Banana Wine brings success to Malawi farmers

Emily Nkhana, a small-scale farmer in northern Malawi, used to throw away overripe bananas or just let them decay, but she's since discovered a lucrative way to use them: banana wine. Bananas were ripening too quickly due to the extreme heat, which caused significant losses for Ms. Nkhana and many other farmers in the Karonga district. At the Twitule Cooperative Group processing plant, she tells the BBC, "Then we discovered how to make banana wine." She is peeling lemons, which are needed to preserve the taste of bananas. For the farmers, producing wine is only one aspect of their mission; other priorities include survival, adaptability, and seizing the opportunities presented by a changing climate.

They had been farming along the shores of Lake Malawi, but as a result of increased rainfall, the water levels rose and washed away their banana plantations. This forced them to relocate to higher, hotter fields where temperatures reached 42C. "Our problem at the old farm was the lake's abundance of water. A few bananas used to capsize in water. For a few, the locations of our plants were hardly visible.

We have far too much heat up here. Our bananas ripen quickly as a result, and they go wasted, claims Ms. Nkhana. She works at the cooperative with other women who have joined together to use farming as a means of improving their financial circumstances. Banana plantations are planted in the backyards of the ladies as a small-scale endeavour for wine making. In the village of Mchenjere, a modest complex with a four-room home is where the wine is made. It's an easy process that involves peeling, chopping, and weighing the overripe bananas before mixing them with sugar, yeast, water, raisins, and lemon slices.

After that, the mixture is allowed to ferment for a few weeks, turning the banana pulp into a strong, aromatic wine with 13% alcohol, which is comparable to wine made from grapes. "This wine is of excellent quality. To fully appreciate the sweet flavour, you must consume it while seated, according to Ms. Nkhana.

For those who are used to the tastes of traditional wine, banana wine may seem strange, but for those who have tried it, the experience is anything but bad. Pale yellow to rich amber in hue, the wine has a little sweet, fruity taste that is frequently complemented by a faint scent and a mild tang of lemon and banana. One of the strongest supporters of banana wine in Karonga, Paul Kamwendo, is a local wine connoisseur. "It's smooth and light, almost like a dessert wine," he adds.

In Malawi, banana wine has become more and more popular; a bottle costs $3 (£2.30). Sales at Community Savings and Investment Promotion (Comsip), a cooperative that teaches women how to make wine, have increased significantly. The Twitule cooperative plans to grow by purchasing equipment to increase production, currently producing 20 to 50 litres of wine per month. Additionally, the group has requested approval for the wine's export from the Malawi Bureau of Standards. Many women's lives have been completely changed by the manufacturing of banana wine; they can now afford wholesome meals and have constructed homes, farms, and henhouses.