The leading banana producer in Africa, Compagnie fruitière is committed to developing organic farming on 20% – compared to 5% currently – of its banana acreage in Africa in its historical plantations and via the acquisition of new organic plantations potentially in Latin America by 2025.

A roadmap established following the partnership signed in 2017 with WWF France aimed at implementing sustainable agriculture with a reduction in the use of phytosanitary products and synthetic fertilizers in banana plantations.

To achieve this goal, the fruit company is experimenting with new production methods.

Thus, in Ghana the company is implementing a project called « 4x without » on 1,000 hectares, or 50,000 tons of fruit, which aims to gradually eliminate fungicides, nematicides, herbicides and insecticides, says the WWF. By 2025, 50% of banana plantations in this country will be certified as organic.

In Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Ghana, adds the WWF, « in partnership with research institutes, such as CIRAD, CNRS, IRSTEA, etc.. The company is working on the development of innovative best practices in both organic and conventional agriculture, such as replacing insecticides used against weevils with traps that use hormones naturally emitted by insects, integrating livestock into its production systems to produce compost and reduce the use of synthetic products, as well as a six-month test in Ghana deploying service plants to take advantage of the ecosystem services provided.

Source : commodafrica.com