Banana exports from Cameroon fell 24 per cent in the first half of 2018, totalling 113,600 tonnes versus 140,930 tonnes in the year-earlier period, according to banana association Assobacam.
The association said the fall was mainly due to the underperformance of public company the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), the second biggest producer in the country.
During the period under review, CDC’s exports reached 29,600 tonnes, compared with 50,563 tonnes during the same period of 2017.
The fall was due to the slowdown of its activities resulting from the violence waged by English-speaking secessionists in the south western region of the country, where CDC’s banana and rubber plantations of this public enterprise are located.
CDC is not the only banana producer to have seen its exports plummet in the first half of 2018. Assobacam statistics also revealed a fall in shipments from Haut Penja Plantations (PHP), the market leader.
PHP, a subsidiary of Marseille-based Compagnie Fruitière, had exported just 78,000 tonnes of bananas by the end of June, compared with 84,167 tonnes in the first half of 2017, a drop of just over 6,000 tonnes.
