Banana production in Honduras

Banana production in Honduras plays an important role in the Economy of Honduras. In 1992, the revneue generated from banana sales that year accounted to US$287 million and along with the coffee industry accounted for some 50% of exports. cite web|author=Merrill, Tim|url=http://countrystudies.us/honduras/69.htm|title=Honduras: A Country Study:Traditional Crops|date=1995|publisher=U.S. Country Studies, Library of Congress|accessdate=August 30|accessyear=2008] Honduras produced 861,000 tons of bananas in 1999. The two American multinational corporations, Chiquita Brands International and the Dole Food Company and repsonsible for most Honduran banana production and exports.

History

The industry was founded in Honduras during the 1800s by American companies which developed the infrastructure and cultivation of bananas production in the 1800's. The United Fruit Company and the Standard Fruit and Steamship Company had a vast control of the productive alluvial plains of Honduras' Atlantic coast and by 1929, the United Fruit Company operated in over 650,000 acres of the country as well as controlling the major ports. cite web|url=http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/afburns/afrotrop/Honduras.htm|title=Honduras CIA demographics|publisher=College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida|accessdate=August 30|accessyear=2008]

In 1889 the Vaccaro brothers of New Orleans, founders of what would become the Standard Fruit and Steamship Company (later known as Standard Fruit Company), shipped their first boatload of bananas from Honduras to New Orleans. The fruit found a ready market, and the trade grew rapidly. By 1902 local railroad lines were being constructed on the Caribbean coast to accommodate the expanding banana production. cite web|author=Merrill, Tim|url=http://countrystudies.us/honduras/15.htm|title=Honduras: The Growth of the Banana Industry|date=1995|publisher=U.S. Country Studies, Library of Congress|accessdate=August 31|accessyear=2008]

General Sierra's efforts to perpetuate himself in office led to his overthrow in 1903 by General Manuel Bonilla, who proved to be an even greater ally of the banana companies than Sierra had been. Companies gained exemptions from taxes and permission to construct wharves and roads, as well as permission to improve interior waterways and to obtain charters for new railroad construction.

At one time the American government trained the Honduran army and airforce to protect the supremity of the banana companies operating in the country. The growth of production of bananas in Honduras soon saw the industry comprising of some 88% of Honduran exports at its all-time peak, centering the economic activity of the country almost entirely on the Atlantic coast region, with the economic center at the coastal city of San Pedro Sula rather than Tegucigalpa. The Honduran banana industry employed a significant Garifuna workforce from the Bay Islands off Trujillo and in 1901 the government gave concessions for them to use over 7,000 hectares for banana cultivation. However in practice it was impossible to protect all of this land for its given purpose and corruption saw a local military commander in Trujillo Colonel Gustavo Alvarez, squander 2,000 hectares of land allocated to the Garifuna and gave the land to the wealthy landowners.

In 1964, Castle & Cooke bought out the Standard Fruit Company, and concentrated on the production of bananas and pineapples under the Dole label in Honduras. In September 1974, Hurricane Fifi devastated some 60% of Honduras' agricultural production, and many of the plantations had to be abandoned, seriously affecting the economy. In response, the redundant plantation workers formed the Las Isletas Peasants Enterprise, where they harvested the bananas independently and reaped the profits, producing one million boxes of bananas in 1976 and four million in 1977. Las Isletas attempted to sell the fruit directly through the Union of Banana Exporting Countries at one stage, resulting in the arrest 200 militant members of Las Isletas and a raid on the association's headquarters under pressure by the Standard Fruit Company who feared being outlawed by the process.

In the mid 1990s, the Honduran economy went into severe recession which hit the banana and coffee industries hard by sending world prices soaring. cite web|url=http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Honduras-ECONOMY.html|title=Hondras Economy|publisher=Nations Encyclopedia|accessdate=August 30|accessyear=2008] Although the economy recovered significantly in 1996, the banana industry in Honduras was struck hard by the lasting impression of Hurricane Mitch in late 1998, a Category Five Hurricane which was considered the worst in 200 years, with winds reaching 200 mph and inundating land with excessive precipitation drowning many of the crops. Hurricane Mitch is believed to have destroyed over 50%, possibly as high as 80% of the banana and coffee crops in 1998, costing an estimated $3 billion in damage.

Since 2000 the industry recovered, although the country is still one of the poorest in Central America.

In 2003, the "News Scientist" reported that global banana production was underthreat by disease and may be wiped out within ten years if preventative measures for not taken to protect against it. Scientists from the banana industry in Honduras responded to the potential crisis by implementing new large-scale breeding schemes in a new FHIA variety. This FHIA banana crop is resistant to major diseases and pests, but is also highly highly productive and efficient. The scheme in Honduras is financed by the multinational United Brands. [cite web|url=http://www.afrol.com/News2003/afr001_bananas.htm|date=January 19 2003|title=Banana production may be wiped out in 10 years|publisher=Afrol News|accessdate=August 30|accessyear=2008]

References