Dorothy Nakaweesi
15 October 2008
Kampala — With diminished access to European markets threatening to cost African farmers millions of dollars in lost exports, experts warned growers to move fast and take advantage of local and regional opportunities.
The experts at the just concluded first ever Africa International Banana Conference held in Mombasa - Kenya last week, added that this move will boost production and incomes of the poor. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) organised the conference which was sponsored by the 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.
Mr Thomas DuBois, a researcher at the 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".
However, a 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.
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.
DuBois said that rather than focus on potential losses in Europe, Africa's mostly small-scale banana farmers, who produce a third of the world's bananas and plantains, should look to the untapped potential of local and regional demand for bananas and banana products.
Already, more than 90 per cent of Africa's bananas are consumed on the continent, where as in countries like Uganda the second largest world producer, it is the main dietary staple. And regional demand, particularly in rapidly growing urban centres, is increasing.
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