of Buganda's agricultural
economy in the nineteenth century (p. 26).
The main dish that is widely consumed and unseasoned is referred to as the "principal starchy food"(PSF) (Ankei 1990). Until now, the Baganda people have subsisted by intensively using bananas as
their PSF, supplemented by a wide variety ofPSFs in parallel. Such a system cannot be understood in
conventional frameworks that focus either on the use of a specific crop or on the mixed use of various
crops. However, we know little about the factors associated with the system. The agricultural system(Musiitwa & Kamutunga 2001) and the food culture (Bennett et al. 1965) of the Ganda have notbeen thoroughly researched, and what research has been conducted has been carried out separately by
various academic disciplines. By focusing on the livelihoods of the Ganda, we can discuss the formation of the system as a common issue of natural resource management.
The objective of this study2> is to examine the formation of Ganda food culture from the perspective of people's selections of PSF in terms of both agricultural and cooking practices. This enables amulti-sided approach to the production and use of crops, which can contribute new interpretations tofarming cultures that harmonize concentration on a mono-crop with crop diversification.
This research is based on the assumption that people select varieties ofPSF by processes of adaptation or preference. Adaptation is the response of agricultural or cooking activities to external conditions, e.g., the ecological characteristics of crops. Preference refers to people's tastes for food in their
daily lives.
In Central Uganda, as seen at the two study villages, each house is located separately, with each surrounded by a home garden. Householders engage in subsistence agriculture of banana, sweet potato,
cassava, <J> maize, cocoyam, yam, and pumpkin. A few households keep goats or cows on a small scale.
Coffee is the major cash crop, and some people also sell surplus bananas. There has been an increasein the crop production for sale at market, but this increase is slow due to lack of cultivation space foreach household. People give priority to crop production for self-consumption.
They usually have meals three times a day: ekyenkya (breakfast) in the morning, ekyemisana (lunch)in the afternoon, and ekyegulo (supper) at night. Meals for cultivators in Mrica generally consist of adish containing an unseasoned starchy ingredient suited for mass consumption (the PSF) and a sidedish of seasoned thick sauce for dipping the PSF in (Ankei 1990; Komatsu 1998). In Buganda aswell, meals are essentially composed of a PSF and a side dish.

1.2. Research Sites and Methods
The gray zone of the map in Fig. 1 is the territory of the Buganda Kingdom, which lasted until
1966. Field research was conducted at two villages in Buganda. Most of the data were collected at
Ntebe village in Luweero district, Uganda, situated at 00°47' N latitude and 032°34' E longitude,
and its elevation is about 1,100 m. It is 10 km from Wobulenzi, the nearest town, and about 100 km
north of Kampala, the capital city. In 2002-3, the population was 230, with 48 households. Annual
precipitation at 30 km southeast from the village was 1297.4 mm (data from 1991 to 2002 by the
Department of Meteorology in Uganda Government). Each year is divided into two rainy seasonsand two dry seasons. The companion study was conducted at Kampungu village in Rakai district,situated at 00°30' S latitude and 031 o34' E longitude. It is about 150 km southwest of Kampala. The
climate is similar to that of Ntebe village. Regarding agriculture and dietary habits, the two sites
share a common sociocultural background.
The research period at Ntebe village was from December 2002 to June 2003. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews were conducted. I also asked eight households, who haverelatively large banana gardens in the area, to make daily records of crop harvests and to measure theSATO: Selection of Principal Starchy Food in a Livelihood System Based on Bananas

53

Gulu

•

MorotoUganda

•

Congo

Kenya

v i II age,rpigi(Lake Victor i a)

100km
RwandaI

Kampungu vi I I age
F ig. 1. Map ofUganda and Research Site

harvested bananas. The research period at Kampungu village was from January to October 2005.
Data on their menus were recorded, and information about their food preferences was collected
through interviews.

