The global food system is under growing threat from climate change and few crops embody this vulnerability more starkly than the banana. As the world’s most consumed fruit and the fourth most important food crop after wheat, rice, and maize, the banana plays a crucial role in global diets and economies. ^[1] Yet its future is increasingly precarious and is struggling to cope with rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and intensifying extreme weather events. More than just a fruit in jeopardy, the banana is a symbol of the deeper structural fragilities that plague our food systems - a stark warning of the challenges climate change poses to agriculture worldwide.

A Crop on the Edge

Bananas are essential to global food security and economic livelihoods, particularly in many of the least-developed, low-income, food-deficit countries. Globally, over 400 million people depend on bananas for up to 27% of their daily caloric intake, highlighting their importance as a critical dietary staple. In 2023, the global banana trade reached a value of USD 15.8 billion. ^[2] Among 1,217 products traded internationally that year, bananas ranked 254th in terms of trade value, representing approximately 0.07% of global trade. Ecuador led global exports with USD 4.51 billion, followed by Costa Rica (USD 1.74 billion) and Guatemala (USD 1.55 billion). On the import side, the US was the largest market, importing bananas worth USD 2.99 billion, followed by China (USD 1.21 billion) and Japan (USD 940 million). Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean continue to dominate the global banana trade, accounting for nearly 80% of total exports.

Bananas flourish in low-altitude environments with temperatures between 15°C and 35°C and relative humidity levels of 75% to 85%. However, climate change is increasingly disrupting these optimal growing conditions through more frequent and intense heatwaves, droughts, floods, and tropical storms. Beyond extreme weather, climate change is also exacerbating the spread and severity of plant diseases. Warmer, wetter conditions are creating ideal environments for fungal and soil-borne pathogens to thrive. One of the most damaging is Black Leaf Streak (BLS), a fungal disease that can reduce a banana plant’s photosynthetic capacity by up to 80%. Even more destructive is Panama Disease, particularly the Tropical Race 4 (TR4) strain - a soil-borne fungus that invades the plant’s vascular system. Once TR4 infects a plantation, the land becomes unsuitable for future banana cultivation. The fungus spreads rapidly through water and soil, especially during flooding, and is notoriously difficult to contain.

Banana’s vulnerability is further heightened by the lack of genetic diversity. While more than 1,500 banana varieties exist worldwide, international trade is overwhelmingly dominated by a single type - the Cavendish. This variety is favoured for its long shelf life, high yields, and historical resistance to earlier strains of Panama disease. However, its genetic uniformity leaves bananas supply dangerously exposed to emerging diseases and the escalating impacts of climate change. A similar crisis unfolded nearly a century ago when the Gros Michel, the then-dominant commercial banana, was wiped out by TR1. Instead of addressing the root issue through genetic diversification, the food industry simply substituted one clone with another. Today, TR4 - a more virulent strain - is spreading rapidly across banana-growing regions, with climate change accelerating its reach and severity. If these trends continue, up to 60% of the world's most productive banana-growing areas could be rendered unsuitable by 2080, posing a grave threat to global food security and the livelihoods of millions who depend on bananas. ^[3]

What This Means for Global Food Security

The banana’s predicament is far from unique - it reflects a deeper, systemic issue within modern agriculture. As farming has become increasingly industrialized and globalized, both the diversity of crops and the genetic variation within them have been severely reduced, leading to a dangerously uniform global food supply. Of the roughly 30,000 edible plant species known to humanity, only around 6,000 to 7,000 have ever been cultivated. ^[4] Of these, just 170 are grown today on any commercially significant scale. Even more concerning, only nine accounts for 66% of total crop production and only three (rice, wheat, and maize) accounted for over 40% of the world’s daily caloric intake.

This narrowing of our agricultural base has created a fragile food system, one that is ill-equipped to cope with the stresses of a rapidly changing climate. Crops with limited genetic diversity - like the Cavendish banana - are particularly vulnerable and will likely be among the first to fail under escalating environmental pressures. The message is clear: our overdependence on a small number of genetically uniform crops is an increasingly dangerous gamble. To ensure a resilient and secure food future, we must reintroduce diversity - not just in what we grow, but in how we cultivate, distribute, and consume food. This means investing in climate-resilient and disease-resistant crop varieties, revitalizing traditional agricultural knowledge, empowering smallholder farmers, and expanding our dietary and agricultural repertoire beyond the dominant global staples.

The Case for Indigenous and Traditional Crops

Indigenous and traditional crops have long been overlooked by modern agriculture and are therefore often referred to as “neglected” or “forgotten” crops. Among their most significant contributions is the enrichment of human diets. Unlike many industrially cultivated staples, indigenous and traditional crops are frequently dense in essential nutrients, offering a natural solution to malnutrition and diet-related health issues. Beyond their nutritional value, traditional and indigenous crops play a vital role in safeguarding agricultural systems. Modern farming practices - particularly monocropping or the repeated cultivation of a single crop - have led to soil degradation, increased vulnerability to pests and diseases, and a sharp decline in biodiversity. This approach creates fragile ecosystems that are easily disrupted. In contrast, integrating a wider range of indigenous and traditional crops enables practices like intercropping and crop rotation, which naturally enrich the soil, break pest and disease cycles, and enhance ecosystem resilience.

