Securing the future of the UK's favourite fruit

Lead Research Organisation: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: Biosciences

Abstract

The UK is highly dependent on imported fruit and vegetables that make up eighty per cent of the market, compared with half of cereals and one sixth of meat and dairy produce. Yet, fruit and vegetables are a key component of a healthy diet, often overlooked in studies of global food security that tend to focus on the major grains. Reliance on imports makes the UK vulnerable to instabilities in international production and supply, placing the issue of resilience of the UK food system firmly in a global context. This vulnerability is epitomized by the banana, the most popular fruit in the UK by consumption, and the most important fruit in the world by production. More than five billion bananas are purchased in Britain each year, and the UK accounts for seven per cent of the global export market. Though hundreds of banana varieties are grown around the world for domestic consumption, only one variety, Cavendish, is internationally traded. The previous export variety, Gros Michel, was eliminated by Panama Disease (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense) in the 1950s, and now a new virulent strain, Tropical Race 4 (TR4), is emerging from Asia to threaten Cavendish. No alternative tradable varieties are available, and no chemical disease controls exist. If TR4 reaches Latin America and the Caribbean, supply to the US and EU will collapse, with significant impacts on the UK diet and on producers in the developing world. The vulnerability of the banana trade is an extreme case of the more general issue of imported crops that are vulnerable to emerging pests and diseases, for example citrus greening disease devastating oranges in Florida and California. Around the world efforts are underway to develop a resistant export banana variety, using both conventional breeding and genetic modification, as well as research into disease detection and alternative methods of control. However, the banana remains under-researched compared with the major crops, there has been little academic analysis of the resilience of the banana trade nor development of mitigation strategies to maintain supply or manage the impact of sudden catastrophe. In this multidisciplinary research programme, we will work with the UN FAO World Banana Forum (WBF) to collate detailed data on production levels, disease impacts, and mitigation methods. We will analyse patterns, trends and drivers of banana production, including pests, diseases, management, and climate, to provide robust models of production and how this could vary in future as diseases spread and the climate changes. We will test a new antifungal compound against TR4, to determine whether chemical control could mitigate production impacts while alternative resistant varieties remain under development. We will develop an economic model that characterizes the main features of the UK value chain, forming the basis for assessing the price transmission impacts following shocks in upstream markets and, by extension, the impact on UK consumers and the responses by UK food retailers and other market intermediaries. We will calibrate the theoretical framework and simulate the impact of projected production shocks in exporting countries on UK consumers, and derive the welfare impact for participants at each stage of the value chain. The banana market is politically sensitive, and over the past decade the price of bananas in the UK has declined, while production costs have increased, placing pressure on producers. Via the WBF, the UK charity Banana Link and the food sector consultancy 3Keel we will engage the UK retail sector and other stakeholders in rigorous key informant analysis of potential responses to vulnerabilities in the sector, impacts of prices rises on the UK consumer, feedbacks to producers, and strategies to improve resilience to production shocks. Our goal is to secure the future of the UK's favourite fruit, and provide a case study for improving the resilience of other vulnerable imported commodities.

Technical Summary

The UK is highly reliant on imported fruit and vegetables, an important component of a healthy diet. Import dependence potentially increases vulnerability to production shocks in producer countries. Globally, climate change and emerging pests and diseases increase the risk of production shocks for many crops. This is exemplified in the banana, the most popular fruit in the UK by consumption and the most important fruit in the world by production. Panama Disease Tropical Race 4 will cause the collapse of the global banana industry if it reaches Latin America and the Caribbean. Here, we address the major questions relating to resilience of banana production and supply in a global context, using an interdisciplinary approach with strong support from non-academic partners. First, we collate data and produce models of banana yield driven by climatic and management variables, comparing statistical models (GAMs) with process-driven models (GAEZ, Aquacrop) for national and sub-national (where available) yield data. We model projected future yields under climate change using RCP scenarios, comparing results to existing GAEZ projections. Second, we collate data and produce models of pest and disease spread risk among and within countries, using CABI observational data and other sources, and estimate production impact from known impacts and disease management mechanisms. Third, we test a novel antifungal chemistry on TR4, in comparison with existing chemistries, investing mode of action using microscopy and RNAseq, and testing the potential for resistance evolution. Fourth, we develop economic frameworks and econometric models to study transmission of production shocks on prices in the banana value chain, and potential to impact consumer behaviour. Fifth, we conduct stakeholder engagement workshops and interviews to inform of the potential impact and develop strategies in the UK retail sector to manage and mitigate risk, to improve resilience of the sector.

