Bananas Flashcards
How many people are bananas a staple food for?
400 million
Why are bananas important?
4th most important food in LICs
In 2013, how many tonnes of bananas were traded?
16.5 million
What percentage of bananas from Colombia are exported to Europe?
80%
What percentage of Ecuador’s GDP is made up of income from bananas?
10%
Why do the ACP nations not trade as many bananas as Latin America?
- consumed domestically
- too poor to afford tariffs (link to banana wars, EU)
- less FDI invested as fewer TNCs present
What is a monoculture?
growing only one crop on a farm
What is comparative advantage?
countries specialising in products that they have the best climate/skills/resources
What is repatriation of profits?
TNCs sending profits made back to source countries/HQs
Why do many countries in Latin America specialise in growing bananas?
- comparative advantage -> climate
- large market/demand
- cheaper to produce as only a primary product
What are the issues with specialising in bananas?
- rely on demand/tastes of EU/global market
- low value product -> debt
- less money earned -> less taxes paid
- monoculture could lead to widespread disease and pests -> collapse of income
What is meant by ‘race to the bottom’?
- TNCs increase profits
- reduces the value and price paid to producers
What factors enable the trade of bananas?
- trade agreements
- security
- transport
What flows are involved in the trade of bananas?
- products
- remittances
- FDI
- labour
- capital
What percentage of the value of a banana goes to workers?
7%