Bananas and Food Security - Bioversity International

Amérique Latine - Caraïbes / Latin America - Caribbean : L. Tazán and G. T. de Coto
For the retailers, the business brings low profit but it has some social importance due
to the great number of persons involved.
Production and marketing of plantain
Economic importance
Plantain, together with rice and cassava, constitute the staple foods for the littoral
population, especially in rural areas. Due to this fundamental reason, the production
areas are spread throughout the coastal region, and concentrate in the most humid
zones, where there is a great demand of plantain for the preparation of different dishes.
Tables 4, 5, and 6 show the importance of plantain production in Ecuador.
Table 4. Position of plantain within first ten staple commodities.
Crop Hectares %
Coffee 396 770 15.20
Rice 356 210 13.14
Cacao 330 250 12.65
Hard maize 329 270 12.61
Banana 168 500 7.80
Soft maize 158 250 6.83
Plantain 88 550 3.39
Soya 81 400 3.12
African palm 65 380 2.50
Barley 63 540 2.43
Others 19.82
Source: Report 1993 of the Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos (INEC).
Table 5. Exportable plantain production 1986–1994.
Year Tons $FOB
1986 34 726 5 623 800
1987 31 429 5 277 850
1988 35 905 5 541 940
1989 34 998 5 475 160
1990 39 406 6 118 990
1991 44 160 6 895 529
1992 46 390 7 160 384
1993 33 725 5 227 375
1994 32 827 5 427 938
1995 33 750 7 341 140
1996 41 021 8 352 682
Source: Departamento de Comercialización del Programa Nacional del Banano.
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