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COMMITTEE ON COMMODITY PROBLEMS |
INTERGOVERNMENTAL GROUP ON BANANAS AND ON TROPICAL FRUITS |
First Session |
Gold Coast, Australia, 4-8 May 1999 |
REPORT ON COMMON FUND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO BANANAS |
1. In its role as the recognized International Commodity Body (ICB) for bananas the Group initiated and supervised the Banana Improvement Project (BIP), which terminated at the end of 1998. Section II of this document contains the overall assessment of the BIP.
2. At its the last session, the Group endorsed four project concepts. The views of the CFC on these projects are contained in section III, and a reformulation of key aspects of the proposals is provided in Appendix A.
3. In addition, a new project for rehabilitation of banana production in Guinea has been submitted for Group consideration as Appendix B. This project may serve other members as an example of a CFC-supported project led by the private sector.
4. The CFC has since the last session of the Group revised its guidelines for projects. These changes are summarised in section IV of this document.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF BIP
5. The Group will recall that the two key BIP objectives were:
6. Most BIP sub-projects fell into two categories, breeding and biotechnology. Many of them were long-term and strategic in nature where knowledge was the primary output. In terms of the interests and concerns of the Group, use of this knowledge will provide positive contributions to the banana and plantain production and export sectors. The application of this knowledge in the future can provide tangible outcomes for producers and exporters, but requires further R&D investment.
7. There are a number of areas where the results of the programme will most likely have direct industry impacts in the short term, including the use of some Black Sigatoka clones in Brazil, and the indexing of strains of Fusarium in a given location when planning new banana developments. The reference collection will enable strains causing Panama disease to be quickly identified.
8. Nearly all projects under the BIP made some contributions towards future banana research. Enhanced performance of the BIP might have been achieved had funding from the private sector been provided, as was envisaged in the early stages of the programme.
9. BIP achievements:
10. The BIP generated a "biotechnology consortium".1 This consortium proved that in vitro transformation can be used for genetic modification, and refined both particle bombardment, agro-bacterium transformation and regeneration technology. The "consortium" hopes to publish manuals on in vitro Musa production.
11. A similar consortium was created in the case of nematode research.2
12. The evaluation of several banana tetraploids and diploids against various diseases is expected to make an effective contribution towards the development of new control strategies in plantations in South America. Some of the clones evaluated under the BIP have also shown a high degree of resistance to the nematode Radopholus similis.
13. The germplasm collection in Vietnam and Kerala, India, a direct result of BIP funding, is of great value as it contains materials not yet known in other countries, which could be used successfully in other banana breeding research programmes. The characteristics of the materials found are still to be studied. Support to further collection efforts and studies of materials are now necessary to achieve improved clones.
14. The banana streak badnavirus (BSV) is an important disease that has reached epidemic proportions in Africa, but it is also present in several of the newly developed FHIA tetraploids resistant to Black Sigatoka. Therefore, its control is important in preventing the spread of Black Sigatoka in newly affected countries of Latin America using this material. In the last phase of BIP, the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) made an important contribution in developing therapeutic methods for sanitation of improved Musa germplasm affected by the virus.
15. In the case of Black Sigatoka, while it was not possible to develop a durable, disease resistant range of improved varieties, the results obtained contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms of resistance/tolerance of genetic material and also of the behaviour of resistant fungus after repeated use of fungicides.
16. On balance BIP results are highly positive; however, the placement of the new varieties and tools developed in the hands of farmers will eventually be the real test of the effectiveness of the BIP. Appendix A to this document outlines a project to get some of the results of the BIP to farmers. The BIP did not produce a new disease resistant cultivator to replace the Cavendish banana, but in the longer run several varieties may emerge from the work done in the BIP.
17. Through PROMUSA, the International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain (INIBAP), the World Bank, through its effort to create a continuing "Biobanana" research effort financed by private and public funds, and continued funding through national research institutions, research undertaken through the BIP will enjoy follow-up. Possibly the most positive future outcome generated by the BIP is the possibility of combining different forms of resistance in one or more transgenic plants, combined with considerably reduced chemical spraying. Any intellectual property rights from BIP funded research is open to all Group members through the World Bank, the CFC and FAO.
18. At its last meeting the Group endorsed four projects for submission to the CFC. They included: A Global Programme for Musa Improvement (PROMUSA); Development of New Commercial Prospects and Marketing Opportunities for Bananas in East Africa; Support for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain Production for Export Markets in Central America and the Caribbean; and a Project to Introduce and Distribute Disease Resistant Banana and Plantain Varieties in Nicaragua. The CFC has informed the sponsors of these projects and the Secretariat that these projects are for a variety of reasons unsuitable for CFC funding. However, the CFC has indicated that it might consider a project that combines common elements of the four projects as outlined in Appendix A. The project concept in Appendix A may have to include loan and counterpart funding arrangements, which would have to be devised for each country separately.