Planned Impact

Our multidisciplinary research programme brings together bioscientists, modellers, economists, social scientists, NGOs, UK retailers and a global network of researchers, producers, purchasers and stakeholders, under the umbrella of UN FAO World Banana Forum (WBF). WBF partners include major international companies - Chiquita, Dole, Fyffes, UK retailer Tesco, certification bodies - Fairtrade Foundation and the Rainforest Alliance, research organizations such as Bioversity International and Wageningen University and numerous organizations representing the interests of producers and consumers. Our UK partner organization, Banana Link, a founding member of WBF, is working closely with UK retail sector to improve the economic, environmental and social sustainability of the banana trade. Our partner, 3Keel, works across the UK food chain on sustainability, particularly in relation to climate change. Our research staff will attend WBF meetings and interact regularly with WBF Secretariat, Banana Link and 3Keel to exchange information and update stakeholders on project progress. Our outputs will thus be improved banana yield models, understanding of changing pest and disease distributions and their impacts and methods of control (with MycoSciences and Croda), improved models of the value chain and holistic strategies for improving resilience of the UK banana market.
Specific benefits will be:
1. Agricultural modellers: we will develop yield models, implementing the FAO GAEZ and Aquacrop models specifically for banana. These models are currently missing from the literature.
2. Food security and climate change researchers: Our projections of climate change impacts on banana production will widen the food security and climate change debate beyond the major grains. Our multidisciplinary programme will serve as an example for the analysis of other vulnerable fruit and vegetable crops, such as citrus.
3. Plant pathologists: Benefit from increased understanding of basic biology of Foc, mode of action of broad spectrum antifungal where resistance is unlikely to emerge.
4. Agricultural industry: Few new antifungals are in development and resistance is emerging to many extant chemistries, with withdrawal of many antifungals due to environmental concerns.
5. The global banana trade: International trade is at risk ultimately due to low diversity of the traded variety. We will gather information on research into new varieties, and disseminate this through WBF to facilitate investment, reduce development time and inform policy.
6. The UK retail sector: Buys bananas mainly directly from producers. Our programme will identify regions of greatest risk, and provide economic analyses of production shock scenarios to allow planning for improved resilience of the sector.
7. Developing country producers: Producers will benefit from improved disease control through low cost, environmentally acceptable antifungals, and more long-term our analyses will result in greater efforts to secure supply and improve economic and environmental sustainability.
8. UK overseas development aid: many countries that export bananas to UK are significant recipients of official development assistance (ODA) from UK government. (Colombia is UK's largest supplier of bananas, receiving £7 million ODA in 2013). Improved agricultural security and larger trade receipts will reduce dependence on ODA.
Millenium Development Goals:
1. UK public health: Bananas are an important component of the UK diet, with greater nutritional benefits than many alternative snack foods. By maintaining supply, we will reduce likelihood of a sudden shift to less healthy alternatives.
2. UK consumers: we aim to contribute to resilience and long term sustainability of UK's favourite fruit by raising awareness of fair trade and real market value. This may lead to increased UK banana prices, in line with EU markets, but it may ensure that developing world producers can continue to meet UK demand.

Publications

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Bebber D (2022) The long road to a sustainable banana trade in PLANTS, PEOPLE, PLANET

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Bebber DP (2019) Climate change effects on Black Sigatoka disease of banana. in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences

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Steinberg G (2020) Fungi, fungicide discovery and global food security. in Fungal genetics and biology : FG & B

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Tibpromma S (2021) Climate-Fungal Pathogen Modeling Predicts Loss of Up to One-Third of Tea Growing Areas. in Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology

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Varma V (2019) Climate change impacts on banana yields around the world. in Nature climate change

 
Description Nutritional diversity is a key element of food security. However, research on the effects of climate change on food security has, thus far, focused on the main food grains, while the responses of other crops, particularly those that play an important role in the developing world, are poorly understood. Bananas are a staple food and a major export commodity for many tropical nations. We have shown that for 27 countries-accounting for 86% of global dessert banana production-a changing climate since 1961 has increased annual yields by an average of 1.37 t h/ha. Past gains have been largely ubiquitous across the countries assessed and African producers will continue to see yield increases in the future. However, global yield gains could be dampened or disappear, reducing to 0.59 t /ha and 0.19 t /ha by 2050 under the climate scenarios for Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 and 8.5, respectively, driven by declining yields in the largest producers and exporters. By quantifying climate-driven and technology-driven influences on yield, we also identified countries at risk from climate change and those capable of mitigating its effects or capitalizing on its benefits.

