Banana and plantain (Musa spp.) are amongst the major food staples in Africa, where more than 31 million t/year are produced, primarily from small family farms, accounting for approximately a third of global production. However, per capita consumption has continued to fall in urban areas where, in some cases, it has become a luxury product. The discrepancy between demand and production has been reflected in often significant price rises in urban areas. As a consequence, plantain has become increasingly less affordable for low income populations. In most African producing countries, production is stagnant if not decreasing. Diverse studies have attributed this situation to land tenure constraints, shortening fallow periods, declining soil fertility, increasing pest and disease pressures, poor access to inputs, marketing chains with many intermediaries and production areas distant from markets. These challenges call for innovation along the value chain from production to marketing, including the service sector. Starting in the 1980s, in light of the importance of these crops, plantain and banana research and development in Africa has accelerated. The West African Regional Cooperative for Research on Plantain (WARCORP) and the International Association for Research on Plantain and Other Cooking Bananas (IARPCB) had pioneering roles, although most research was at that time dedicated to export banana. The International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain (INIBAP) and its two regional networks in Africa contributed to awareness rising and increased collaboration among national programs and advanced research institutes. New research on pests and production, and breeding initiatives were initiated through the Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) and the Centre Africain de Recherches sur Bananiers et Plantains (CARBAP) in Cameroon, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) at Onne, Nig