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Home , African Great Lakes

Chapter 1

TRENDS IN WORLD COMMON

BEAN PRODUCTION

Douglas Pachico* The common or dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is produced primarily in tropical low-income countries which account for over three-quarters of the annual world production of 8.5 million metric tons (Table 1). The common bean is the most important food legume in the developing world and in where nearly one million tons of beans are produced annually. European bean production is only slightly less than that of North America, although other pulses are of greater importance.

Table 1. Average world production of common beans during 1982-84. 1 Percentage Production of world (t in thousands) production Developing countries in: 46.7 3983 Sub-Saharan 24.1 2056 West and 3.5 299 East and South Asia 3.0 256 Total developing countries 77.3 6594 Developed countries in: North America 11.6 988 10.4 887 Pacific 0.7 65 Total developed countries 22.7 1940 World 100.0 8534 SOURCE: Compiled by author from FAO, 1983, 1984a, and 1985.

* Agricultural economist and Head, Bean Program, Cent ro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia. 1 In the developing world, small farmers arethe principal producers of beans, often as a secondary crop in association with maize. A high proportion of beans in these countries is consumed on the farm or traded only in local markets. Thus, with limited resources and other pressing demands on the administrative capacity of agricul tural ministries of many developing countries, the difficulties of collecting accurate data on common beans are immense. Con sequently, data for many countries constitute little better than an informed guess. Nor is it only for developing countries that common bean data are problematic. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) notes that some European data on area for common beans are overestimated and, consequently, yields are underestimated because of the combination of data from mixed cropping and monoculture (FAO, 1984a, p .6). World common-bean production can be conveniently grouped into twelve (Table 2), the most important of which are Brazil, Mexico, and eastern African highlands. Beans are a major staple in these regions which together contribute to half of the world's production. The USA and the of are major producers for export markets. Eastern and are also significant producers, although Western Europe is also a major importer. In the African Great Region and , beans are an important staple. West Asian production is concentrated in Turkey and Iran. Per capita consumption of the common bean and its contribu tion to nutrition is highest in the African Region where beans provide one-third of total protein intake and one-eighth of total calories (Table 3). Beans are also very important in the eastern African highlands where one-sixth of proteins come from beans. Among the poor and middle classes in Brazil, Mexico, and Central America, the nutritional importance of beans is almost as high as in eastern Africa. Latin America, the center of origin for the common bean, is the leading bean producer in the world. It contributes more than two- fifths of the total world production with an annual output of about four million metric tons. Beans are by far the most important pulse crop in Latin America, accounting for nearly 80% of total pulse production. The common bean is also the most important food 2 Table 2. Average production and yield of common beans in major production regions during 1982-84. Regiona Production Yield (t in thousands) (kg/ ha) Brazil 1801 458 Mexico 1215 623 Eastern Africa 1157 597 North America 988 1583 606 904 African Great Lakes 571 766 Southern Cone 411 1038 Central America and 375 704 West Asia 299 1103 Western Europe 281 627 256 631 Andean 181 611 a. Regions are defined as: Eastern Africa: , , Somalia, , Eastern Europe: Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, USSR, Yugoslavia African Great Lakes: , , Zaire Southern Cone: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay Central America Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Caribbean: Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama West Asia: Iran, Turkey Western Europe: Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom Southern Africa: Angola, Lesotho, , , South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe Andean: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela SOURCE: Compiled by author from FAO, 1983, 1984a, and 1985.

legume in sub-Saharan Africa which is the second leading bean- producing region with an annual production of two million tons. The combined production of beans in North Africa, West Asia, and East Asia is slightly over half a million tons per year. However, in these regions the common bean is less important than other pulses.

Bean productivity is highest in North America where yields reach about 1.5 t/ha (Table 2). In the Southern Cone, West Asia, and 3 Table 3. Average consumption of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) in major producing regions. Regiona Annual apparent Share of Share of consumption total protein total calorie 1982-84 intake intake 1979-81 1979-81 (kg per capita) (%) (%) Brazil 14.0 12.0 4.2 Mexico 16.5 10.6 5.1 Eastern Africa 19.3 16.9 7.3 North America 2.5 1.1 0.5 Eastern Europe 1.5 0.5 0.2 African Great Lakes 47.7 34.0 13.1 Southern Cone 4.1 2.1 0.9 Central America and 9.8 7.6 2.9 Caribbean West Asia 3.3 2.1 0.9 Western Europe 1.8 1.0 0.4 Southern Africa 4.6 3.0 1.2 Andean 3.2 3.2 1.2 a. Regions are defined in footnote of Table 2. SOURCE: Compiled by author from FAO, 1983, 1984a, 1984b, and 1985.

Eastern Europe, yields are around 1 t/ha. Elsewhere, yields typi cally average 0.6 1/ ha, except in Brazil where productivity is slightly lower. Production growth has been highly variable among bean- producing regions over the last two decades (Table 4). Notable growth has occurred in high-yield regions of the Southern Cone and West Asia. Propelled by export opportunities, Southern Cone bean production increased at an annual rate of 8.4% during 1972-74 to 1982-84. It has surpassed the production of Central America, Western Europe, southern Africa, and the Andean region. The largest absolute gain in bean production occurred in eastern Africa and the African Great Lakes Region where output increased nearly a billion tons over the last two decades (Table 5). Production in eastern Africa grew very rapidly during 1962-64 to 1972-74 at 6.1% per year and output continued to expand from 1972-74 to 4 Table 4. Average growth rates in production of common beans in major producing regions during the periods of 1962-64 to 1982-84. Regiona Annual percentage 1962-64 1972-74 to to 1972-74 1982-84 Brazil 2.2 0.5 Mexico 2.2 3.3 Eastern Africa 6.1 2.8 North America 0.4 0.9 Eastern Europe -0.4 3.1 African Great Lakes 6.0 3.3 Southern Cone 5.1 8.4 Central America and Caribbean 1.0 2.5 West Asia 4.1 3.9 Western Europe -3.3 -3.2 Southern Africa 2.5 1.2 Andean 1.4 0.5 a. Regions are defined in footnote of Table 2. SOURCE: Compiled by author.

