Bananas and Food Security - Bioversity International

Amérique Latine - Caraïbes / Latin America - Caribbean : M.Cl. Walker Herrera
Table 3. Per capita plantain consumption in various regions.
Region Urban (kg/year) Rural (kg/year)
Atlantic 102 104
Pacific 92 105
Eastern 37 39
Central 59 86
Source: Seminar on National strategies of re-engineering in product management of plantain. Manizales,
November 1994.
Table 4. Per capita consumption, chief products in the family shopping basket.
Consumption per capita per day (gr)
Foods National average Urban Rural
Plantain 154 141 178
Liquid milk 147 158 127
Potato 126 131 117
Rice 89 89 88
Beef 71 79 57
Brown sugar 68 58 88
Yucca 57 39 91
Corn 44 36 60
Sugar 44 49 33
Oranges 43 47 37
Banana 30 21 27
Bread 26 36 11
Tomato 21 24 14
Onion 20 22 16
Vegetable oil 18 21 12
Eggs 17 19 13
Beans 16 17 16
Pastas 14 14 14
Carrot 13 16 7
Guava 11 13 7
Peas 10 12 8
Fish 8 7 9
Wheat 8 7 10
Chocolate 7 8 6
Vegetable shortening 6 5 8
Source: Corpoica Region 9. Region 9 Specialisation in the process of generation and transfer of technology
in the seeding and profitable development of the plantain crop. 1997.
Generation of employment
The cultivation of one hectare of conventional plantain over the life cycle of a plantation
(10 years) requires 994 shifts or 0.37 people working 270 days of the year: it means that
it is necessary to cultivate 2.72 hectares to generate one permanent job. In the coffee
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