1、 Contact Details:Tel office:+264 61 379 500 Fax office:+264 61 22 5371 E-mail:.na Website:.na Physical address:Agricultural Boards Building 30 David Hosea Meroro Road Windhoek Namibia Postal address:PO Box 5096 Ausspannplatz Windhoek Namibia Constituted by Act 20 of 1992 A world class regulator of a

2、 vibrant,diversified and sustainable crop industry Page 1 of 17 MARKET INTELLIGENCE REPORT BANANA ISSUE 3 OF 2024 Page 2 of 17 1.INTRODUCTION Bananas are not only one of the most important fruit crops in the world,but the banana is also the most traded fruit in the world in terms of export value(Bri

3、tannica,2023).Despite the predicted increase in demand,supply challenges are being experienced and these need to be mitigated to meet the estimated market growth(IISD,2020).The major reason to cultivate bananas is to harvest fruits for consumption as fresh fruit and plantains or cooking bananas.The

4、banana cultivars for fresh fruit consumption are sweeter,whereas,varieties for plantains and cooking bananas are rich in starch content(carbohydrate).Research shows that ripe bananas are rich in vitamins such as vitamin A,vitamin B6 and vitamin C,as well as potassium(SHEP PLUS,2019).The Food and Agr

5、iculture Organisation(FAO)statistics for 2019 to 2022 show that most Southern African countries rarely produce,nor import plantains and cooking bananas.Another observation from the database of the Namibian Agronomic Board(NAB)shows that there is no importation nor domestic production of plantains an

6、d cooking bananas in Namibia.Hence,the present report excludes plantains and cooking bananas but rather focuses on fresh bananas as per HS Code 080890.As of 2022/23,Namibia imported an amount of 6,394 tons per annum,worth N$57 million,which is an increase from 5,084 tons in 2018/19,whereas,local pro