Table 5. Average common bean production (t in thousands) in major producing regions during the periods of 1962-64 to 1982-84. Regiona 1962-64 1972-74 1982-84 Brazil 1420 1726 1801 Mexico 742 905 1215 Eastern Africa 523 903 1157 North America 885 917 988 Eastern Europe 476 459 606 African Great Lakes 246 423 571 Southern Cone 120 192 41 1 Central America and Caribbean 273 299 375 West Asia 145 210 299 Western Europe 507 374 281 Southern Africa 184 230 256 Andean 152 173 181 a. Regions are defined in footnote of Table 2. SOURCE: Compiled by author.

5 1982-84 at 2.8% per year. The African Great Lakes Region shows a similar pattern of rapid growth in the 1960s, followed by much slower growth in the 1970s.

Mexico has achieved significant advances in bean production over the last two decades, but production has been highly variable, particularly in recent years, and production trends are consequently less consistent than they may appear at first glance.

In most regions of the developing world, growth in bean production has tailed off in the last decade. Brazil, eastern Africa, the African Great Lakes Region, southern Africa, and the Andean zone all experienced slower growth during 1972-74 to 1982-84 than during the previous ten-year period. In the present decade, popula tion growth has outstripped that of bean production in all four regions. Western European production has declined consistently to about half of 1962-64 levels and has dropped from fifth to tenth among bean-producing regions.

Comparison of annual growth rates in yields and area sown provide insights on the causes of declining growth among many bean producers (Table 6). In general, there has been little improve ment in yields. This is true both for slow-growth regions such as the and southern Africa, and for rapid growth regions such as the Southern Cone and West Asia. Area expansion in marginal agricultural lands has been the major source of production growth in Brazil, the African Great Lakes Region, eastern and southern Africa, the Southern Cone, and Central America. Where area expansion has slowed as land became scarcer, as in eastern Africa, the African Great Lakes Region, or the Andes, production growth rates have also fallen.

International trade in common beans is of relatively minor im portance for countries where beans are a major staple such as Brazil, Mexico, eastern Africa, or the African Great Lakes Region (Table 7). However, bean imports can be critically important to Brazil and Mexico in order to supplement periodic production shortfalls. For example, Mexico imported an average of 400,000 t/yr in both 1980 and 1981. Other "production shortfall" importers are Cuba (73,000 t/yr) and Venezuela (65,000 t/yr). The biggest market for beans is

6 Table 6. Average growth rates for yield and area of common beans in major producing regions during 1962-64 to 1982-84. Regiona Yield Area (annual percentage) (annual percentage) 1962-64 1972-74 1962-64 1972-74 to to to to 1972-74 1982-84 1972-74 1982-84 Brazil -0.7 -2.8 3.0 3.1 Mexico 3.9 0.9 -1.5 2.3 Eastern Africa -0.7 0.8 6.7 1.9 North America -0.3 1.1 0.7 -0.3 African Great Lakes 0.4 1.7 5.6 1.6 Southern Cone 0.0 1.2 5.2 7.3 Central America and Caribbean 1.1 -0.4 -0.1 2.9 West Asia 1.1 -1.8 3.1 5.7 Western Europe 2.3 0.1 -5.7 -3.3 Southern Africa 0.7 -0.7 1.8 1.9 Andean -0.3 0.8 1.7 -0.3 a. Regions are defined in footnote to Table 2. SOURCE: Compiled by author.

Table 7. Average international trade in common beans during 1982-84. Regiona Net trade Net value Trade as share balance^ of balance of production (t in thousands) (US$ in millions) (%) Brazil -18 -14 1.0 Mexico -22 -26 1.8 Eastern Africa +26 +8 2.2 North America +349 + 181 35.4 Eastern Europe +5 +0.2 0.8 African Great Lakes 0 0 0 Southern Cone +215 +75 52.3 Central America and Caribbean -85 n.a.c 22.7 West Asia +6 +4 2.6 Western Europe -350 -158 124.6 Southern Africa -32 -22 12.5 Andean -80 -34 44.2 a. Regions are defined in footnote to Table 2. b. Negative numbers indicate imports and positive numbers indicate exports. c. n.a.: Data not available. SOURCE: Compiled by author from FAO unpublished data. 7 Western Europe which imports over half of its consumption requirements. The principal exporters are United States (311,000 t/yr), Argentina (177,000 t/yr), and Chile (38,000 t/yr).

References

FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations). 1983. FAO production yearbook, 1982, vol. 36. FAO statistics series no. 47. Rome, Italy. . 1984a. FAO production yearbook, 1983, vol. 37. FAO statistics series no. 55. Rome, Italy. . 1984b. Food balance sheets: 1979-81 average. Rome, Italy.

. 1985. FAO production yearbook, 1984, vol. 38. FAO statistics series no. 61. Rome, Italy.

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