Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Namibia to harvest first homegrown bananas this year

Namibia to harvest first homegrown bananas this year

Namibia’s agricultural sector is set to make history by harvesting its first-ever locally-grown bananas in the months of June, July and August this year, which will mark a huge turnaround for the country’s import-dependent sector.

As it currently stands, Namibia imports close to 7 000 tonnes of bananas valued at over N$65 million annually from neighbouring South Africa, which supplies 100% of its own banana needs. 

Bananas remain the second most highly-consumed fruit in Namibia after apples. 

To cut down on the import bill and encourage local production, the country has redoubled efforts at its various banana trial projects, and a bumper harvest is set for this year. 

Tangeni Hangula, Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB)’s fruit development officer, shared with AgriToday that the country has made great inroads at trial projects in the Zambezi region and if all goes as planned, the sector would witness the harvesting of the country’s first locally-grown bananas.

“We are looking at a winter harvest. We started planting 2 222 seedlings, and the results at the project trial sites look very good. I can confidently say that this year, Namibia will produce its own bananas,” said Hangula. 

The seasoned agricultural specialist added that although a good harvest is expected, more work still needs to be done to create a stable and sustainable local banana industry. 

“More is being done, and more will still be done after the harvest, especially regarding the collection of accurate and reliable data for further use. It is through the collection of such data that we will be able to tell how viable it will be for local farmers to venture into banana production and how sustainable it will be for us as a country. But we are excited with the progress.”

In 2023, the NAB and the country’s leading agricultural solutions’ company AvaGro signed a transformative agreement that saw the two entities joining efforts to develop the country’s banana industry in areas of research and implementation.

The agreement saw seedlings being produced in a tissue culture laboratory and thereafter, field trials were conducted in the different production zones of Namibia that have favourable climates and soil before focus can be shifted to commercial production.

With promising results from the initial trial, the NAB and AvaGro have expanded the project by planting additional banana crops at the Etunda Green Scheme Irrigation Project in Ruacana. 

This strategic expansion aims to further explore the feasibility of large-scale commercial banana production in Namibia.

Although small-scale productions are taking place in the Zambezi and the two Kavango regions, as well as in north-central, Karst and central production zones, these are primarily just for farmers’ own consumption and hardly reach the local market.

Continental market 

In Africa, banana production has grown at an average of 3% when compared to other global markets. Uganda is the largest producer of bananas in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon. 

Climate challenges remain a huge problem for most countries, as bananas are delicate plants that are easily affected by temperature fluctuations, which leads to low production and possibly the eventual death of the crop.

Climate change is, however, not the only threat to the banana crop, as diseases that have been spreading at an alarming rate are a danger too. 

-ohembapu@nepc.com.na