2. CROPPING PATTERNS
2.1. Agricultural Practices
Banana cultivation in Buganda is broadly classified into the "banana-coffee system" (Karamura et al.
1998). Each home garden is planted with cooking bananas as the primary crop for family consumption, and trees of robusta coffee ( Coffea canephora) are added as a component of mixed cropping. At
the research sites, bananas were planted in combination with coffee and various other crops including

54

Ni/o-Ethiopian Studies

MonthRain season

1

0

I

6

7

8

I
~

0

5

4

I

BananaCassava

3

2

~

9

10

I
@

@

~

I

0

11

12

l:l

l:l

I
0

l:l

I
r-1

Sweet potato

Cocoyam

Maize

Coffee-Sowing/planting- Harvesting

Yield of banana @>0 > l:lFig. 2. Farming Calendar

other types of PSF and trees in the field around each house. Only a few households grew bananas
as a single crop.
Bananas are treated as a perennial crop. The stocks are renewed in situ, and continuous cropping
over a long duration is practiced. I identified 11 farming operations involved in banana cultivation:(1) reclaiming land, preparing the plot, and digging holes for planting; (2) transplanting; (3) pruning
leaves and leaf sheaths; (4) removing the male inflorescence; (5) thinning suckers; (6) propping; (7)mulching; (8) weeding; (9) fertilizing; (10) harvesting; and (11) treating plant bodies after harvesting.
Fig. 2 presents a cropping calendar for major crops, whlch shows seasons of sowing/planting and harvesting the crops. Work is concentrated in the beginning of the rainy seasons, especially f rom March
to April and during September. Compared with the operations involved in cereal cultivation, thosefor bananas are more flexible in terms of seasonal labor allocation. Famers can take advantage of tills
flexibility to cultivate a number of crops in parallel. For instance, the sowing maize at the beginningof the rainy seasons is prioritized in comparison with the work associated with bananas, with thelatter often carried out after the former has been finished.
In each household, agricultural work is divided between husband and wife. The wife is responsible
for food production for self-consumption. The husband does not tend to intervene in the wife's work,
but rather grows cash crops. This means that the selection of the PSF is in the wife's domain.
2.2. H arvesting Patterns
Table 1 presents the time framework for crop preservation. This information is based on interviews
with householders. Banana and root crops cannot be kept for a long time after harvesting. Thismeans that farmers need to harvest a small amount at one time and cook it right away. In Ntebe
village, records of harvesting crops were kept for eight households for 150 days from January 3 to
May 312003. Table 2 shows the number of harvest days for banana, sweet potato, and cassava crops
for self-consumption by these households. The data indicate great variation in harvest frequency
among households. H owever, every household cultivated all three crops. Households B, £, F, and H
allocated harvest days for each crop almost evenly. Although households A and D designated fewer
harvest days for sweet potatoes, they did not abandon this work. In terms of working hours, even if
the harvest days of several crops overlapped, crop cultivation was not necessarily difficult.

SATO: Selection of Principal Starchy Food in a Livelihood System Based on Bananas

55

Table 1. Maximum Storage Life of Principal Starchy Food after Harvesting
Crop

Maximum storage period

State

Bananaraw

about 7 days

Sweet potatorawmore than 1 week

Cassava

{raw
dried

Cocoyamraw

1 day-1 week
3 months
1 month
4 months{ flour (threashed)Maize

1-2 years

flour (no threashed)

Table 2. Number of Days on which Each Harvested Crop Serves as
Principal Starchy Food for Self-consumption in Households(days)
Household

