Colombia’s banana sector will use Fruit Attraction 2026 in Madrid to highlight the growing pressure on production costs and the challenges posed by climate change. Banana associations AUGURA and ASBAMA warn that the combination of extreme weather, currency appreciation and rising input costs is putting the economic sustainability of the sector under pressure, with more than 200,000 jobs directly linked to the industry.
In 2026, more than 4,200 hectares of Colombian banana plantations have suffered severe weather damage. Flooding affected over 1,200 hectares, while strong winds damaged more than 3,000 hectares. As a result, AUGURA and ASBAMA anticipate an overall yield decline of almost 20%.
Climate pressure adds to rising costs
The production challenges are compounded by a difficult economic environment. The appreciation of the Colombian peso against the US dollar has reduced exporters’ revenues in local currency, while the cost of fertilisers and other inputs continues to increase.
At the same time, producers are facing higher investment requirements in areas including water management, infrastructure, plant health, climate adaptation, international certification and traceability. Colombia’s national minimum wage also increased by approximately 23% in 2026.
Water availability represents another growing concern. Colombia’s Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) has highlighted increasing water stress and assigned a 75% probability to El Niño conditions reaching historic severity, adding further uncertainty for a crop that depends heavily on stable water availability and production conditions.
200,000 jobs at stake
The impact extends beyond farm profitability. Colombia’s banana industry directly supports more than 200,000 jobs, while producers and workers have developed a model based on formal employment and social dialogue for more than 38 years.
AUGURA argues that maintaining these employment and sustainability standards requires the entire supply chain to share the growing costs and risks associated with production.
“Colombia has proven that it is possible to produce bananas under formal employment, social dialogue and rigorous sustainability standards,” said Emerson Aguirre Medina, Executive President of AUGURA. He stressed that this model must also remain economically viable and that producers cannot continue absorbing rising costs alone.
The cost of sustainability
The Colombian associations will use their presence in Madrid to raise a broader question about how the European supply chain distributes the cost of increasingly demanding environmental and social standards.
Banana sector says it remains committed to living wages, worker welfare, biodiversity, environmental protection and international compliance standards, but argues that these commitments must also be financially sustainable at origin.
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For José Francisco Zúñiga Cotes, Executive President of ASBAMA, the debate goes beyond the cost of producing bananas. He argues that the sustainability of the sector depends on building a supply chain in which the economic effort, investment and risks are shared across the different market players.
AUGURA and ASBAMA will be available for media interviews at the Colombia Stand during Fruit Attraction, from 6 to 8 October, where they will address climate adaptation, productivity, currency pressures, employment standards and value distribution across European retail markets.
