Thekerani, Malawi – Malawi’s once-thriving banana industry is battling for survival, brought to its knees by disease outbreaks, trade disruptions and years of neglect. In the hills of Thyolo, though, a quiet resurgence is taking root.
Henderson Kopoland, 45, mainly works from his grocery shop at a small trading centre in Konzaalendo Village in Thyolo District, southern Malawi.
Visitors to this remote spot may not realise where his wealth comes from or that he runs another business far away.
About one hundred kilometres from the tarmac road lies a large plot of land about 6.5 hectares wide where green vegetation gives way to thick banana plants heavy with large bunches.
Locals often talk about how hard it used to be to reach this area.
The road, which snakes through hilly terrain, was almost impossible to pass during the rainy season, turning to mud before it was recently upgraded.
Despite its isolation, this patch of land is known across Malawi as one of the few main sources of bananas.
Before 2017, and before the new crops were planted, Kopoland’s bananas were wiped out by the banana bunchy top virus. This viral disease stunts banana plants’ growth and makes their leaves narrow and bunched.
The virus spread from the north to the rest of the country, destroying the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of farmers.
Impact on farmers
In Thyolo District alone, about 4,031 hectares were used for banana farming, all of which were lost to the disease, the district’s agriculture office said.
When the government and its partners stepped in to help revive the industry, farmers got clean suckers – young offshoots used for growing new plants – to replace the infected crops.
“I was given six suckers and they multiplied to this level,” said Kopoland, pointing at his orchard. “I now have about 7,002 banana trees.
"The weather is good, as you can see. The rain is coming, and if you look at our soil, it is fine and doesn’t have sand, so it keeps moisture even when it rains lightly – to the extent that we don’t need to irrigate.”
From his banana profits, Kopoland has built a grocery shop, pays school fees for his two daughters who are in secondary school and has bought a car to help run his businesses.
He mainly grows the Williams banana variety, which was brought in after the infected plants were cleared. This variety is known for high yields and disease resistance. From a single bunch, he can earn up to MK22,000 (about €11).
“The banana production is easier compared to maize and other crops, because with maize you need fertiliser," Kopoland said.
"Yet when we plant bananas we just wait for it to grow and then we manage it, but not with much effort like maize. The future looks bright, but I have already achieved many things.”
Banana supply shortfall
A recent trade dispute between Malawi and Tanzania, which led to a ban on farm imports, exposed Malawi’s banana shortage.
The country depends on banana imports to meet demand, and the import ban left markets and shoppers struggling, bringing fresh focus to efforts to rebuild local production. A high-level meeting settled the trade row.
After that, the minister of trade and industry met with banana growers to discuss the problems they face and how the industry could bounce back.
Government, NGO support
Meanwhile, Nani Lazaro, Crop Protection Officer at the Thyolo District Council, told RFI that farmers still manage their crops using the training they were given.
Using what we taught them, that whenever you see that the banana is affected, you should immediately uproot those infected plants.”
He added: “For the government side, we had a programme or a project known as ASWAp (Agricultural Sector-Wide Approach). This programme contributed a lot, whereby the programme sourced the clean planting materials and distributed it to the farmers, as well as on the side of capacity building."
More farmers have now been trained on how to grow and care for bananas. NGOs like Self Help Africa also handed out clean planting material to farmers, he said.
Lazaro said many banana farmers in Thyolo have built decent houses using the money earned from their crops. More than 100,000 farmers are now growing bananas in the district.
For Kopoland, the future seems even brighter. As one of the first banana farmers in the area – and someone who pushed through the worst of the virus – he has inspired others to follow his path.
“I know almost a hundred people who joined after my success.”
