The Royal Banana Monopoly ( it, Regia Azienda Monopolio Banane, RAMB) was a

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a Government, government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn Profit (econom ...

founded in

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...

in 1935, to transport and market bananas harvested in

Italian Somalia Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centur ...

throughout the rest of the

Italian Empire The Italian colonial empire ( it, Impero coloniale italiano), known as the Italian Empire (''Impero Italiano'') between 1936 and 1943, began in Africa in the 19th century and comprised the colonies, protectorates, concessions and dependencie ...

, directly under the control of the Colonial Ministry. Even if the last transport of bananas to Italy happened in early 1940, it survived the first years of

WW2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

– and officially lasted until 1946.

History

When the price of cotton plummeted after 1929, bananas became the most profitable crop in the empire. The RAMB had a small fleet of seven ships, including four newly commissioned

banana boats A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distingu ...

which transported bananas quickly from the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

to Europe. The RAMB worked directly with Italian banana producers in Giuba and

Genale Genale is a town founded by Italian colonists in the southeastern Lower Shebelle (Shabeellaha Hoose) region of Italian Somalia. Currently it is called Janaale. History Genale was created in 1924 by a group of settlers from the Italian city of ...

, who were represented by the Federation of Banana Growers of Somalia (FEBAS). In 1939, were transported 450000 tn of bananas to Italy by the four RAMB ships ("

Ramb I The Italian ship ''Ramb I'' was a pre-war "banana boat" converted to an auxiliary cruiser in World War II. ''Ramb I'' operated as an armed merchant in the Red Sea and was ordered to sail to Japan after the fall of Massawa to the Allies. She wa ...

, "

Ramb II The Italian auxiliary cruiser ''Ramb II'' was a pre-war banana boat built at Monfalcone by the CRDA in 1937. She briefly served as an auxiliary cruiser with ''Regia Marina'' early in World War II before becoming an auxiliary transport with the I ...

", "

Ramb III The Italian auxiliary cruiser ''Ramb III'' was built at Genoa by Ansaldo in 1938. ''Ramb III'' was the third of four sister reefer ships all built to the same design. The other ships were the , the , and the . The four ships were built for the ...

","

Ramb IV Ramb IV was an Italian hospital ship, built at Monfalcone by the United Yards of the Adriatic (''Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico'', CRDA) in 1938. ''Ramb IV'' was the last of four sister ships all built to the same design. The other ships wer ...

") and 3 other cargo ships (the "Capitan Cecchi", the "Capitan Bottego" and the "Duca degli Abruzzi"). Following Italy's entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the banana boats were reclassified for naval use and saw service off the coast of Africa and in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. Of its seven ships, only

survived the war and was converted to a personal yacht for

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

, president of

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

. After Italy regained administrative control of Somalia in 1950, the government reactivated the Banana Monopoly as the ''Azienda Monopolio Banana'' (AMB) with the intent of revitalizing the heavily damaged agricultural industry. The AMB continued to regulate the price and marketing of bananas in Somalia until its dissolution in 1964, four years after the country gained independence.

Fleet

References

Bibliography

* ''Guida dell'Africa Orientale'', C.T.I., Milano 1938. * Calendario Atlante De Agostini, Novara 1960. * ''Banane Fasciste: breve storia della banana italica ai tempi dell'autarchia'', Sergio Salvi, Affinità Elettive ed., Ancona 2018. {{Authority control Italian Somaliland Banana production Government-owned companies of Italy Italian companies established in 1935 Agriculture companies of Italy 1935 establishments in Italian Somaliland Defunct companies of Somalia Companies based in Mogadishu