BananaSweet potato

Cassava

A

93

8

128

B

75

64

103

c

89

27

63

D

120

13

95

E

73

60

105

F

53

41

41

G

51

96

38

133

143

H

136

Fig. 3 presents seasonal changes in banana production. There are no remarkable general tendencies. Households A, C, and G had peaks of production in January, households D and H had
peaks in February, and household B had a peak in April. Households F had two peaks in January
and March, and E also had two peaks in February and May. They explained that the yield drops in
the beginning and middle of the rainy seasons. However, actually, the situation largely depends oneach household. Bananas can be harvested all year round, but because of the ecological attributes ofbananas, it is difficult to predict the yield. Furthermore, it is hard to control the size of the fruits or
the harvest days. Such flexibility in the harvest pattern is quite characteristic of banana cultivation.
Based on data from each household, the consumption ratio of bananas for each household was
calculated. This is the estimated number of times that bananas appeared in one of the three meals
per day. The calculation was based on the assumptions that a) the edible part is 50% of the harvested
amount, b) a male adult eats 1.1 kg< 4> of bananas in a meal, and c) the conversion rates according tosex and ages of household members are 0 for a person of0-1 years old, 0.4 for a 2-5-year-old, 0.7 fora 6-13-year-old, and 0.8 for a woman 14 or more years old. The ratio is defined as follows.
Consumption ratio:;;: edible part of the yield in 150 days I (consumption per time per meal x
size of household x 150 days)
Results showed that the ratio was in the range of0.24 to 1.92 (Table 3). In other words, households vary widely from a household serving banana once in 4 days to one serving bananas twice in
1 day. In fact, such selections of PSF crops for cultivation reflect the strategies and preferences ofNi/o-Ethiopian Studies

56

kg

700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

month

Fig. 3. Monthly Changes in Yield of Bananas as Principal Starchy Food for Self-consumption (from January 3
to May 312003)

Table 3. Consumption Ratio of Bananas as the Principal Starchy Food inHouseholds
HouseholdConsumption Ratio

A

0.90

B

0.53

c

0.78

D

0.86

E

0.36

F

0.40

G

0.24

H

1.92

Consumption ratio =edible part of the yield in 150 days I (consumption pertime per meal x size of household x 150 days).

the wives, who are responsible for cooking in each household. Their decisions with respect to menu
directly connect to the daily harvest patterns.

3. FOOD USE SYSTEM
3.1. Cooking Methods ofPSF
One of the pronounced findings from observing Ganda cooking was the multiple purposes ofbananas.
Table 4 compares kinds of recipes for about six crops. All share common features in processing foodby "steaming" and "boiling., However, bananas have more options in terms of cooking methods, forexample, roasting, extracting juice, brewing and distilling, frying, and eating raw. Such a variety of
cooking methods is an advantage of bananas.
In the gastronomic culture of the Ganda people, steaming is often used in daily life and has a high

SATO: Selection ofPrincipal Starchy Food in a Livelihood System Based on Bananas

57

Table 4. Cooking Methods of Principal Starchy Foods
Boiling/
steaming

Roasting

Extracting
juice

Brewing,
distilling

Frying(snack)Eatingin raw

0
0
0
0
0
0

0

0

0

0

0

b.

X

X

X

X

b.

X

b.

0

b.

X

X

X

X

X

0

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

BananaSweet potato
Cassava
CocoyamMaize
Rice

0 often b. rarely

x nonecultural value. Because there are no other areas in East Mrica where the technology for this method
has been developed, this cooking process may have been refined in Buganda after spreading to thearea from other parts of the central region of Mrica.
In the language of the Ganda people, the word "matooke" refers to both a banana dish served as astaple food and the banana itself that is used as the ingredient for preparing the staple food. The word
is the same for the singular and the plural. Matooke as a prepared dish is made by cooking peeled
unripe banana flesh with water. Cooked bananas are either mashed to transform the texture or left intheir original form. The boiling method is used in many areas including Ankole<5> in the southwesternpart of Uganda and Haya<6> in the northwestern part of Tanzania. However, the Ganda people also
regularly employ other refined methods such as steaming.
They classify matooke dishes into three categories (3.1.1-3) according to differences in the cooking
procedures. They also cook a dish called katogo, which is a boiled mixture of bananas, kidney beans,and organ meat. Cassava can be cooked in this dish instead of bananas.

3.1.1. Matooke amanyige
This is a mashed banana dish made by wrapping bananas with a banana leaf and steaming them in abag. Amanyige is derived from the verb meaning "to mash" (oku-nyiga). Among the three categories,
this method is the most complex one, and the dish is considered to be the most authentic matooke. It
is prepared not only for special occasions, such as receiving visitors and conducting ceremonies, butalso for meals on ordinary days. Methods of steaming and mashing bananas have much in common
with cooking methods used for root crops. Banana leaves are also used when cooking other crops.
3.1.2. Matooke amasuulemu
This is a boiled banana dish that is not mashed. Tomatoes, onions, etc., are stir-fried together, andthen the bananas are added. This is considered to be a simple cooking method when there is little
time to cook.
3.1.3. Matooke amanyigiremu
This is a boiled banana dish in which the banana is mashed after boiling. The participants reported
that it is not made very often, and I did not observe it during my research period.
3.2. Process for Cooking Matooke
Making matooke (amanigye, and so forth) takes much time and labor. It takes about three hours frompeeling bananas to completion, and the fire must be carefully watched during the cooking process.
This method is specific to Central Uganda and deeply linked to cultural values. It is one of the cooking methods that women are supposed to master before getting married. The utensils, materials for58