19. Recently, the CFC agreed upon a Five-Year Action Plan, several aspects of which are relevant to the evaluation of projects. This plan constitutes a shift in emphasis, in effect replacing previous guidelines. As a result, the following guidelines are now important to the consideration of projects by CFC governing bodies:
20. The Group may wish to express its views on the outcome of the BIP, and suggest follow-up action in conformity with its strategy. More intensive networking to disseminate the results to national institutions, extension services and farmer associations could be one area of follow-up which the Group might wish to encourage. The Group may also wish to comment on the implications for banana improvement efforts of the CFC guidelines given in paragraph 19.
21. While keeping its commodity development strategy3 in mind, the Group may wish to prioritise additional projects for submission to the CFC for funding (including those in Appendix A and B) taking into account the guidelines listed in paragraph 19.
APPENDIX A
Project concept: Farmer-participatory evaluation and dissemination of improved Musa germplasm
The primary objective of the project is the introduction of existing (including those stimulated by BIP research) pest/disease resistant Musa cultivars which meet local requirements and with which small-scale farmers in banana and plantain producing countries can replace existing cultivars highly susceptible to Sigatoka diseases, Fusarium wilt and nematodes with varieties which are proving more resistant. This will be achieved through farmer-participatory evaluation of improved hybrids produced by Musa breeding programmes (many linked to the BIP) in pilot projects in selected countries.
It is proposed that pilot demonstration projects be sited in selected countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Eastern and Central Africa. Possible countries which could be included are Nicaragua, Haiti, Honduras for Latin America and Uganda, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo for Africa. Four of the six are LDCs. These countries have already identified the introduction and evaluation of improved banana varieties as a priority activity, and the project would therefore build on ongoing initiatives in each country. All these countries have food security concerns, and bananas/plantains play a significant food security role for small farmers and poorer strata of the population in each. It is recognized that each of these countries has different needs and constraints in relation to banana variety evaluation and thus each pilot project would be handled separately by a separate Project Executing Agency.
In each country, varieties for evaluation will be selected on the basis of national and regional consumer and market demands. In all cases the objective will be to identify improved pest/disease resistant varieties which have promising market prospects, both domestically and externally. Promising varieties identified during the evaluation work will be multiplied in order to be widely distributed in the areas where they are required. It is proposed that this multiplication be carried out either in vitro or in field nurseries.
The project will include:
Project Implementation
Components of the project (pilot projects) will take place in different countries and may be implemented by different agencies.
Cost
It is estimated that total project cost would approximate US$1 million. The distribution of funding between grants and loans would await the full project document and the co-financing available from non-CFC sources.
APPENDIX B
Project Description
The market in the Guinea capital Conakry is under-supplied with bananas. In addition there are potential markets in bordering countries. In order to ameliorate this situation the full project proposes to create three core banana production-marketing units of 25 hectares each plus 50 smallholder units of a maximum of two hectares each. Technical and financial support would be given to the central production-marketing structure of the private sector company the Société d'importation, transformation et exportation de la banane (SITEB), which would in turn provide technical, managerial and training support to the smallholders. As Guinea was at one time an important banana producer, small holders have expressed a willingness to put their land into banana production once more. Improvements in the transport, post harvest care and marketing of the fruit are all important elements in the project. Guinea is a least developed country. This project is targeted at the poorer strata in society.
The estimated cost of the project would be US$4.04 million equivalent. The CFC would be expected to finance US$2.5 million through a combination of loans and grants and SITEB would generate US$1.5 million. CFC funds would be chiefly used to finance plantation investment costs for core plantations and smallholders, including training and knowledge transfer whereas SITEB-generated funds would serve to finance operating costs, including debt service.
Project implementation
At this point SITEB would be the likely Project Executing Agency (PEA), but another more appropriate PEA may be designated.
1 The Laboratory of Tropical Crop Improvement of the University of Leuven, the Centre of Molecular Biotechnology of Queensland University of Technology, the Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Plant Pathology of the University of Queensland, the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the University of Hawaii.
2 Members include: Centre de recherches régionales sur bananiers et plantains, Cameroon (CRBP), FHIA and IRTA/CITA, Spain.
3 Document CCP: BA 97/11 endorsed by the Group at its Fifteenth Session.