Bananas, an essential food crop for 400 million people worldwide, are under threat from the climate crisis, according to new research showing that 60% of the “best banana-growing areas could be lost by 2080.” The Christian Aid report about the “world’s most consumed fruit” reveals how climate change is affecting banana supply chains already, and calls for emissions reductions and financial aid to help developing countries weather the storm.
The average person in Europe and North America eats about 12 kilograms of bananas each year, and more than 400 million people depend on bananas for up to 27% of their daily calories. But the banana is not a reliable crop, researchers found and it is not only communities of consumers that will be affected by its decline, but grower communities too. Some, such as India’s banana-exporting Maharashtra, have experienced a threefold increase in extreme rainfall events at the same time as overall reduced precipitation. For the 43% of the population employed in agriculture there, if yields start to decline by 2050 as the research suggests, it could mean livelihoods on the line.
Whole plantations at risk
Most of the bananas exported worldwide are of the Cavendish variety, and Latin America is a key source. That lack of genetic variety and international reliance on a particular region, makes banana production “vulnerable”, the researchers say, more so as Latin America is set to be “particularly impacted with climate change. It is predicted to see “a 60% reduction in the area suitable for export banana production by 2080.” What’s more, as soon as 2050, countries like India and Brazil are expected to be affected too, alongside key exporters like Colombia and Costa Rica.
One grower in Guatemala, cited by the study, says the “huge issue” has arisen faster than predicted and is concerned that the situation is going “to worsen in the future and we lose this whole plantation.”
Disease
Bananas are sensitive to temperatures but it’s not only a question of drought. Fungal diseases that are catastrophic for banana plants, like Black Leaf Fungus, thrive in wet conditions, putting bananas at risk from the “erratic rainfall and flooding” that accompany climate change. Increased rain erodes the quality of the soil too.
The cure, says Christian Aid, lies in adaptation of growing methods. Sharing best practice in irrigation and water management will be key, as well as investment in “heat-and-drought-tolerant varieties”. The industry’s over-reliance on monocultures and fossil-fuel based agrochemicals needs to be addressed too, and the charity praised the Fairtrade approach for its support to smaller-scale plantations that promote sustainability and biodiversity.
