Farmers taught to growbananas to reduce imports

The Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) and AvaGro hosted a two-day training session to promote the production and consumption of bananas in Namibia.

This forms part of the NAB fruit development project.

The theoretical and practical banana growing sessions were held from 27 August to 1 September, at AvaGro Farm in Swakopmund and at Singalamwe Combined School at Kongola.

There was also an information session at Rundu on 30 August and another one at Katima Mulilo on 2 September.

According to NAB spokesperson Emilie Abraham, the initiative aims to reduce imports by encouraging local farmers to grow fruit trees on a commercial scale.

She says Namibia imports all of its banana requirements, predominantly from South Africa, despite it being the most consumed fruit in the country, after apples.

“In 2022, Namibia imported 6 394 tonnes of bananas worth N$57 million and it is our aim to reduce that through local production,” she says.

According to AvaGro chief executive Leonie Hartman, aspiring producers delved into the essentials of banana cultivation and crop management.

“Participants gained in-depth knowledge of various aspects of banana production, including the morphological characteristics of the banana plant, the challenges of growing bananas in sub-tropical regions and the impact of temperature on the banana plant’s growth,” she says.

AvaGro is an agricultural enterprise born out of the intent to contribute to the shift from traditional farming to precision agriculture. It is based on an 8-hectare plot outside Swakopmund where they mainly grow flowers and vegetables on a commercial basis.

Hartman says more than 100 small-scale and commercial farmers attended the two training sessions as well as information meetings, which were co-funded by NAB and AvaGro.

She says the Kongola training session was an expansion of the hectare pilot project planted in February this year, after NAB signed a transformative agreement with AvaGro in October 2023 for the provision of banana trees to the farmers.

“This project is for research as well as training farmers on banana production. There is a huge potential for banana growing as farmers have shown passion and the climate is appropriate. The big challenge is a lack of funding for more training,” she says, appealing to financial institutions to come on board.

Hartman says farmers can be registered with NAB as banana producers if they have 20 or more plants planted in a prescribed manner in a fenced off area.

Abraham says the Kongola pilot project, where 2 222 tissue culture banana seedlings of two varieties were planted this year, is progressing well, although the plants were hit by frost this year.

“They have, however, recovered well and as this is a trial project, we are learning by doing as we go along,” says Abraham.

This was confirmed by Hartman, who added that they expect the first fruit from the project in August next year.

– email: matthew@namibian.com.na