1The tropical fruit sectors are emblematic of globalised agriculture (Charvet, 2007) and are especially impacted by the many challenges linked to current global changes (Libourel and Gonin, 2022), the climate emergency (Blanfort et al., 2025) and the search for greater sustainability in their modes of production. Criticism focuses on the social and environmental consequences of these sectors, associated with factors such as working conditions in the plantations, their carbon footprint linked to the distance between the production hubs and places of consumption, land and water use for production, and more generally, the continuation of the relationships of domination between the Global North and Global South, inherited from colonialisation (Tsing, 2015). These sectors are also part of a more diverse and multi-polar globalisation (Carroué, 2020) and international trade patterns disrupted by the slow-down of multilateralism and major geopolitical and geoeconomic uncertainties.
2Taking into account these issues, this feature seeks to understand and document the transformations underway in the tropical fruit sectors. The approach analyses the entire chain of production, logistics, processing and sales operations, along with governance and the power relationships between actors (Montigaud, 1992; Charlery de la Masselière, 2002; Tozanli and El Hadad Gauthier, 2007; Rastoin and Ghersi, 2010; Lançon et al., 2016). Case studies conducted in various regions around the world help identify the common points and unique features that characterise these sectors. The focus here is on the production hubs, along with the downstream actors, particularly large and mid-sized food retailers, whose requirements weigh heavily across the entire global value chain (Gereffi, 1994; Gereffi et al., 2005).
- 1 “To identify the tropical world, I use just two criteria; an average temperature of 18°C in the col (...)
3Tropical fruit are food products harvested from plants (trees, bushes), which grow or are cultivated in hot and humid climates, characteristic of countries in the Global South, located in the inter-tropical convergence zone. The climate conditions in the tropical world consist of an average temperature of 18° Celsius in the coldest month and an annual rainfall of over 500 millimetres, which enables harvests all year round and agriculture without irrigation (Gourou, 1982, p. 471). Some tropical fruit can also be produced in drier climates, provided that there is irrigation. The majority of fruit (in particular, bananas, mangos, pineapples, avocados and papayas) are obtained from countries in the Global South: Asia (56%), Latin America and the Caribbean (26%) and Africa (15%) (FAO, 2020, p. 4).
- 2 Exotic: “relating or belonging to a foreign country, which is generally far away or little known; s (...)
4These fruit are referred to as tropical, and were long considered exotic2 in temperate countries in the Global North. Many of them have now become mass consumer products, thereby nuancing and mitigating this image forged due to the faraway origin and rarity of these fruits, as these two attributes are becoming increasingly less common. Moreover, the share of tropical fruit exported compared with domestic consumption remains a minority: 12% compared with 88% consumed in the producing countries. Nevertheless, tropical fruit imports and consumption are continuing to grow in countries in the Global North, now capturing over 80% of global market supply (FAO, 2020, p. 4).
5Historically, tropical fruit have been increasingly consumed since the mid-20th century, at the same time as the development of cold transport and storage (Beney, 2022). However, mass consumption sharply increased, along with the rest of food globalisation, from the 1980s. Nowadays, bananas, avocados, mangos and pineapples have become affordable mass consumer products, representing large market segments (Dawson, 2009), while others like “air-shipped lychees”, passion fruit or papaya remain niche products, with a high growth potential.
6Tropical fruit are playing an increasingly important role within globalised agriculture in the Global South. Fruits like bananas have a relatively long-standing trade history, similar to other colonial products like coffee, cocoa, sugar and palm oil. However, their presence within the range of agri-food exports from some countries in the Global South only increased from the 1980s-1990s, as part of the liberalisation of the global agricultural market, in a similar way to other products like palm oil (Rival and Levang, 2013), cut flowers (Gasselin, 2000; Calas, 2013) or products for the livestock sector, such as soya (CEP, 2017).
