There is no future for Latin American banana cultivation if the situation does not change
Fresh Banana
Published Jan 25, 2022
Tridge summary
This is what Marike De Peña, a small organic grower from the Dominican Republic and chairwoman of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Small Growers of Fairtrade Bananas, tells Deutsche Welle, a German, internationally oriented broadcaster. "Profit margins have been declining for decades now and social and environmental standards are getting higher and higher. The price for a box of bananas no longer covers production costs.
Original content
This is what Marike De Peña, a small organic grower from the Dominican Republic and chairwoman of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Small Growers of Fairtrade Bananas, tells Deutsche Welle, a German, internationally oriented broadcaster. "Profit margins have been declining for decades and social and ecological standards are getting higher and higher. The price for a box of bananas no longer covers production costs. And I'm not talking about sustainable cultivation, but just conventional." "It is no longer workable for the price to be set in Europe. The price should be determined by who grows the product, not who buys it," she emphasizes. That is why De Peña welcomes the decision of seven Latin American banana countries in mid-January 2022 to unite and put pressure on European buyers. "It is the first time that countries that normally compete with each other have made an effort to unite. Hopefully it can avert the disaster that the banana sector is heading for," she says. ...
By clicking “Accept Cookies,” I agree to provide cookies for statistical and personalized preference purposes.
To learn more about our cookies, please read our Privacy Policy.