Nilo-Ethiopian Studies

preparation, and the preparation procedure are as follows (Sato 2010).
Utensils and materials for preparation are a pot, a knife, plenty of banana leaves, and the following:a) fingers of green unripe bananas; b) fresh banana leaves from which the main nervures have beenchipped off and bands have been made by splitting the dead leaf sheaths; c) banana leaf and fruit axes
cut and bent to fit to the pot bottom; and d) previously used banana leaves to cover the food during
steaming.
3.2.1. Peeling bananas and making a bag
Ftrst, the interior of the basket is covered by leaves. A hand of bananas is picked from the bu nch, andthe bananas are separated, peeled, and placed on top of the leaves in the pot (Fig. 4). When the pile iscompleted, the bag ofleaves is closed and bound with the bands. By this process the bag containing
the banana flesh is completed.
3.2.2. Steaming
Banana leaves are placed on the pot bottom so as to make a shelf above it. Water is poured up to
the upper level of the leaf axis and fruit axis. The bag prepared in 3.2.1 is placed on the axes to keep
it above the water on the bottom so that the bag does not get immersed, and then several fresh
leaves and pieces of used leaves are placed on top of and around the bag to enclose it. Sometimes,
to improve the airtightness, the entire setup is covered with another pot turned upside down. Then,the pot is heated with a strong fire for more than an hour while the quantity of water at the bottom
is carefully monitored.

3.2.3. Mashing and serving
The pot is removed from the fire. The bag is pressed hard from the outside with both hands to crush
the bananas until the mass turns into paste (Fig. 5). One leaf that has been used in cooking is placedon the floor and the prepared food is placed on it. People surround the food thus served. People makespatulas from banana leaves, use them for taking portions, and eat with their fingers.

Fig. 4. A Woman Peeling Bananas and a Bag for Steaming

Fig. 5. A Woman Mashing Matooke

SATO: Selection of Principal Starchy Food in a Livelihood System Based on Bananas

a pot for steaming-

matooke (fl tsh)
omuko(leaf d sc)

59~I oluwumbo (flesh and bag)Iolulandiiro( ba g)-<purpose>olulaga/a (fresh leave) -- --· _____ . covering oluwumbo
essaaniiko (reused leave)-- ~--- ----- · covering oluwumboo/uyina (reused leave)

prevention of flipping up---- . -----·ofcovenngleaves

omuzigonyo (leaf vein)\- · -----. raising bottom of a pot..

nmu7inn::. ----------------.\-

Fig. 6. Banana Leaves Used for Cooking Matooke and the Vernacular Names

In this way, people have a tradition of sophisticated use of banana leaves for cooking matooke. Thereis a rich vocabulary to describe this cooking. Vernacular words about leaves are connected with thecomplicated cooking practices. Fig. 6 shows how the names given to banana leaves vary throughout
the cooking procedure. For example, the bag into which bananas are put is made of a banana leaf,
and it is called oluwumbo. When it is steamed, it is covered with both fresh leaves and reused leaves.
Each leaf is called olulagala (same name as a leaf of a banana plant) and essaaniiko.