We modelled the influence of climate change on the most damaging disease of a major tropical food plant, Black Sigatoka disease of banana. Black Sigatoka emerged from Asia in the late twentieth Century and has recently completed its invasion of Latin American and Caribbean banana-growing areas. We parametrized an infection model with published experimental data and drive the model with hourly microclimate data from a global climate reanalysis dataset. We defined infection risk as the sum of the number of modelled hourly spore cohorts that infect a leaf over a time interval. The model showed that infection risk has increased by a median of 44.2% across banana-growing areas of Latin America and the Caribbean since the 1960s, due to increasing canopy wetness and improving temperature conditions for the pathogen. Thus, while increasing banana production and global trade have probably facilitated Black Sigatoka establishment and spread, climate change has made the region increasingly conducive for plant infection.
Exploitation Route Climate risk analyses can be incorporated into planning of future agricultural capacity building by different producer countries.

Disease risk models can be used to predict requirements for disease control measures.
Sectors Agriculture

Food and Drink

 
Description Preliminary results from our work on remote sensing of banana plantations have been used by a remote sensing company (Opus Insights, Netherlands) to identify risk areas for Fusarium Wilt TR4 in Peru. These results are preliminary, and will be reported on publication of our remote sensing methods and other outputs. Our findings have been extensively cited in a recent GIZ-funded report on "Climate change and its effects on banana production in Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Ecuador" by HFFA Research GmbH (a consultancy firm) and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. This report has been used to develop climate change policy for the banana sector by the Subgroup on Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation of the UN FAO World Banana Forum.
First Year Of Impact 2021
Sector Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice
Impact Types Policy & public services

 
Description Agritech Catalyst
Amount Ā£5,350 (GBP)
Funding ID PID 207375 
Organisation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2018 
End 02/2018
 
Description Eden-Exeter Collaboration Fund to study biological control of Panama Disease
Amount Ā£2,937 (GBP)
Organisation The Eden Project 
Sector Private
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2017 
End 09/2017
 
Description GCRF Impact Accelerator Award
Amount Ā£11,500 (GBP)
Funding ID BGIAA10 
Organisation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2017 
End 03/2017
 
Description Horizon 2020
Amount ā‚¬Ā 3,987,404 (EUR)
Funding ID 727624 
Organisation European Commission 
Sector Public
Country European Union (EU)
Start 08/2017 
End 09/2021
 
Description Preparing for Fusarium Wilt of Banana in Latin America and the Caribbean
Amount Ā£43,515 (GBP)
Organisation Waitrose Limited 
Sector Private
Country United Kingdom
Start 12/2019 
End 12/2023
 
Description Remote sensing led monitoring and forecasting of global banana production
Amount Ā£4,970 (GBP)
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 05/2019 
End 10/2019
 
Title CReg.csv from Climate change effects on Black Sigatoka disease of banana 
Description Example of JRA55 estimates of canopy temperature, canopy surface moisture, and RH for a region of Costa Rica, January 2000. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://rs.figshare.com/articles/dataset/CReg_csv_from_Climate_change_effects_on_Black_Sigatoka_dise...
 
Title CReg.csv from Climate change effects on Black Sigatoka disease of banana. 
Description Example of JRA55 estimates of canopy temperature, canopy surface moisture, and RH for a region of Costa Rica, January 2000. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://rs.figshare.com/articles/dataset/CReg_csv_from_Climate_change_effects_on_Black_Sigatoka_dise...
 
Title CReg.csv from Climate change effects on Black Sigatoka disease of banana. 
Description Example of JRA55 estimates of canopy temperature, canopy surface moisture, and RH for a region of Costa Rica, January 2000. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://rs.figshare.com/articles/dataset/CReg_csv_from_Climate_change_effects_on_Black_Sigatoka_dise...
 
