Kampala — Experts have called on banana traders to take advantage of local and regional markets as European countries open their markets to imports from Latin America.

The experts at the just concluded Africa International Banana Conference held in Mombasa, Kenya, last week, said this move will boost production and incomes of the poor.

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) organised conference and sponsored by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. For decades the income potential of many large-scale African banana farmers has been tied to exports to the European Union (EU), where African farmers along with growers in the Caribbean and Pacific have enjoyed tariff-free access.

However, relentless push from big producers in Latin America to level the playing field, a pitched battle often referred to as "the Banana Wars" is finally bearing fruit. It emerged in the conference that talks are likely to resume this fall between the EU and Ecuador, Latin America's biggest banana exporter, after the two nearly came to terms this summer.

Mr Thomas DuBois, a researcher at African based IITA, which is supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) said: "The current (European) trade policy is clearly in favour of ACP countries, but this is likely to change. So, Africa must prepare itself to remain competitive".

And if, as expected, a deal is reached, the consensus view is that African farmers in places like Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Uganda would quickly lose a sizeable chunk of their already meager 4 per cent share of what is now a $4 billion (Shs6.8 trillion) market.