Nairobi — An international conference held in Mombasa has resolved to help the continent's small-scale farmers to export bananas to Europe.

Bananas have a ready market in the European Union, the world's largest importer. However, the EU imports only about four per cent of its needs from Africa, with Central and South American countries dominating the trade.

Sales by Africa's small-scale banana growers to the international market account for about Ksh280 billion ($4 billion), but experts say this could increase if the fruit were given more attention.

"The challenge is to determine how Africa can claim a larger portion of the market in a way that puts money in the pockets of the continent's small-scale growers," said Mr Steffen Abele, an economist with the Nigeria-based International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), which together with Rome-based Bioversity International organised the banana conference a week ago.

The conference came up with a draft 10-year research and development plan that will focus not just on export markets, but also on identifying and pursuing opportunities for Africa's banana growers to gain both higher incomes and greater food security from their crop.

The plan addresses themes such as farmers' co-operatives by organising them so they can sell directly to wholesalers, bypassing the middlemen who are costing them millions of shillings in lost income yearly.

On seed systems, the plan seeks to promote breeding and distribution of new high-yielding, disease-resistant banana varieties, that will enable African farmers to overcome looming threats to production, such as the potentially devastating Black Sigatoka disease.

Discussions also dwelt on how investments in banana processing can expand income opportunities for farmers. In Africa, products made from bananas and banana plants include beer, wine, juice, sauce, mats, handbags, envelopes, postcards, flour, soap and breakfast cereals.

New research findings presented at the conference provided valuable insights into what farmers can do to improve their earnings in local and regional markets.

For example, a new study by the non-governmental organisation Techno-Serve, found that when small-scale banana farmers organised themselves into grower groups, adopted product standards, obtained capital for purchasing farm inputs and marketed their products directly to wholesalers, their incomes doubled and, in some cases, even tripled.

Another survey found that lack of capital, inadequate transportation, unfair taxes and fluctuating prices significantly limit the ability of small-scale farmers to benefit from the growing cross-border banana trade between Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Sub-Saharan Africa produces 30 million tonnes of bananas, which provide food for about 100 million people and account for 35 per cent of global banana and plantain production. Uganda alone produces 10 million tonnes annually with an estimated value of $1.7 billion making it the world's second largest banana producer after India.

Recent studies also show that the expansion of small-scale banana production in countries like Rwanda -- where the crop meets 80 per cent of human nutritional needs in some areas -- has helped shield Africans from the shock of soaring food prices.

However, plant diseases, poor soils and climate change are among a number of emerging threats to the crop's production.

The most serious threats to Africa's banana production are banana Xanthomonas wilt and Black Sigatoka disease, each capable of causing yield losses of up to 30 to 50 per cent.

Scientists at IITA and Bioversity International are working with a global network of plant breeders to develop new banana varieties for African farmers that offer both disease-resistance and higher yields while matching local standards for taste and quality.

Researchers have also worked with farmers to develop relatively inexpensive and environmentally friendly management practices for protecting plants from disease infection.

These practices have significantly blunted the impact of banana Xanthomonas wilt in Uganda and could be extended to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya, where the disease is now spreading.

Science can rid local bananas of diseases, fungi and insects, and change their characteristics to improve yields.

Although genetically modified varieties are already being grown in Uganda, they are yet to be released for planting in Kenya. A more common practice is tissue culturing, the introduction of seedlings to a solution that makes the crop disease-resistant.

Kenya produces over one million tonnes of bananas every year, but loses over 40 per cent to pests, poor harvesting techniques, or lack of markets.

But in the banana-growing district of Murang'a, farmers are setting up energy kiosks using energy produced from banana stems and other agricultural waste, a project with the potential to create hundreds of jobs for youths in collecting waste like rotten vegetables at market places.

A Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology don, Esther Kahangi, says that Kenya lacked a policy on the production and marketing of bananas, hindering the crop's growth into a cash crop.

"If there is a policy framework in place, farmers can acquire new technology and access credit," Prof Kahangi said.

She added that poorly coordinated marketing had denied farmers opportunity to generate income since they lose a huge amount of money through middlemen.

Prof Kahangi is planning to build a company to process bananas for export in Maragua district in Central Province. The processing plant whose plans are finalised will extract banana puree for export, she said.

The extract is an important ingredient used in children's food compliments. She said Kenya has taken bold steps in the innovation of new and fast-maturing breeds of banana that can increase the country's potential if the industry is properly regulated and coordinated.

According to her, a 3-centimetre piece of tissue culture material can produce about 2,000 planting pieces in five months. A single unit sells at Ksh60 (US cents 85) at JKUAT, she said. The crop matures in nine months which guarantees farmers coordinated harvesting and marketing.