Green bananas generic

Cameroon exported some 237,942 tonnes of bananas in 2010, representing a value of CFA Fr40.5bn (US$81m), according to Chinese news agency Xinhua.

This volume is the lowest for the last three years, with exports of 254,610 tonnes and 281,282 tonnes recorded in 2009 and 2008 respectively.

However, value has improved dramatically, up from 2009's CFA Fr33.5bn (US$67m) and 2008's CFA Fr36.6bn (US$73m).

National production for 2010 is estimated at approximately 300,000 tonnes, of which around 55 per cent comes from the state-owned Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), with the remainder being produced by two French companies, Société des plantations du Haut Penja (PHP) and Société des plantations de Mbanga (SPM).

The CDC has announced plans to expand its plantations in order to reach a production volume of 320,000 by 2013/14.