Title Fungal and Oomycete cardinal temperatures (the Togashi dataset) 
Description We collated and analysed temperature responses, specifically the minimum (Tmin), optimum (Topt) and maximum (Tmax) temperatures that comprise the 'cardinal temperatures', of various biological processes for 695 plant-associated microbes (631 fungi and 64 oomycetes) reported in "Togashi, K. (1949). Biological characters of plant pathogens: temperature relations. Meikundo". Cardinal temperatures can be used to derive temperature response functions, or thermal performance curves, using mathematical forms such as the beta function. The biological processes for which cardinal temperatures have been measured vary in their degree of host interaction. Experimental measurements for rates of growth in culture and often spore germination occur under axenic conditions, while infection and disease development occur as interactions with the host plant. Fruiting body formation, or fructification, and sporulation may or may not be measured in planta depending on experimental conditions. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL http://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.tqjq2bvw6
 
Title Guapiles.csv from Climate change effects on Black Sigatoka disease of banana 
Description JRA55 estimates of canopy temperature and RH for comparison with Marin et al. (2003) data 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://rs.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Guapiles_csv_from_Climate_change_effects_on_Black_Sigatoka_...
 
Title Guapiles.csv from Climate change effects on Black Sigatoka disease of banana. 
Description JRA55 estimates of canopy temperature and RH for comparison with Marin et al. (2003) data 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://rs.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Guapiles_csv_from_Climate_change_effects_on_Black_Sigatoka_...
 
Title Guapiles.csv from Climate change effects on Black Sigatoka disease of banana. 
Description JRA55 estimates of canopy temperature and RH for comparison with Marin et al. (2003) data 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://rs.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Guapiles_csv_from_Climate_change_effects_on_Black_Sigatoka_...
 
Title Marin.csv from Climate change effects on Black Sigatoka disease of banana 
Description CSV file of latent periods and incubation periods published in Marin et al. (2003) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://rs.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Marin_csv_from_Climate_change_effects_on_Black_Sigatoka_dis...
 
Title Marin.csv from Climate change effects on Black Sigatoka disease of banana. 
Description CSV file of latent periods and incubation periods published in Marin et al. (2003) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://rs.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Marin_csv_from_Climate_change_effects_on_Black_Sigatoka_dis...
 
Title Marin.csv from Climate change effects on Black Sigatoka disease of banana. 
Description CSV file of latent periods and incubation periods published in Marin et al. (2003) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://rs.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Marin_csv_from_Climate_change_effects_on_Black_Sigatoka_dis...
 
Title Uchoa.csv from Climate change effects on Black Sigatoka disease of banana 
Description AUDPC, temperature and LWD data abstracted from Uchoa (2010) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://rs.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Uchoa_csv_from_Climate_change_effects_on_Black_Sigatoka_dis...
 
Title Uchoa.csv from Climate change effects on Black Sigatoka disease of banana. 
Description AUDPC, temperature and LWD data abstracted from Uchoa (2010) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://rs.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Uchoa_csv_from_Climate_change_effects_on_Black_Sigatoka_dis...
 
Title Uchoa.csv from Climate change effects on Black Sigatoka disease of banana. 
Description AUDPC, temperature and LWD data abstracted from Uchoa (2010) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://rs.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Uchoa_csv_from_Climate_change_effects_on_Black_Sigatoka_dis...
 
Description Bananageddon Documentary production 
Organisation Imperial College London
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution We are partnering independent film makers to produce a documentary on sustainable banana production, to be titled "Bananageddon". The film is being funded in partnership with Imperial College. We will contribute interviews, content expertise, and data visualizations for the documentary.
Collaborator Contribution The documentary will increase our ability to reach a wide audience regarding sustainability issues in banana production and trade, helping us to meet our impact objectives.
Impact The documentary is currently in production.
Start Year 2018
 
Description ETH Zurich resilience analysis 
Organisation ETH Zurich
Country Switzerland 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Our research group is providing analysis of extreme weather impacts on banana production in the Dominican Republic, for an interdisciplinary analysis of resilience of the banana supply chain from the Dominican Republic to the UK.
Collaborator Contribution ETH Zurich are working with banana producers in Dominican Republic to understand the impacts of Hurricanes Maria and Irma on banana production and recovery. ETH Zurich will supply ground-truthing data for our remote sensing analyses.
Impact No outputs to date.
Start Year 2019
 
