Knowledge for Development

The impact of the global economic recession on world banana and tropical fruit markets.

Author:

Date: 21/12/2009

Introduction:

Markets for banana and tropical fruits underwent impressive expansions in the past few decades on the back of sustained global economic growth. This paper examines how the recent recession has affected, and given the lag in recovery, how it might shape banana and tropical fruit markets in the near future. The analysis was based only on fresh fruits and did not include processed products. Therefore, the implications on development policies and strategies, relate only to the fresh fruit segment of the markets, and not the processed segment which has entirely different market characteristics and behaviour. Since changes in import demand largely reflect how consumers respond to changes in income and prices, much can be learnt from the evolution of trade flows.

Author: Committee on commodity problems, FAO, September 2009.