3.3. Peoples' Preferences
From the perspective of people's PSF preferences, distinctive practices are observed in their cooking
and diet as follows.
3.3.1. Wrapping food with banana leaves to steam
Wrapping the flesh of bananas with banana leaves to steam it is described above. Apart from this, acompleted dish of the staple food may be wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed. This dish is called
emmere nagizizaako [pl. emmere ezizeeko] ("staple food cooked again"). For instance, ugali of maize iscooked by this process. Mter heating maize flour with water, they remove it from the fire, put it into
a bag made of banana leaves, and steam it. The aim is to enhance the flavor of the dish.
Banana leaves are also used in preparing a side dish, lwombo [pl. empombo]. To make it, water andingredients such as meat, fish, and groundnuts are put in a bag made of a banana leaf and steamed. It
is made around Christmas and Easter, and also served at other celebrations.
3.3.2. Use of a variety ofPSF
PSF for the Ganda people were basically banana and root crops in the past, and more recendy included
maize. An old man in Kampungu village recalled his diet as follows.
When I was a child, I did not eat ugali of maize. The Ankole people ate it. In that period,
matooke and cassava were served for lunch at the primary school. Once ugali and porridge (ofmaize) started to be served there, villagers began to eat it.

Matooke has a high social value and is consumed daily. However, households that serve it at every
meal are quite rare. Crop production is insufficient for it to be eaten three times in a day. Additionally,60

Nilo-Ethiopian Studies

people approve of the diversity of PSF.
Table 5 presents a record of meals eaten by a woman at Kampungu village for two weeks. In
this period, she cooked all the meals herself and ate them with her husband and children. It was
the beginning of the rainy season, when the yield of bananas was decreasing. Banana, sweet potato,
cassava, cocoyam, and maize were offered as PSF on her menu. The appearance ratio of banana in ameal is about 31% (2/7 times for breakfast, 3/14 for lunch, and 6/14 for supper). In terms of cooking methods, steaming, boiling, and cooking katogo are used in turn at every meal. In this way, theGanda tend to change the items or recipes of the staple food for lunch and supper on the same day.
Although the side dish is also changed at every meal, variation in the staple food is more remarkable.
On September 4 and 11, bananas were steamed for lunch and supper. The woman I was observing
explained that this was because she could take more time to. cook on Sunday, and she liked matooke.
We find therefore that the selection of the staple food is influenced not only by seasonality but also
by people's strategies or preferences.
3.3.3. Combination ofPSF with side dishes
From Table 5, we can see the pattern of combinations ofPSF and side dishes. For instance, matooke
is certainly served with a side dish, but cassava is served as katogo or a sole food. People recognize thecompatibility ofPSF and side dishes. The findings from an interview at one household are as follows.
a) All of the family members were convinced that matooke went well with any kind of side dishes. b)
People were sharply divided on whether sweet potato goes with soup of kidney beans. c) For somepeople, ugali of maize does not go with sauce of entula nyanya (a kind of eggplant) and mukene (akind of anchovy). d) For some people, pumpkin does not go with engege embisi (a kind of fish). These
differences in opinion indicate that although the decision depends partially on personal tastes, banana
goes with more kinds of side dishes than do the other types of PSF.
Table 5. Principal Starchy Foods and Side Dishes in a Household (September 2005)
Lunch

Breakfast
Date

PSF

PSF

side

4Sun.

ba.

5Mon.

maO

6Tue.

side

rna A

7Wed.

baA

81hu.

maO

9Fri.

Supper

(caA)
maO

ca.

maO

ca.

sw.
rna A

b,o,t

b,o,t

(baA)

(k,o, t)(k, o, t)

rna A

baA

11 Sun.

co*rna .A.

c,o, t14Wed.

b,o,t(k, o, t)

co.

o,t

ba.

1, o, t(baA)(k, o, t)

sw.

ca.

c,o, t

ca.

c,o t

maO

ca.

sw.

ca.

ba•

b,o,t

ca.

c,o,t

(baA)

(k, o, t)

151hu.

sw.

maO

16 Fri.

ba*

rna A

17 Sat.

ca*

maO

PSF

ca.
(caA)

caO

rna A

rna*

13Tue.

a,o, tba.

10 Sat.

ba•

sidea,o, tc,o,t12Mon.

PSF

a,o, tca.

ba: banana, sw: sweet potato, ca: cassava, co: cocoyam, rna: maize• steamed, A boiled (ugali, katogo), 0 boiled (porridge),* leftover foodside dish a: engege (fish), b: mukene (fish), c: enkejje (fish), k: kidney beans, 1: locust, o:onion, t:tomato( ): katogo, which is a mixture of PSF and side dishes.

