Banana growers united to face competition and improve quality

Banana producers in southern Morocco have set up an association to defend their industry against international competition and improve the quality of their produce.

Over one hundred banana producers, mostly young economic promoters, met on Friday to set up their association that claims to represent 70% of banana growers nationwide.

To face harsh competition by imported bananas and its negative impact on a sector on which 200,000 persons live and which represents $15 million in investments, producers of the south have decided to unite to devise a future strategy, chairman of the association told MAP.

The association members deem insufficient the banana import ban period and said the sector needs to be modernized by creating cooperatives to improve the produce conditioning, storage and selling.

It also opposed the sector's liberalization that would ruin 1,500 producers.