Ongoing research in Uganda is showing that by intercropping coffee with banana, farmers are greatly increasing the total yield value of a single plot of land since the practice leaves the yield of the coffee crop virtually untouched, while providing extra food or income in the form of banana. There are trade-offs, however. Besides requiring larger inputs of labor and capital at the outset, the system removes larger quantities of nutrients from the soil. In the long-term, coffee can also out-compete banana.
