| How can Musa processing businesses contribute to rural development? | |
Processing Musa is often proposed as a way to add value to seasonal surplus of bananas and plantains, to reduce loss from spoilage and undersized
fruits and to increase farmer incomes. Markets for processed Musa products are often viewed as large and easy to access, thereby
justifying projects to increase production from new cultivars and improved production technology.
 A study of Musa processing businesses
To examine the potential for small agro-industry to contribute to rural development in banana producing areas, Musa agronomists from nine countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America partnered with food technologists and small business advisors to carry out a survey of Musa processing businesses and their business services support environment. A common method was developed to categorize current Musa processing businesses by type of product, size of firm and technology used, to determine their strengths and weaknesses and to map their use of services. The multi-disciplinary team also surveyed the diverse categories of business service providers. In a final multi-stakeholder workshop, participants reviewed the current capacity of firms and providers and analyzed flows of information and linkages which allow the sector to solve problems and identify opportunities. Country teams met in October 2006 in Manila, Philippines, to present their study results and draw conclusions across regions. What types of businesses process banana and plantain?
In the nine countries surveyed less than 5% of dessert bananas, about 24% of plantains and between 30-40% of cooking bananas produced are processed for national and international markets (country statistics on production and processing). Several types of processing enterprise were identified: - Micro businesses, the most numerous ones, prepare single products, on the street or from home -Small to medium businesses, registered and licensed with public authorities, produce diverse products, including Musa products, for the national market - Processing businesses sponsored by NGOs produce new products for national and export markets - Large modern processors are much less frequent, but found in every country Products include chips, dried sweet bananas, beer, wine, juice, sauce, baskets and mats from banana fiber, among many others. Micro-businesses produced simple, often traditional, products using minimal equipment and services. Small and medium businesses also produced relatively simple products, but used more specialized services, while large modern processors often depended on imported equipment, packaging and technical assistance (services used by types of businesses) What business support is available?
Business and technical services for Musa processing businesses varied greatly from region to region and from country to country. Countries in Africa had fewer services than countries in Asia. All the regions/countries studied have begun to focus programmes on the added value as a component of rural development, but there is substantial difference in the extent of these programmes. The estimated percentage of the population with potential access to service providers to add value through processing indicates the difficulty for marginal families or communities to process for added value. Only a very small percentage of the population in Africa has potential access. This situation is better in Asia, but even so the percentage remains relatively low. Costa Rica has achieved a higher degree of accessibility based on good infrastructure, small size and multiple programmes dedicated to capacity development (business services country by country). Processing businesses need improved services and management capacity
The study concludes that processing potentially can contribute to rural development and to the reduction in poverty. However, there is a need for systematic and sustained investment in the business services environment accessible to rural populations and in the management capacity of potential micro and small business operators. How can bioversity contribute to rural development through processing?
Proposed actions: - Prepare manual on the basics of Musa processing in simple language usable by service providers and small scale Musa processing businesses and presenting the critical quality issues by unit operation for the different types of processing; - Develop protocol for characterization of post harvest and processing qualities of cultivars and include processing qualities in Musa Germplasm Information System; - Redesign production systems based on the needs of processors rather than trying to design processing to address the current production problems; - Develop and document strategies to add value to cultivar mixtures that contribute to biodiversity; - Identify opportunities to incorporate market or enterprise perspectives through partners with methods experience on small farmer market studies, business feasibility and planning, participatory technology development, service provider capacity building and business to business collaboration |
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