As they enter the period of contractualization of commitments for the following year with retailers, African producers, wish to draw the attention of stakeholders to the cost increases experienced by the global banana sector and the African continent in particular.
Maritime transport costs, affected by the current sectoral situation, are expected to increase in 2022 by more than 60%. Likewise, under the effects of the increase in the cost of production factors and the slowdown in supply chains, an increase in purchasing costs of around 20 to 25% is anticipated depending on the product (cardboard boxes, fertilizers, phytosanitary products etc). Moreover, for those producers who have not yet reached it, the implementation of the “living wage” of the Global Living Wage Coalition will require additional efforts, despite a methodology not even taking into account the multiple health, education and housing services already offered to the teams. Finally, given the outlook for the global economy and its effects on parities, it is expected that operating costs will increase further by 3 to 5%.
However, it should be noted that these cost increases have so far not translated into increases in the price of bananas. On the contrary, the year 2021 will remain as a very difficult year for the market, with the prices of boxes of 18.5 kg even temporarily falling below € 10 according to the CIRAD Observatory. These bottom-low levels themselves come at the end of a long and deep deterioration in the purchase prices that producers have had to cope with on their own year after year.
In this context, Afruibana are counting on the commitment of their European retail partners to make the banana value chains ever fairer and resolutely sustainable. Indeed, only fair selling prices can allow a fair distribution of the value between the actors of the chain. These fair prices are also key to initiating the essential investments of the ecological and energy transition of our sector during this decade.
Source: www.ecofinagency.com