7In just a few decades, the fruit and vegetables sector has grown more than any other agricultural export from non-industrialised countries (20% of agricultural exports in 2011, compared to 10% in 1960) (Maetz, 2011). Countries in the Global South have benefited from increased demand from the Global North, improved transport conditions, and local advantages to reduce production costs (labour, land, etc.) in order to offer low sales prices to consumers (Mesclier, 2006; Chaléard and Sanjuan, 2017). Latin America and the Caribbean are the leading region in the world for the export of tropical fruit (80%). Notable countries include Ecuador, Guatemala and Columbia for bananas; Costa Rica for bananas and pineapples; Mexico and Peru for avocados and mangos; and Brazil for mangos and Santa Claus melons. However, Asian countries are large producers for their domestic markets, and hold a strong position in the regional trade of bananas (Philippines, Vietnam), pineapples (Philippines), and mangos (Thailand, Vietnam). African countries are further behind, but the export of tropical fruit can be important for their agricultural economies, especially in Côte d’Ivoire (bananas, mangos, pineapples), Kenya (avocados, pineapples, mangos), South Africa and Morocco (avocados)3.
8The tropical fruit sectors have a number of points in common. The recurring and habitual segments in international agricultural trade are found here, including production, groupage (farmer organisations or cooperatives, production wholesalers), international trade (import and export), wholesale distribution, retail, places of consumption, and a single operator can accumulate a number of these commercial functions (Loeillet, 1998). The distance between the producing countries and the countries of consumption would appear at first sight in contradiction with the fresh and fragile nature of fruit. Indeed, the logistics segment and the transport conditions are strategic throughout the entire sector: harvesting and post-harvesting (sorting, processing, packing, product storage, shipping and long-distance air freight), logistics sites (packing stations, ports, ripening plants, etc.), transit time and technologies (refrigeration, controlled atmosphere, etc.).
9Despite this, tropical fruits have variable characteristics. For example, banana transport processes higher volumes on mass (31% of global fruit trade) compared with other tropical fruit (3-5% for pineapples, avocados and mangos [Fruitrop, 2024, p. 26]). It therefore has a significant structuring effect, capable of influencing the flows of other tropical fruit or agricultural or manufactured products. Moreover, some fruits are climacteric (bananas, avocados, papayas, etc.), while others are less so, such as mangos. This means that they continue to ripen after being harvested, while pineapples, lychees and African pears (safous) can only ripen on the tree or plant. There are also unique situations, depending on the region of the world, and their organisation of production or political framework (whether or not public policies have been enforced).
10Studying the tropical fruit sector is an opportunity to revisit old debates and to open new ones, associated with the challenges of the 21st century and the globalisation of food and agriculture (Loeillet, 1998; Charvet, 2023). These crops, which are emblematic of export agriculture from the Global South, raise questions about the development dynamics, social and environmental challenges, and the spatial reconfigurations linked to factors based on both local situations and global factors.
11The first avenue of reflection questions the role of tropical fruit as a potential lever for development or as a means of maintaining or strengthening historic power relationships between the Global North and Global South. While export agriculture is an important source of currency and integration in global markets, it also reveals deeply asymmetrical power relationships. The distribution of value between segments in the chain remains unequal, dominated by downstream segments (large retailers, exporters and transnational companies), to the detriment of farmers, especially smallholders. These smallholders are weakened by their dependence on price fluctuations, contractual methods, informational asymmetry, or even the level of State supervision and support. Inequalities also exist between actors within the same segment of the chain: small and large farmers do not have the same access to capital, inputs or certifications required by international markets, in sectors that require significant investments, stable supply and market research. The question of development is also raised in relation to other activities: the rise in export crops can be at the expense or benefit of small-scale fruit and vegetable sales or non-agricultural activities to diversify household income. At the local level, globalisation has contrasting effects. Some regions are well positioned within transport and communication networks, and close to ports and airports, so benefit from open trade, while others remain on the margins. The succession of export crops depending on market opportunities is frequent: pineapples and bananas (or even cocoa) may be substituted for one another depending on cycles of demand. Recent trends have tended to reinforce certain kinds of asymmetry. The increased requirements from retailers (traceability, weights, presentation, working conditions, health and environmental standards) favour large farmers capable of investing in the latest equipment and digital monitoring and control tools. Transnational companies choose vertical integration strategies within sectors to capture the maximum value, or they focus on certain segments, generally downstream, to avoid risks (using contract farming). New actors in the Global South (large farmers, intermediaries and exporters) have emerged in some countries, creating other asymmetries.
- 4 “For the IPCC, this is an event that is ‘rare at a particular place and time of year’, becoming ‘ex (...)
