The Ivory Coast has been producing bananas for over fifty years. Two years after serious flooding threatened the Ivory Coast’s banana sector, production has restarted and professionals are ready to increase yield and find new markets. Before undergoing the worst agricultural catastrophe that Ivory Coast banana’s have seen, the country exported almost 300,000 tons to the EU- their main outlet.
In the village Nieki, near Abidjan, where 10,000 people depend on the 1,400 farm workers, Kossimina Ouattara rejoices that “The situation is under control, we have succeeded in getting back to our level of production”. In 2014, the river flooded 1,300 hectares of banana plantations belonging to the SCB (Company studying and developing banana farming). Reconstruction cost €6 million, of which 80% was financed by the EU and 850 hectares of bananas were planted in 15 months. The riverbanks were also reinforced in case of future flooding.
The workers believe they are victims of “climate change”, alternating between drought and flooding. Banana specialist, Albert Coulibaly Minatienni, says that “In 2014 it was super-violent rain and in 2016 it is a reverse phenomenon with a lack of rain”.
The catastrophe in Niéky happened at a time when the EU had decided to give €45 million to the Ivory Coast to help banana production face up to competition from Latin America. European support (2013-2019) aims to improve competition, environmental production conditions, quality of the workers lives and develop the local and regional banana market. The Ivory Coast banana sector has a recovery plan to double production by 2020 and reach 500,000 tons. The Ivory Coast will focus on two varieties - Grand Nain and William, which resist well to dry weather and are grown in Latin America. They aim to conquer the regional market, notably Mali, Burkina and Niger.
An advantage for the Ivory Coast is that they are the closest banana export country to Europe. Shipments are only 7-9 days to Europe, compared to many weeks for South-American exports.