Crucially, many indigenous and traditional crops are inherently climate-resilient. They have evolved to thrive in challenging conditions where conventional crops falter. With climate change bringing more frequent droughts, floods, and extreme temperatures, such hardy crops represent a lifeline for farmers facing increasingly unpredictable environments. These crops also carry with them a wealth of traditional knowledge - farming practices honed over centuries to suit local ecosystems. Indigenous agricultural methods such as terracing, organic fertilization, seed saving, and efficient water use are not only environmentally sustainable but also highly adaptable to modern climate challenges. Preserving and integrating this knowledge into contemporary farming systems can lead to more sustainable and efficient agricultural models.

Finally, indigenous and traditional foods crops hold immense potential to strengthen local livelihoods. Their exclusion from mainstream markets has less to do with inherent value and more to do with a lack of investment, research, and commercial recognition. With the right support, these crops can unlock new economic opportunities for smallholder and family farmers, helping to diversify incomes, enhance regional food security, and reduce dependence on expensive food imports. Many of these crops are also well-suited for intercropping or improving soil fertility, further boosting agricultural productivity and sustainability. By elevating their status in local and global markets, we not only preserve agricultural heritage but also empower communities to build more resilient and self-reliant food systems.

The Case of India

India is richly endowed with a diverse array of indigenous and traditional crops that have long supported local diets, ecological balance, and cultural practices. These crops - ranging from resilient millets and nutrient-dense legumes to wild leafy greens, tubers, and fruits - have evolved over centuries through farmer-led selection, adapting to specific agro-climatic zones and playing a crucial role in ensuring food and nutritional security, particularly for rural and tribal communities. In addition to their dietary significance, many of these crops are intertwined with traditional knowledge systems, rituals, and medicinal practices, reflecting a deep cultural heritage.

However, this rich agricultural diversity has gradually diminished, largely due to the sweeping changes introduced during the Green Revolution. While the Green Revolution boosted food grain production, especially of wheat and rice, it did so by promoting a narrow set of high-yielding varieties that required intensive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation. This shift marginalized indigenous and traditional crops, particularly those not suited for large-scale monocultures or lacking commercial market value. The outcome has been a steady erosion of crop diversity, the decline of indigenous farming knowledge, and increased ecological vulnerability due to reduced genetic variety in farms. The loss of these crops is not just an ecological concern but also a nutritional one. Many indigenous and traditional crops are climate-resilient, nutrient-rich, and better suited to low-input farming systems, making them vital in the face of climate change, soil degradation, and rising malnutrition. Reviving and reintegrating these crops into mainstream agriculture is essential for building resilient food systems that are both sustainable and culturally inclusive. Some examples of indigenous and traditional crops found across India include the following: ^[5]

• Cereals: Red rice, foxtail millet, finger millet. .
• Nuts and legumes: Horse gram, hairy wetch, field bean, rice bean, jack bean, sword bean, pot cassia, Job’s tears, perilla. .
• Green leafy vegetables: Malabar spinach, basella leaves, vegetable fern, gaam oying, weaver’s beam tree, polpala/kapurijadi, red amaranth, drumstick leaves, agathi leaves, kantha leaves, Himalayan mayflower, yellow gulmohar, kaattupaaval, lesua, star gooseberry. .
• Other vegetables: Kachnar flower, sanai flower, kattian/kasai, breadfruit, spiny bitter gourd, wild plantain and flower. .
• Roots and tubers: Indian yam, five leaf yam, nurai, floating lace plant, swallow root, anantmul, aromatic ginger. .
• Fruits: Banyan fruit, zoge, bird cherry, sohngang rit, soh priam khlaw, soh phoh khlaw, soh-mlum/sohma, sohthliem.

Conclusion

The banana’s growing vulnerability to climate change serves as a stark warning of what could await other staple crops if we fail to act swiftly and decisively. Securing the future of our food systems demands bold, forward-looking strategies that prioritize resilience, sustainability, and equity. This entails diversifying not only what we grow on our farms but also what we consume and how we shape our food policies. It requires renewed investment in neglected and underutilized crops, a deeper respect for traditional agricultural knowledge, and the revitalization of local and regional food systems. The foods of the future may not be novel inventions from laboratories or distant markets - they may already exist, embedded in our history, in the form of resilient, nutrient-dense crops that were once cast aside but now offer vital solutions for a secure and sustainable food future.

End Notes

^[1] Kramer, Kat and Joe Ware. 2025. “Going Bananas: how climate change threatens the world’s favourite fruit.” Christian Aid. May. https://www.christianaid.org.uk/resources/our-work/going-bananas-report
^[2] “Bananas.” Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). Undated.
https://oec.world/en/profile/hs/bananas
^[3] Kramer, Kat and Joe Ware. 2025. “Going Bananas: how climate change threatens the world’s favourite fruit.” Christian Aid. May. https://www.christianaid.org.uk/resources/our-work/going-bananas-report
^[4] “Once neglected, these traditional crops are our new rising stars.” Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). October 10, 2018. https://www.fao.org/newsroom/story/Once-neglected-these-traditional-crops-are-our-new-rising-stars/en Also see: FAO. 2019. The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture, J. Bélanger & D. Pilling (eds.). FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Assessments. Rome. 572 pp.
https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/50b79369-9249-4486-ac07-9098d07df60a/content
^[5] Kapoor, Ridhima, Manisha Sabharwal, and Suparna Ghosh-Jerath. 2022. Indigenous Foods of India: A Comprehensive Narrative Review of Nutritive Values, Antinutrient Content and Mineral Bioavailability of Traditional Foods Consumed by Indigenous Communities of India.” Front. Sustain. Food Syst. Volume 6. April 28. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.696228/full

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