12The second avenue of reflection sheds light on how environmental challenges are reconfiguring the tropical fruit sectors. Global warming of anthropogenic origin is increasing extreme weather events4, such as droughts, storms and tropical cyclones, along with rainfall variability, which affects farming systems in different ways depending on the territory. At the same time, an increase in environmental concerns for consumers, retailers and in public debate is leading to new standards. Adaptations are deployed at various levels. On the production side, new precision farming techniques are being adopted, with optimised water management and new genetic varieties. On the sales side, environmental labels and certifications (fair trade, organic farming, etc.) are becoming sales arguments, but also, above all, pre-requisites to access certain markets. However, these systems are ambivalent - while they encourage some more sustainable practices, they are also an additional barrier for smallholder farmers and may result in greenwashing strategies by large corporations.
13A third avenue of reflection questions the spatial reconfigurations of production systems and consumption markets. The geography of production hubs is experiencing deep-rooted transformations. In countries in the Global North, some tropical productions are being acclimatised according to a rationale of proximity with consumers. In countries in the Global South, agricultural regions with good transport infrastructure are favoured, while others that are inland or subject to strong pressure on land-use (urbanisation, tourism) are seeing their role decline. What’s more, the adaptation or reconfiguration of existing plantations, in line with new technologies or business opportunities, is reconfiguring territories, often with heavy consequences for smallholders, while the rise of new zones, such as those located in drier regions, better suited to “organic” farming, is creating a new geography of tropical fruit production. The consumer markets (Van Hecke, 2024) are also experiencing reconfigurations. While countries in the Global North remain the primary outlets, in some countries in the Global South, increased consumption is opening new opportunities for regional flows (between neighbouring countries and at an infra-continental level). Emerging countries, with increasing purchasing power, whose middle and upper classes aspire to westernised modes of consumption (more fruit and vegetables), are becoming key actors on the demand side. Finally, the multi-polarisation of capital and the establishment of large import-export companies, which own plantations in different territories or even different continents, are responding to the rationale of securing supply and ensuring continuity of supply in the markets. They supplement their supply by seeking fruit outside of their usual harvesting zone in order to honour contractual transactions that require them to supply fruit all year round, and to mitigate the effects of the variability of agricultural production. This movement is accompanied by the increased financialisation of these sectors, focused on export in general and on the export of tropical fruit in particular, which further roots global rationales within local production hubs.
14The contributions in this feature shed light on the persistence of rationales of economic opportunities and inequalities linked to globalisation, while emphasising the emergence of new questions around the sustainability and duality of agricultural production systems, the diversification of actors and the reconfiguration of territories. They focus on different geographical areas (Africa, Latin America, Europe) and are primarily based on qualitative field surveys and the analysis of national and international databases relating to tropical fruit imports and exports, using diverse disciplinary approaches that study the relationship to space (geography, economics, anthropology and agronomy). Two articles focus on avocados, two on bananas, one on African pears (safous) and one on lychees.
15The contribution by S. Racaud considers “The place of smallholder farmers in the ‘avocado race’ in East Africa”. It questions the local effects of the agri-export model within a context of growth in global demand and support for the sector from the public authorities and investors. The author presents contrasting trajectories from multiple production hubs, through the lens of State reforms (decentralisation), the structuration and maturity of retail and production companies, and incentives from the local public authorities. He deciphers the different types of transactions in production and presents the diversity of local strategies by buyers to source avocados. He identifies weaknesses for farmers with limited informational, agronomic and financial capital. Ultimately, plantations are reconfigured in line with global market demand, with avocados having gradually replaced coffee and tea, despite the increased risks linked to monoculture.
16The article by O. Ballesta and L. Devret-Démettre focuses on “The avocado sector in Axarquía (Andalusia): market opportunities, spatial reconfigurations and sustainability challenges”, and questions the tensions between productivist rationales and the depletion of water resources. A cluster of agricultural companies dominates the market by controlling all the segments in the sector’s value chain. The authors show how there is no radical environmental transition, but adaptation strategies within the sector, such as the contraction of production during drought (with adverse consequences for smallholders), reconfigurations, bypassing of environmental measures, and communication campaigns about the low carbon footprint of Spanish avocados. In response to water shortages, costly and debatable policies are introduced for supply (wastewater re-use, desalination) and demand (optimisation of irrigation). Actors in the sector also seek to relocate production to other Spanish regions that are less exposed to water stress, with changes to the organisational model and, in the low season, additional avocado supply sourced from other continents.
