Bananas and Food Security - Bioversity International

50 Les productions bananières / Bananas and food security – Session 1
given by the government for agricultural production in comparison with that for marketing
makes this point clear.
Domestic market
The size of the domestic banana market and the high price of this fruit in Brazil make
the domestic market a very good alternative for banana marketing. As stated elsewhere,
banana is the most consumed fruit in Brazil. Even though Brazil has ideal conditions to
make banana a cash crop, there are still some constraints that have to be overcome.
Some of them are: conditions and costs of transportation, large numbers of
intermediaries, and little knowledge of the market.
Within the marketing process, transportation is considered one of the most
important steps. The Brazilian production of banana and plantain is transported in an
unsuitable manner, resulting in high post-harvest losses, especially during marketing.
Fruits are usually transported by trucks. Although the Brazilian roads, in general, are
good, in rural areas, however, roads are not paved, making banana transportation from
the farm very difficult, especially during the rainy season.
In the north and north-east regions of the country the intermediary, who transports
the majority of the banana production, does it incorrectly, piling bunches or hands on
the top of a truck, without any protection.
In the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Goiás, Santa
Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, most of the banana production is transported in wooden
boxes of 18 kg capacity. Despite this improvement in banana transportation in these
states, it is a common practice to put too many hands in each box, usually around 20 kg.
Thus, the main difference in the marketing process in the banana growing areas is
the method of transportation. In southern and south-eastern Brazil the banana fruits are
transported as hands inside wooden boxes; on the other hand, in the northern and northeastern
regions, bunches or hands are transported without any protection.
Because the production of bananas and plantains in Brazil is directed mainly towards
the domestic market, we believe that this has led to an inappropriate marketing
structure, since the competition within the domestic market and also the consumer’s
demand in terms of fruit quality are below international standards.
The creation of the CEASAs (a kind of supply centre to control food marketing) by
the Federal Government in the 70’s, aimed at improving the food marketing structure in
Brazil (SUDENE 1979) and reducing the number of intermediaries in the marketing
process, was not able to eliminate the strong presence of the middleman in the banana
market. This is due to the fact that the CEASAs have only centralised food distribution,
with very little emphasis on making possible growers’ participation in the marketing
process. In some cases, the CEASA has favoured the intermediary’s action.
The growers’ market, localised in the production region, was another alternative
founded by the state government to increase grower participation in the food marketing
process. In this system the growers themselves bring their products to the growers’
market, which tries to get the best price for them at either regional, state or national
levels (SUDENE 1979). Despite this alternative it was not possible to eliminate the