Deep Roots

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Tropical fruits as a source of nutrition

and income for farm families

Yacob Ahmad, International Tropical Fruits Network

ropical fruits are defined as fruits that are grown

in the hot and humid regions within the Tropic

of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, which covers

most of the tropical and subtropical areas of Asia,

Africa, Latin America and Oceania. Tropical fruits have

always been part of the rural landscape of these regions,

with the sole purpose of providing food and nutrition

for human well-being. Fruits such as bananas, bread-

fruit and jackfruit have been used as staples in Asian,

African and Asia-Pacific countries, to complement other

grain or root crops.

Due to increasing demand over the years, some of the

popular fruit types gradually developed from a subsist-

ence level to one that can generate income. This includes

the major globally traded tropical fruits such as bananas,

mangoes, pineapples, avocadoes and papayas. Others are

minor fruits which are grown commercially now such as

guava, rambutan, durian, jackfruit, pitaya and passion

fruit. Besides providing nutrition to farm families, cultivat-

ing tropical fruits now is an important income-generating

activity for these families, which in turn improves the local

economy. Tropical fruits are reasonably inexpensive, which

makes them another export option for producers to diversify

exports. It has been estimated that there will be an uptrend

in the demand for tropical fruits in domestic and export

markets, especially from consuming countries such as the

USA, European Union (EU) and Japan.

Banana is the major tropical fruit with an estimated world

production in 2011 of 183 million tonnes. Of this total

amount, 17 per cent was traded by mostly multinationals.

Smallholders including farm families therefore produce about

80 per cent of global production. Excluding bananas, world

production of tropical fruits increased from 64 million tonnes

in 2002 to 95 million tonnes in 2011. Mango was the main

fruit produced, accounting for almost 40 per cent of total

production, followed by pineapple at 25 per cent, papaya at 10

per cent and avocado at 4 per cent. Other minor tropical fruits

such as durian, rambutan, litchi, guava, and mangosteen made

up about 20 per cent of total tropical fruit production. Asia

A range of farmers cultivate tropical fruit, from subsistence farmers to more

commercial, plantation-style operators and cooperatives

Fruit processing helps to minimize wastage and is usually organized by the

women in the farm community

Image: International Tropical Fruits Network

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