Blog post

Informal midstream actors connect dragon fruit producers to urban consumers

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January 24, 2025

Dragon fruit is a new product in Bangladesh and is mainly consumed by urban middle classes. Informal midstream actors connect producers to consumers and take the large part of the value that is created. There are different opportunities for farmers to be better connected to urban off-takers. With the further expansion of the dragon fruit value chains, there are employment opportunities for youth and women groups.

By Ted Schrader

Written by Nayeem As Saquib (retired, part-time consultant for crop and fruit value chains, Bangladesh) and edited by Ted Schrader (Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation).

This blog is part of the informal economies trajectory of Wageningen University and Research together with alumni from different countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America (KB-35 programme 2023-2024).

Dragon fruit was recently introduced in Western Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a fertile and densely populated country. The tropical climate allows to grow a wide variety of fruits. Dragon fruit is one of these. Private entrepreneurs introduced this exotic fruit about a decade ago. Since then is has gained popularity in the Western part of the country, among others in Jashore district (see map to the right).

Dragon fruit is considered a super food for its high nutrient content and antioxidant properties. Particularly in urban areas, it has become popular among middle-class consumers who like diversifying their diet. Due to growing domestic demand and attractive prices, commercial production has gradually increased over the past 10 years.

Dragon fruit
Dragon fruit

Fresh dragon fruit
Fresh dragon fruit

Dragon fruit grower
Dragon fruit grower

Actor network, marked by many intermediaries

From production to consumption, the dragon fruit value chains involve quite some players, informal and formal, private and public, from input suppliers to consumers.

Some 10,000 farmers produce the dragon fruit, currently on more than 1100 hectares. Farmers collect planting materials (cuttings) themselves from different sources, mainly private nurseries. Government-controlled fertilizer dealers sell inorganic fertilizers, like urea, TSP, MOP and others. Farmers perform the major value chain tasks such as tilling the land, planting, fertilizing, irrigating, weeding, pest management, harvesting and selling.

Farmers sell their dragon fruits mainly to middlemen, either to faria (operating at local village markets) or to bepari (larger produce collectors, sourcing directly from farmers or from bepari). Farmers know the middlemen they sell to. Middlemen do sometimes provide services such as loans or advance payments, which are repaid in kind upon delivery of the dragon fruits.

Bepari supply the produce either to commission based collectors (aratdars) or to wholesalers (paikbars). Wholesalers (paikbars) are prominent figures and the main aggregation points in the dragon fruit value chain. They purchase directly from an aratdar or are using bepari to buy on their behalf.

Dragon fruit is mainly consumed fresh; post-harvest value creation is mainly through storage, transport and packaging. There is no processing of dragon fruits. Due to its high price, most of the consumers are from urban middle- and high-income classes, especially those who are conscious about food quality and nutrition. Farmers cannot reach this urban elite directly, that’s why they have to sell the dragon fruits through the faria and bepari, who thus play a crucial role by connecting producers to consumers. Urban consumers purchase fresh dragon fruits from a diversity of outlets: supermarkets, fruit shops, fruit stalls and street vendors. The small retailers buy the dragon fruits from wholesalers and resell to consumers. Compared to wholesalers, they have limited financial resources. Retailers operate in open markets or have tiny stores in town.

Wholesale market in Jhenidah (Jashore)
Wholesale market in Jhenidah (Jashore)

Dragon fruit has made its place in street markets
Dragon fruit has made its place in street markets

As for now, the government is hardly involved in the dragon fruit value chains. Only the distribution of fertilizers is regulated; assigned dealers operate under the jurisdiction of government agencies. The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute has started efforts to develop new dragon fruit varieties that are resilient to the Bangladesh climate and agro-ecological conditions.

Opportunities and challenges

  • The introduction of dragon fruits is offering an additional opportunity for income generation for many farmers and offers a new high quality food product to the basket of options of middle and higher income consumers. Dragon fruits can thus contribute to the diversification of farming systems, sources of income and to dietary diversity.
  • The price of dragon fruits is still high and not affordable yet for most consumer groups.
  • In the context of multiple intermediary small and large traders, it is hard for farmers to obtain a fair price for their dragon fruits. The price of the fruit is about 2-3 times higher at the consumer level than at the farm gate level.
  • Some larger supermarkets directly purchase fruits form the growers. This may be an opportunity for farmers and farmers’ organisations to earn more.
  • If farmers organize their marketing and manage aggregation centers themselves, there might be more direct business relations between producers and wholesalers.
  • Farmers are not sufficiently acquainted with Good Agricultural Practices. Dragon fruit production can especially be improved with good planting materials, proper fertilization and pest management.
  • There is a need for government services, e.g. agricultural research and extension and quality control.
  • There is a need for appropriate credit for dragon fruit growers to increase production and quality.
  • With the further expansion of the dragon fruit value chains, there are employment opportunities for youth and women groups.