Plantains in West and Central Africa : an overview

Grown mainly in the lowland humid foresined over several years because of the application of household refuse. Finally, it is intercropped with tree crops such as cocoa and coffee where it serves as the nurse crop for the young trees. The fruit is marketed through three main channels; the producer sells directly to consumers, middle women purchase plantain from. producers for sale to consumers, or wholesalers purchase large quantities on the rural markets for sale to retailers in the urban centres. Statistics on the percentage of total production marketed through each of the three systems vary between countries and between regions within countries. Interstate trade in plantains in the subregion and exports to Europe are developing. Used exclusively for food, per capita consumption of plantain in the major producing countries range from 40 kg/year in the Democratic Republic of Congo to 153 kg/year in Gabon. Preparations with plantain range from baby foods to principal dishes, side dîshes and snack foods. The high cost of transport of the bulky material on poor roads in the areas of production renders the fruit expensive in urban markets. Injuries caused by poor handling and short shelf life results in considerable losses during transport and in storage. Technologies are needed to transform the fruits into products that are easy to handle, transport and store and with a longer shelf life. Any transformation must take the dietary habits of consumers into consideration.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Akyeampong, E., Escalant, Jean-Vincent
Format:	conference_item biblioteca
Language:	eng
Published:	CIRAD
Subjects:	E70 - Commerce, commercialisation et distribution,
Online Access:	http://agritrop.cirad.fr/391362/
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