Fairtrade bananas « All Good Bananas

Cheap, cheerful and always available, bananas are everywhere. New Zealanders eat more of them than any other country – we love them. But the story behind the banana trade isn’t so innocent.

Life’s tough if you work on a banana plantation

The majority of banana plantation works don’t earn enough to live and support their families. Some earn less that $3 a day. However bananas have made big profits for banana companies and supermarkets. To keep prices low – and profit margins high – farmers and plantation workers at the bottom of the supply chain don’t get much in return. This pressure inevitably means lower wages, longer hours, and deteriorating working conditions for the growers. It’s difficult for them to voice their concerns, as they’re often prevented from forming trade unions to protect their rights and improve their situation.

It’s not much better for small-scale banana farmers. Agreements in response to WTO rulings have spelt disaster for small farmers in the Caribbean. In the Windward Islands, more than 20,000 of 25,000 farmers went out of business between 1992 and 2009. And in other countries, such as Ecuador, more and more farmers lose their livelihoods’ each time the price they receive for their bananas falls below the cost of production.

Fairtrade ensures small banana farmers and workers get a fair deal

Fairtrade provides a lifeline for these growers. This is done by an agreed stable price which covers the cost of sustainable production and enables workers to provide for their families. Cooperatives also receive a Fairtrade premium which producer organisations invest in community projects like healthcare and education facilities. Farmers decide themselves how to invest the premium they earn.

There is no other ethical trade initiative that holistically addresses the problems faced by small-scale producers working at the far end of global supply chains, over which they have no influence, but in which decisions that are made affect their whole lives.