Description Eden Project Collaboration 
Organisation The Eden Project
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution We are developing a research collaboration with the Eden Project, that aims to investigate the use of companion planting in the control of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense ("Panama Disease"). We will employ metagenomic techniques, using our sequencing tools at Exeter, to investigate changes in the soil microbiome in control and companion-planted soils.
Collaborator Contribution Dr. Rachel Warmington, Plant Pathologist at the Eden Project, is establishing experiments and will assist us in preparing soil samples for analysis.
Impact We have co-supervised two undergraduate projects at Exeter University, addressing biological control of banana diseases. We have been awared a NERC GW4+ DTP CASE studentship with the Eden Project, beginning in September 2018. Our partnership is being developed into educational materials at the Eden Project.
Start Year 2017
 
Description FAO 
Organisation Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)
Department World Banana Forum
Country Italy 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution The economists associated with this award visited the FAO in Rome in April 2017. We met with the economists associated with the World Banana Forum to discuss our methodological approach to measuring price shocks and to discuss data issues. We also met with a wider range of experts who work on food security issues more generally as well as those who work on climate and TR4 issues.
Collaborator Contribution They informed us of their work programme and their priorities and we discussed how our approach may interact with their priorities. They also highlighted the resources that would be allocated to understanding TR4 issues across all divisions in the FAO.
Impact The outcome is to develop further collaboration in the future not just with the World Banana Forum who have a direct interest in this issue but also across other divisions who are focussed on disease and climate issues. In that context, the interaction was inter-disciplinary insofar as economists were interacting with plant scientists and value chain experts.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Remote sensing led monitoring and forecasting of global banana production 
Organisation CorporaciĆ³n Bananera Nacional
Country Costa Rica 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution We are analysing satellite remote sensing data to identify banana plantations in Costa Rica and other countries.
Collaborator Contribution CORBANA are providing ground-truthing data for satellite-derived estimates of banana plantation locations. CORBANA hosted a meeting in September 2019 to discuss the project, which members of the Exeter team attended. University of Sussex is assisting with development of efficient computational methods for the analyses.
Impact We obtained a small grant (£8000) for STFC FN+ to develop this collaboration. We presented preliminary results of the project at an STFC conference in Manchester on 5-6 December 2019
Start Year 2019
 
Description UN FAO World Banana Forum 
Organisation Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)
Department World Banana Forum
Country Italy 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution We have invited the WBF Coordinator, Farrah Adam, to join our GCRF-IAA funded meeting in Colombia, along with banana producer organizations from Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Belize and Costa Rica. The meeting will take place on 27-28 March 2017. The WBF Coordinator brings experience in connecting diverse organizations involved in global banana production.
Collaborator Contribution WBF have put our research team into contact with organizations involved in the banana trade, for example the fruit importer Mack. We regularly join WBF teleconferences to discuss banana production and trade issues with other WBF member organizations.
Impact None yet.
Start Year 2016
 
Description Waitrose Agronomy Group 
Organisation Waitrose Limited
Department Waitrose Agronomy Group
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution I will be the main supervisor of a PhD on biological control of banana disease, co-funded by Exeter University and Waitrose Agronomy Group. In addition, I am co-supervisor of a PhD on detection of banana disease, funded by Waitrose Agronomy Group CTP, at Warwick University (lead supervisor Prof. Murray Grant). Both PhDs will start October 2019.
Collaborator Contribution Waitrose Agronomy Group is part-funding a PhD on biological control of banana disease.
Impact None to date.
Start Year 2019
 
Title Mapping banana plantations using satellite-borne synthetic aperture radar 
Description We have developed algorithms to map banana plantations using Sentinel 2 SAR data. With funding for a scoping project from the STFC Food Network+ (SFN) programme we have worked with the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex, who have complementary expertise in satellite data analyses, allowing the scaling up of our mapping methods onto high performance computing infrastructure. We are also collaborating with CORBANA in Costa Rica to ground-truth our estimates of where banana plantations are found. Through these collaboration we recently completed preliminary mapping of large parts of Central and South America, and the Caribbean at a resolution of 10m, achieving an accuracy of 98%. 
Type Of Technology Software 
Year Produced 2019 
Impact We have presented preliminary outcomes to a group of industry stakeholders. We are now looking for additional funding to enable us to develop a global map of banana plantations. 
URL https://bananex.org/2020/03/04/toward-a-global-banana-map/
 
Description Article describing BananEx research project 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Published a short article describing the BananEx project and risks to banana production and trade in the online magazine.
The magazine, which is viewed by thousands of will report downloads and reads of the article after 3 months.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.adjacentopenaccess.org/farming-environment-marine-sustainable-news/exeter-university-tack...
 
