Banana production in The Gambia

Banana is a giant perennial fruit crop that originated from the Indo Malaysian region extending to Australia. Presently, banana is grown in every humid and tropical region. It is ranked as the fourth largest produced fruit crop of the world after grape, citrus and apple. About 98% of the banana consumed in the world is produced in developing countries.
Gambia has great potential in terms of water (River Gambia) and land for banana production. However, the exploitation of such resources is seriously affected by various production and marketing constraints.
In The Gambia, banana is among the most important orchard crops, grown mainly for local consumption. Banana production in The Gambia has been over the last five years limited to back yard and small scale productions because the appropriate cultural practices are not adopted by the producers.
It has been observed that banana growers in the country do not usually fertilize and correctly space their banana plants. As a result, the quantity of banana produced is usually below demand, which compels some vendors to import banana from neighboring Senegal in order to supplement local production.
However, there has been some renewed interest recently in the country for large scale banana production especially in places like Upper River Region (URR) and Central River Region (CRR).
Additionally, banana production is mainly done by men who cultivate the crop primarily for cash. Due to land tenure problems only few women are into commercial banana production.

Banana fruits contains vitamin

Banana fruit contains moderate amounts of vitamin B6, vitamin C, manganese and potassium, possibly contributing to electrolyte balance. Banana is very critical to global food security because it produces fruit year-round.
The majority of banana producers in the country are small-scale farmers who grow either for home consumption or local markets. The main types of market agents are farmers, transporters, local and urban retailers, importers and wholesalers.
Individual small-scale farmers have very little control over the price that they receive at the farm gate, by the side of the road or in the local market.

Major marketing charges

Usually, they sell their produce by quantity, with a minor price differentiation for quality. The major marketing charges include loading, unloading, grading, packing and handling.
Despite the importance of banana as a food crop in the country, information on its production and marketing has been very limited because not much research has been conducted on it.
Instead research in The Gambia has been mainly limited to annual field crops, vegetables and Root and Tubers. In this connection, the National Farmers Platform (The Gambia) in collaboration with VECO Senegal contracted NARI to carry out a study on banana value chain in The Gambia.
The regions in the country where banana production represents an important economic activity are: West Coast, North Bank, Lower River, Central River North (CRN), Central River South (CRS) and Upper River Regions.

Seven centers for Banana business

There are seven major markets for banana across the country namely: Bakau, Serrekunda, Brikama, Barra, Farafenni, Basse and Soma.
Large-scale banana producers are mainly situated in URR whereas small-scale producers are located in other regions with the exception of only a few villages like; Kinteh Kunda in NBR, Jarra Madina in LRR and Kuloro in WCR.
On the other hand, the marketing of banana is almost entirely dominated by small-scale traders (retailers). Only one large-scale trading outlet (wholesale) exists across the entire country, which is located in Serrekunda market.
All the other markets in the country are occupied by retailers, who obtain their supply from wholesalers in Serrekunda or directly from producers themselves.
The marketing of banana begins at the farm gate where farmers sell banana to rural retailers or assign transporters to transport it to wholesalers in the urban areas.
The rural retailers sell directly to the consumers whereas the wholesalers sell to urban retailers, restaurants and hotels or directly to consumers.

Importers brings banana from Senegal

The urban retailers also sell bananas to consumers, restaurants and hotels. In addition, importers also bring banana from Senegal and sell to rural retailers or wholesalers in the urban markets.
Basically, the consumers of banana, in The Gambia, are hotels and local population.
Although the hotels prefer big and good quality banana fruits which are used for both consumption and exhibition they also buy small and medium size banana fruits.
In addition, the processing of banana into different kind of juices by hotels has increased the demand for banana in the tourism sector. Moreover, banana imported into the country is mainly from Senegal.
Although pricing is not reported as a major constraint by the majority of vendors, it is found to be a major constraint affecting the marketing of banana in Basse (URR) where production is highest in the country.
The high production of banana in URR leads to low market prices and this compel most of the major producers to send their produce to the urban markets where better prices are offered. In addition, taxation also poses a serious problem to some sellers especially wholesalers who bring banana in tones to the markets.
Furthermore, scarcity of buyers is also a serious problem around the hotel areas (Bakau) where individual customers find prices very expensive.

Absence of banana sellers

Finally, the absence of sellers associations is also major constraint affecting the marketing of banana in the country. Branding is also another major constraint resulting to sellers not being able to differentiate locally produced banana from those imported.
The Gambia has a great potential in terms of water (River Gambia) and land for banana production. However, the exploitation of these resources is seriously limited by various production and marketing constraints.
For these reasons, the country is unable to produce enough to meet the local demand. Hence, a significant amount of banana has to be imported on regular basis from neighboring Senegal to supplement local production.
Banana is produced in the country for both subsistence and commercial purposes. However, subsistence production is mainly limited to few banana plants in backyards or vegetable gardens.
Commercial banana production done by men
Commercial banana production is almost entirely done by men who own and control uplands, where substantial banana production occurs.
Due to land tenure problems only few women are into commercial banana production. For this reason, the women are left with no other option but to take up selling as a major activity in the banana value chain.
Moreover, insufficient finance, pest and diseases, insufficient water (boreholes), inadequate technical know-how, inadequate improved varieties, limited access to inorganic fertilizers, fencing materials, accessibility to production sites, inadequate storage and processing facilities are major constraints that limit the production and marketing of banana across the country.

Land tenure issues be revisited

Most of the women producing banana do not have control over uplands to enable them go into commercial production. Hence, it is recommended that land tenure issues be revisited in order to help women get control over uplands for banana production.
To increase banana production in the country, efforts should be made to address the major constraints highlighted in this study.
Key amongst these is: access to credit, technical know-how, pest and diseases, improve varieties and processing facilities.
Associations need to be formed in order to link producers, sellers and consumers to enhance banana production and marketing in the country.
Since there is high demand for banana in the country, it is recommended that tissue culture practices be introduced to maximize banana production.
Author: Lamin B. Darboe

Daily Observer Forward with the Gambia newspaper.