agriculture

Darién consumers suffer as plantain prices rise

Isabel Castro/LA PRENSA

price surge: Floods last year destroyed much of the Darién’s plantain crop, forcing the region’s largely indigenous population to change their traditional diet, as prices have put staple food out of reach. 1065264

Plantain growers say that the fruit grown in the Darién is superior to those cultivated in other parts of the country. But rising prices have made it harder for families there to enjoy them.

Traditionally, the starchy fruit has been a staple food source for the province’s inhabitants, who are among the poorest in Panama. Lately, however, as food prices are pushed upward by rising fuel and production costs, the plantain is disappearing from dishes across the region. And the Darién’s large indigenous population is poised to suffer the loss most keenly, as the fruit represents a way of life as much as a source of nutrition.

Ermilio Cansarí, a Darién native, said that whereas 50 cents used to buy four plantains, enough to feed his family, prices have risen such that it now only purchases a single plantain.

As a result, he said, the traditional diet is changing as the residents try to compensate for the loss of calories.

“Now the poor can’t eat plantains, because the price has exceeded our budgets,” said Cansarí. “And although it’s still cheaper than rice, people can’t eat as [well] as they did before.”

Flooding in the region last year only added to problem, as many subsistence farms were destroyed, forcing residents to resort to store-bought plantains and other essentials.

Mario Saavedra, a plantain merchant in the rural community of La Peñita, said that meeting the local demand has been difficult this year. Most of the region’s plantations haven’t recovered from the floods, and the short supply of plantains has made for a higher price.

Currently, he said, merchants pay between $9 and $10 for one hundred plantains.

Saavedra pointed to racial discrimination as one cause for the government’s lack of concern about the plantain crisis in the Darién. Instead of assisting farmers in continuing to grow traditional foods such as plantains, the government has encouraged them to turn to other crops, such as corn and rice.

What’s needed, said Saavedra, is for farmers to increase the size of plantain plantations to ensure larger harvests and a crop that they can then sell to buy other products in the basic food basket.

Plantains from the Darién fetch a higher wholesale price than those from the province of Bocas del Toro because of what some customers and describe as a superior taste. Bocas del Toro plantains have the edge in the supermarket, however, as their skins have a cleaner complexion compared to the Darien’s naturally speckled peel, which some buyers think is less appealing.