Banana exporters are lamenting over the negative impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on their businesses.

According to the exporters, the war has compelled banana suppliers from Latin America to dump their supply in traditional export areas in Western Europe where Ghanaian exporters control portions of the market.

Secretary of the Banana Exporters Association of Ghana, George Kporye, said the situation is causing fruit exporters from Ghana to run at a loss.

He added that the excess supply of banana on the European market has halved the price of the fruit---causing financial loss to exporters.

 “This is a major threat to the industry and for Africa. Before the war, Latin America countries export between 1.8 to 2 million tonnes of Banana to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Now with this war, these volumes are being dumped in areas that buy banana from Ghana”, he said.

Mr. Kporye cautioned that the situation is not peculiar to Ghana, but a threat to African countries supplying quality fruits to Europe.

“We are quite concerned that if this is not controlled and it spreads across Europe, we will have a situation where prices will be significantly depressed”, he stressed.

Recounting some challenges that are already hindering the banana production industry, Mr. Kporye stated that exports to Europe were rebounding after the COVID-19 easing of restrictions only for the war to “rear its ugly head”.

“During the pandemic era, ports were closed and so we couldn’t export much to Europe. Just when we thought everything was becoming normal for us to increase production, the war started”.

Mr. Kporye stated that the challenges are being compounded by the lack of basic farm inputs---which is impeding the growth of the industry.

“We are a already burdened with the situation of high cost of inputs such as fertiliser , plastics,  and other materials. The situation is not looking good at all”, he lamented.