Latin American countries close ranks to defend their banana production

Latin American countries exporting banana They closed ranks to defend their industry, threatened by high producer prices and market imbalances, as well as by Fusrarium R4T, a fungus that threatens fruit plantations.

The agreement emerged during the virtual meeting held by the ministers and heads of Agriculture of Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and the Dominican Republic, at the initiative of the Government of Ecuador, to discuss the situation of the regional banana sector.

Authorities from the seven countries gathered for a virtual conference, which was held in the port city of Guayaquil, within the framework of the so-called Latin American Summit for the Banana Unit, convened by the Ecuadorian Minister of Agriculture, Pedro Álava.

In the final declaration of the meeting, the ministers agreed to invoke the concept of “shared responsibility” between the different actors in the banana chain, to set sustainable prices for the fruit.

They also discussed a compensation amount that takes as a reference the parameters that recognize exogenous impacts and efforts on the sustainability of the production and export chain.

For this reason, the establishment of a minimum reference price for the fruit produced in each country was considered, which assesses the particularities of each State.

In addition, the ministers agreed to convene European international organizations to engage in the fight against the Fusarium R4T fungus, a pest that threatens banana plantations in the region.

Latin Americans called on Europeans to form an alliance for international resource management to undertake measures such as training and phytosanitary research on Fusarium and asked that the seriousness of the social, environmental and economic impact of this pest be understood.

Finally, the agreement reached establishes a joint official visit, in person or virtually, to the “Fruit Logistica” fair in Berlin, which will take place in April this year.

During the virtual conference, the Ecuadorian minister said that it was necessary “to constitute a robust common front before importers, supermarkets and shipping companies, demanding that they assume the price increases at this time”, because “only in this way would the true validity of social responsibility be understood shared ”.

This concept is a “moral obligation of all segments” of the banana chain, so that the impacts of the problem do not fall solely on producers and exporters, Álava added.

For his part, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Colombia, Rodolfo Zea, highlighted the need to create a joint bloc to dialogue with the countries that buy musaceae, especially with the European Union.

In addition, Zea made available to the other banana-growing countries of the region the actions carried out by his country to contain Fusarium TR4 and the research processes to have varieties resistant to the fungus.

The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica, Renato Alvarado, suggested talking with shipping companies and working on the concept of “fair trade” throughout the fruit distribution chain.

“Producers carry production costs on our shoulders and profits remain in the hands of others,” Alvarado lamented.

Delegated observers from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the German-Ecuador Technical Cooperation (GIZ), organizations that provide technical assistance to the sector, also participated in the virtual meeting.