SATO: Selection of Principal Starchy Food in a Livelihood System Based on Bananas

61

3.3.4. Ekitoobero< 7>This is a special dish served as a mixture of staple food and side dishes made of a variety of sauces,meats, etc. According to folklore, this type of dish was introduced from the Soga
 people, whose
main living area is to the east of Buganda. The dish is also called emmere engattike, which means"added food." Banana, cassava, sweet potato, and pumpkin are placed on one plate, and groundnut
sauce, kidney bean soup, meat, and fish are added. It is preferred at parties such as wedding andgraduation ceremonies. From this menu, we can understand their positive assessments of a wide
variety of food.

4. CONCLUSION
This study examined the selection of PSF among the Ganda people by describing the cropping patterns and the food-use system. Bananas have high sociocultural value, although harvest patterns
reveal that combining bananas with other crops is necessary for subsistence. The ecological characteristics of crops and decisions by the wives in households have a great influence on the cropping
patterns. From the viewpoint of food use, analysis finds the delicate techniques and sensibilities in
preparing banana meals are remarkably developed and are also applied to other crops. In other words,
their knowledge of cooking bananas enables them to utilize a variety of foods. The variation in foodand people's preferences are also important factors in deciding their daily menus.
In this way, an analysis restricted to a framework focusing either on people's adaptations to external
conditions or on food preferences is not adequate for understanding the complex people-nature relations inhabiting food culture. It is crucial to describe its formation from a viewpoint including bothof these frameworks.

ACKNO~EDGEMENTS

I am grateful to Pro£ Masayoshi Shigeta at Kyoto University for supervising my research. I also
thank Mr. Ssemambo, Ms. Agnes Nalubiri, Mr. John Kafeero, and the residents ofNtebe village andKampungu village for their great assistance. This study was funded by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific
Research "Research on Compatibility of Intensive Agriculture and Genetic Resource Conservationin Local Societies in Mrica" (No. 21710257, 2009-2012) and the 21st Century Center of Excellence(COE) Program at Kyoto University"Aiming for COE ofintegrated Area Studies" from the Japanese
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

NOTES(1) "-ganda" is a stem of the word, usually used with a prefix. For example, a man is muganda [pl. baganda],
the language is !uganda, the land is buganda, and a tradition or custom is kiganda.
(2) This paper is based on the second chapter "Formation of Staple Food Culture: Crops, Cultivation and Use"in Sato (2011). The contents are revised in order to focus on the interpretation of food culture.
(3) Most types of cassava in Buganda do not need soaking in water to remove the hydrocyanic acid.
(4) The weight of matooke at a meal in a household was measured using a scale. A total of8.1 kg were consumed by nine members (7.1 after conversion). The count of 1.1 kg/man was calculated based on these
data.
(5) Ankole is an ethnic group in southwestern Uganda. Their language is classified into the Bantu group. In
their history, they have been both pastoralists and cultivators. Their main crop is finger millet, and banana
production has rapidly increased since the 1970s.
(6) Haya is an ethnic group of northwestern Tanzania. They are a Bantu-speaking people. Their farming ischaracterized by intensive land use and management of banana-based home gardens (Maruo 2002).

62

Nilo-Ethiopian Studies(7) "Ekitoobero" is also the name of a pop music concert that is held every year at Kampala. Many musicians
assemble together for this event. This word is used to express "many types of things or people coming
together."(8) Soga is an ethnic group in the central and eastern parts of Uganda. Their language is classified into the
Bantu group. It has a high rate of concordance with the Ganda language.

REFERENCES
Ankei,T.
1990 Cookbook ofthe Songola: An Anthropological Study on the Technology ofFood Preparation among a BantuSpeaking People ofthe Zaire Forest. Mrican Study Monographs Supplementary Issue 13.
Bennett, A. A., A. Mugalula-Mukiibi,J. S. Lutwama & G. Nansubuga
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YASUAKI SATO: Faculty of Human Environment, Osaka Sangyo University, Nakagaito 3-1-1, Daito, Osaka,
574-8530, Japan.