17The contribution by E. Chauvin, M. Joncheray, H. Valette, A. Bonnassieux and N. Carpel-Heysch de la Borde discusses “Bananas in Côte d’Ivoire: reconfigurations of a globalised agri-industrial sector”. While this is a longstanding sector in the country, its dynamic development is recent. It is characterised by heavy standardisation, driven by the downstream segments and optimised logistics, managed by a few large-scale international exporter companies, while smallholders have been in decline since the 1980s. Increasing requirements from European retailers for socio-environmental certifications, quality, segmentation, farming methods and working conditions are one of the major structuring changes in recent years. The effect has been to reinforce the weight of food export companies and shift production hubs towards drier zones that are less exposed to health risks. Finally, while the main outlets of this sector are located in Europe, especially France, companies are seeking to diversify their markets, particularly in Senegal.
18The article by M. Guibert, A. Marshall, D. Cepeda Bastidas and W. Torres Chonillo addresses “Ecuador, the leading global exporter of dessert bananas”. Since the 1960s, Ecuador has established its fruit on the global market, supplying a vast range of countries (primarily in Europe, Russia, the Middle East and United States). The sector is characterised by a large banana-growing surface area, relatively low productivity and the presence of many actors (small and mid-size farmers, certification companies, exporters), mainly located in the Costa region close to the shipping ports. The article analyses how downstream requirements are forcing them to adapt in order to meet the social and environmental standards set out by the destination markets, with differences depending on the country of the client. The use of cutting-edge technologies is a trend inaccessible to smallholders, who do not receive any special measures within the framework of the public policy that guides the sector.
19In their article entitled, “Reassessing Cameroon’s exports of African fresh produce, a case study based on safou”, A. Rimlinger, C. Assongo Sonfack and E. Fongnzossie present an in-depth update on the thriving African pear (safou) sector in Cameroon. This national sector has gradually entered into global trade and has won over the European market especially. This fruit is considered “ethnic” in international trade, as it is primarily consumed by the African diaspora and is not especially present in the food consumption habits of countries in the Global North. Studying the steps to institutionalise the sector highlights reliable interprofessional and contractual arrangements, based on extended family ties and reduced risks, despite timid institutional support. From an environmental standpoint, this sector is unique as it is little impacted by pesticide treatments, but due to the mode of transport used (air travel), its carbon footprint remains significant. Finally, the sector is increasingly opening to demand in neighbouring countries.
20The article by S. El Amari, entitled “Connecting the value chain in Madagascar. Economic exploitation as seen from the Madagascar Lychee Export Group (GEL)”, uses neo-Marxist analysis to show the process of concentrating the lychee sector in Madagascar towards the European market, which is facilitated by the historic relationships between Malagasy retailers and officials, and by the liberalisation policies of the IMF and World Bank in the 1980s. The author documents the gradual takeover of the downstream segments by a group of exporters, resulting in a disconnect between the cost of purchasing lychees from farmers and the cost of selling them to European clients. He draws a parallel between the export organisation and the precarious working and living conditions of Malagasy farmers and harvesters, defending the thesis of capitalist exploitation that is materialised at the moment the fruit is bought from the farmer, and not through takeover of the production means or control of the workforce.
21The articles presented in this feature emphasise the strong momentum and business opportunities in these sectors, despite increased competition, which is more or less contained by the actors controlling the value chain. For production, securing supply does not always require landholding, but instead contractualisation with farmers (Equator, Madagascar, Spain), control of the sector (Côte d’Ivoire) or the establishment of relationships based on trust (East Africa, Cameroon). Indeed, the diversity of types and sizes of production sites and actors, from smallholders to large-scale international export companies controlling the downstream value chain, creates contrasting situations depending on the actors and territories, which are more or less able to adapt to the requirements of globalised markets and large and mid-sized food retailers. There are multiple organisational arrangements throughout the chain and the distribution of value remains highly unequal. To meet the requirements of the downstream segments regarding compliance with environmental standards, actors from the different sectors studied mention the use of optimisation and traceability technologies. This may result in greater asymmetries of power, favouring actors able to invest the necessary capital and master the associated agronomic and technical skills. The geography of the tropical fruit sectors is also shifting, reflecting uncertainties in geopolitics and global food geo-economics.