One of the most traded fruits in Europe and worldwide, dessert bananas have long been produced with a marked recourse to pesticides to control the various pathogens that threaten the crop. New ways are being developed to grow banana that rely less upon pesticides but rather upon agroecological measures and Integrated Pest Management strategies. These operational solutions are continuously refined by researchers, growers and other stakeholders fully implied in ensuring more sustainable banana cropping systems, and further assuring human food and health. This guide, the first of a series of five, starts by examining the lessons taught from an overall analysis of pesticide use in countries producing dessert banana, including representative European ones. Then, it goes through the main alternative or innovative solutions to reduce, in the short and mid- term, pesticide use in bananas. In particular these solutions are highlighted to alleviate fungicide, nematicide and insecticide use, which are the main pesticides used in dessert banana farming. Four following guides complete, or more specifically, exemplify the solutions recommended in this first guide.