Socio-economic importance of bananas
Besides the fact that Musa is a powerful model for plant genomic studies, it is also one of the most important staple food crops in the developing world and an important source of income millions of poor in the humid tropics.
Indeed, Bananas are the developing world's fourth most important food crop (after rice, wheat and maaize). The crop is grown in more than 110 countries throughout the tropics and sub-tropics. Bananas provide a staple food for millions of people, particularly in Africa, an area where the green revolution has had little influence.
Nutrition and Health
Bananas are an important food security crop, providing a cheap and easily produced source of energy. In addition, they are rich in certain minerals and in vitamins A, C and B6.
Bananas as a crop consist of a wide range of varieties, including both cooking and dessert types. Plantains, which are a specific type of cooking banana found mainly in West Africa and Latin America, are included within the banana group.
In many countries, bananas are more than just a food crop. They provide an important source of fibre (for example Abaca/Manila hemp in the Philippines), and among other uses, can be fermented to produce alcohol.
Growing urbanisation in many developing countries means that the crop is becoming more and more important as a source of revenue, sometimes providing the main source of income for rural communities. Bananas thus play an important role in poverty alleviation.
Bananas will grow in a range of environments and produce fruit year-round, thus providing a source of energy during the "hungry-period" between the harvest of other crops.
Bananas have been considered as a useful tool to deliver edible vaccines or medicine. The fruit can be eaten uncooked, it is sterile before peeling and it is often the first solid food eaten by babies.
Environment
When grown in perennial production systems, bananas maintain cover throughout the year, thus protecting the soil from rain and wind erosion. Furthermore, if their biomass is used as mulch, soil fertility and organic matter remain stable.
Production
Annual world production is around 104 million tonnes (FAOsource 2004), of which around a third is produced in each of the African, Asia-Pacific and Latin American and Caribbean regions.
Around 85% of all the bananas grown world-wide are produced by small-scale farmers for home consumption or for sale in local and regional markets.
Approximately 15% of world-wide banana production is destined for the export market. For many countries, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, bananas provide an essential source of foreign exchange. The value of banana exports well outranks those of other fruits, such as apples and oranges as well as vegetables such as tomatoes and potatoes. Banana exports are worth nearly $1 billion annually for Ecuador, the world's largest banana exporter.
The export banana industry is also the backbone of the economies of many Caribbean countries, and the crop plays a vital role in the social and political fabrics of the islands, including the French departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique. The banana crop is often the sole source of income for rural communities in the Caribbean. In this region, bananas are the only year-round crop which can be viably cultivated to produce a regular weekly income for small-scale farmers. It is the only crop which can produce again within months of damage or destruction by storm, floods or hurricanes, which are perennial Caribbean hazards.
Bananas are particularly suited to intercropping systems and to mixed farming with livestock. Due to their suitability for production in backyard systems, bananas are also an important component of peri-urban agriculture.
