Production theary

Statistics on the production and export of bananas and plantains are available from the Food and Agriculture Organization. Some countries produce statistics which distinguish between bananas and plantains, but two of the top three producers (India and China) do not, so comparisons can only be made using the total for bananas and plantains combined. The 2012 statistics (see Table 1) show that India led the world in banana production, producing around 18% of the worldwide crop of 139 million metric tonnes. Philippines was the next largest producer with around 7% of the worldwide crop. Its national data does distinguish between bananas and plantains, and shows that the latter made up over 95% of production. Ten countries produced around two thirds of the total world production.^{[Note 1]}

The statistics for the export of bananas and plantains show a rather different picture (see Table 2). Total world exports at around 18 million metric tonnes amounted to only 12% of total world production; two thirds of the exports were generated by only five countries. The top three producing countries do not appear in this table, and two countries, Costa Rica and Guatemala, do not appear in the table of top producers. Only the Philippines has a consistent position in both tables. Exports were dominated by Ecuador, with 29% of the world total. Statistics for Ecuador distinguish between bananas and plantains; 93% of its exports were classified as bananas.^{[Note 1]}

Bananas and plantains constitute a major staple food crop for millions of people in developing countries. In most tropical countries, green (unripe) bananas used for cooking represent the main cultivars. Bananas are cooked in ways that are similar to potatoes. Both can be fried, boiled, baked, or chipped and have similar taste and texture when served. One banana provides about the same calories as one potato.^{[citation needed]}

Most producers are small-scale farmers either for home consumption or local markets. Because bananas and plantains produce fruit year-round, they provide an extremely valuable food source during the hunger season(when the food from one annual/semi-annual harvest has been consumed, and the next is still to come). Bananas and plantains are therefore critical to global food security.

Bananas have been an important source of disagreement in the Doha Round of trade talks. A study for ICTSDshowed that the new deal on EU banana import tariffs will be a boon to Latin American exporters but would trigger a drop in exports of the fruit from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.^[72]

Bananas are among the most widely consumed foods in the world. Chiquita, Del Monte, Dole, and Fyffes grow their own bananas in Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras. Banana plantations are capital intensive and demand significant expertise. The majority of independent growers are large and wealthy landowners in these countries. Producers have attempted to raise prices via marketing them as "fair trade" orRainforest Alliance-certified in some countries.^{[citation needed]}

The banana has an extensive trade history starting with firms such as the Irish Fyffes and the US United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) at the end of the 19th century. For much of the 20th century, bananas and coffee dominated the export economies of Central America. In the 1930s, bananas and coffee made up as much as 75% of the region's exports. As late as 1960, the two crops accounted for 67% of the exports from the region. Though the two were grown in similar regions, they tended not to be distributed together. The United Fruit Company based its business almost entirely on the banana trade, because the coffee trade proved too difficult to control. The term "banana republic" has been applied to most countries in Central America, but from a strict economic perspective only Costa Rica, Honduras, and Panama had economies dominated by the banana trade.^{[citation needed]}

The European Union has traditionally imported many of its bananas from former European Caribbean colonies, paying guaranteed prices above global market rates (see Lomé Convention). These arrangements have now been largely withdrawn under pressure from other major trading powers, principally the United States. The withdrawal of these indirect subsidies to Caribbean producers is expected to favour the more efficient banana producers of Central America, in which American companies have an economic interest. In addition, small-scale Caribbean producers are finding it difficult to comply with increasingly strict certification requirements. Some support is being provided to Caribbean countries under the EU's Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM).^[73]

The United States produces few bananas. A mere 14,000 tonnes (14,000 long tons; 15,000 short tons) were grown in Hawaii in 2001.^[74] Bananas were once grown in Florida^{[citation needed]} and southern California.^[75]

In March 2014 it was announced that Fyffes and Chiquita would merge to create the world's largest banana company, worth about $1bn (£597m). The new firm, named ChiquitaFyffes, is expected to sell about 160 million boxes of bananas annually.^[76]