Morocco’s Banana Industry Faces Downturn Amid Poor Production

Fez – Morocco ranks 38th among other countries known to produce bananas commercially, a new report has revealed, adding that the North African nation contributes with 0.3% of the world’s total banana production

According to the report by EastFruit, a marketing statistics website, the export value of Morocco bananas, including plantains, is estimated at $31,000.

In addition, the report highlights that Morocco restored its banana imports in 2023 after a significant slump in the previous year.

Morocco imported more bananas in August 2023 than in all of 2022, when the global trade of this product faced a severe crisis due to natural disasters, adverse weather conditions, and the chaotic geopolitical aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Morocco is not a major producer or exporter of bananas, although locally grown products still dominate the Moroccan market.

The country produces up to 350 thousand tons of bananas annually, and also imports between 22 and 28 thousand tons of these fruits from Latin American countries and islands in the Atlantic Ocean.

Morocco imported 23 thousand tons of bananas between January and October 2023 alone, marking a 33% increase compared to the entire year of 2022.

The EastFruit report suggests that the overall decline in banana imports to Morocco in 2022 was due to a sharp drop in supplies from Ecuador, which plummeted by more than 40%.

2022 was a challenging year for the banana industry in Ecuador and other Latin American countries due to unfavorable weather conditions that increased the cost of banana cultivation and post-harvest handling.

To face this drop in supplies, Morocco compensated for the shortage of bananas from Latin America by sourcing fruits from Portugal (1.6 tons) and Spain (5.2 tons) during the January-October 2023 period.

Looking further back, Morocco’s production of bananas peaked in 1979, when the country produced 2000 metric tons. In 2017, Morocco produced 333,619 metric tons of bananas, marking a steady average annual growth rate of 7.13%.

The main harvest for bananas usually takes place during the dry season, from November to February. However, bananas are harvested throughout the year, depending on the environmental conditions.