Description Article on banana disease in New York Post 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Article "Bananas could go extinct due to fungus outbreak, scientists say" published in New York Post, written by Ben Cost, published 24 October 2023
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://nypost.com/2023/10/24/lifestyle/bananas-could-go-extinct-due-to-fungus-outbreak-scientists/
 
Description IInternational conference presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presented new framework for assessing the impact of shocks in the banana (and other commodity) markets which takes account of the global characteristics of the 'missing middle' in the global market. This was the first presentation at an academic conference of this new framework. The audience comprised of academics with expertise in commodity market analysis.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description ITV News 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Interviewed by Chris Choi (ITV News) for a piece on banana disease. Item appeared on ITV News on 10 November 2019.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description International conference presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presentation of empirical results relating to impact of weather fluctuations on export prices across banana exporting countries.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description International conference presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This presentation involved the presentation of 'new' research results relating to the impact of climate events on the UK banana market and the lack of price transmission of shocks to UK consumers.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description International conference presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presentation at international conference relating to econometric methodology that reported new results relating to weather fluctuations and prices in the banana export market. The audience comprised of researchers in theoretical and empirical econometrics.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Interview in the Guardian 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Interviewed by the Guardian on implications of gene editing for crop protection, specifically for fusarium wilt of banana.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/jun/18/scientists-scramble-to-stop-bananas-being...
 
Description Interview on Farming Today (BBC Radio 4) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Interviewed about potential impact of Panama Disease TR4 on banana production and global banana trade, in context of BananEx research project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07x19h2
 
Description Interview with Wired magazine 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Interviewed by Wired magazine on implications of gene editing for crop protection.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.wired.co.uk/article/cavendish-banana-extinction-gene-editing
 
Description Interviewed by Simon Bates on BBC Radio Devon 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Interviewed by Simon Bates on his breakfast show on BBC Radio Devon on 13th October 2016.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Invited departmental seminar 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Invited departmental seminar at the University of Bournemouth
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Keynote address at ACORBAT 2018 conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Keynote address at the ACORBAT 2018 congress in Miami, 4th May 2018. ACORBAT is an international banana congress attended by delegates from industry, academia, and third sector, primarily from across Latin America.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.expoplaza.ec/acorbat-2018-3/
 
Description Keynote presentation at CORBANA International Banana Congress 2019 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Talk on climate change effects on banana production to an international meeting of banana production and trade industry members.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://congresointernacionaldebanano.com/
 
Description Presentation on BananEx at the World Banana Forum conference, Geneva 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact The BananEx project was presented to delegates at the 3rd World Banana Forum (WBF) conference in Geneva on 8-9th November 2017. The UN FAO's WBF conference is one of the largest international conferences on banana production and trade, attended by delegates from across the policy, industry, NGO and research sectors around the world. The presentation was highly successful in generating interest for collaboration with BananEx from both UK importers and retailers, and producer organizations in developing countries.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014,2017
URL http://www.fao.org/world-banana-forum/wbf3/wbf3/en/
 
Description Presentation on disease impacts on banana production 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact 20 industry representatives from UK and international retailers and importers attended a workshop in London on 19th February 2018 to discuss risks to sustainable banana production and trade. Members of the BananEx team gave talks on risks from climate, disease and price shocks, followed by interactive discussion on risk assessment and mitigation options. The participants mentioned interest in further discussions relating to taking action to mitigate supply chain risks, via a regular industry forum. We are in process of discussing ways in which to build further collaboration.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Stakeholder engagement workshop, London 2019 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact We held a half-day workshop with representatives of some of the UK's largest retailers and food importers, along with the secretary of the UN FAO World Banana Forum and NGOs including Banana Link and Rainforest Alliance, and representatives of the UK Global Food Security Food System Resilience programme. The research team presented their findings, followed by discussion on research priorities, and establishment of a UK banana network to promote knowledge exchange and best practice.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Sunday Times review article on banana sustainability 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Dan Bebber was interviewed for a review article on banana sustainability, written by journalist Harry Wallop.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/unpeeled-the-inside-story-of-britains-favourite-fruit-banana-bwsn...
 
Description Talk on plant pathogens and climate change at the Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact I gave a talk on the responses of plant pathogens to climate change at the Sainsbury Laboratory, to around 30 researchers.
I met with Prof Peter van Esse, Dr Sarah Schmidt (also working on Panama Disease), and Dr Diane Saunders (working on wheat stem rust). We are developing research collaborations together.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017