Bananas Flashcards
Role in supermarkets
Loss leaders
Rank as a traded agricultural commodity
5th most traded worldwide
Rank as an LIC food product
4th most important, 90 kcal/100g, daily potassium requirement
Growth location
Hot rainy lowlands of less developed tropical areas export to more developed, 80% exports Latin American and Caribbean, mainly TNCs, some smaller scale family farms in Caribbean
Growth issues
Deforestation, biodiversity, 2 tonnes waste/1 tonne bananas
TNCs
60% production dominated by 4 and Ecuadoran producer Noboa in 2002, now only 45%, W African relocation in ‘race to the bottom’, apply 30kg active ingredients/ha/yr
1975 Lome Convention
Former European colonies given tariff-free EU imports
1992 TNCs complained to WTO
Claimed unfair trade although still supplying 75%
1997 EU orders
To cease Lome convention
2009 Geneva Banana Agreement
EU gradually reduced Latin American tariffs
Banana republic
Country where economy is dependent on one/few commodities so unstable and export-oriented
Fairtrade
Tries to link organisations in economic N and S the advises, organises, and lends seed money
Fairtrade bananas
1/3 in 2018
Fairtrade longevity
Growing consumer conscience, FLO-CERT monitors, 1st sold in US 1940s world shops
El Guabo Association of Small Banana Producers context
Established 1997 in SW Ecuador, exports 30,000 weekly boxes
