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
EGASBP economic benefits
Helps migrant labourers buy land, fair wage, long-term contracts, direct international market access, extra capital reinvested
EGASBP social benefits
El Guabo clinic, food baskets, social security system membership, special needs school, marginalised groups helped with jobs
