What are empowerment bananas?

Empowerment bananas are fair trade bananas! We call them empowerment bananas because of the potential this type of product has on the producer. Empowerment bananas create a relationship between the producer and the consumer whereby the consumer opts to connect with the producer by purchasing a product that betters the producer's livelihood by offering a fair wage for his/her product. This type of relationship empowers producers and doesn't leave them at the mercy of markets.

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A little Banana History

The history of banana trade is one of colonialism, deforestation, contamination, labor abuses and corporate control of economies and foreign governments. One example of oppression under the Banana trade dates back to the United Fruit Company, during the late 19th century. As a matter of fact, during the 20th century, bananas and coffee dominated the export economies of Central America and in the 1930's made up as much as 75% of the regions exports. The United Fruit Company based its business almost entirely on banana trade generating the term “banana republics" which was used to describe countries with economies dominated by the banana trade. Having been an American company, the United Fruit Company had an incredible amount of “influence" within these banana republics.

These Prices are Bananas!!

In more recent history, in the late 1990s, the international market experienced an oversupply of bananas, primarily due to the higher availability of export bananas from Ecuador and some other exporting countries. One of the main causes was due to the liberalization (releasing of tariffs) in the European Union market after they established the Banana Regime market. As a result, in the 1980s, many banana marketing companies expanded their infrastructure to prepare for increased market share they perceived they would have due to the EU Banana Regime. However, an international dispute with the WTO created market uncertainties and limited the action of banana market operators. These events coupled with the sluggish growth in demand in saturated markets in the US and the EU resulted in lower banana prices. The lower the international price of bananas, the less the producer gets paid for his crop regardless of the money he/she invested in producing that crop.

Moreover, supermarkets too have reduced their margins in recent years, causing producers to receive economic pressures in the form of lower prices from several different ends. Because banana production is capital intensive and labor intensive, the majority of independent growers are large and wealthy landowners of these countries. The main players in banana production include Chiquita, Del Monte, Dole and Fyfes who grow their bananas in Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Dominican Republic and Guatemala.

Why Empowerment Bananas are Important

Bananas are among the most widely consumed foods in the world and rank among the top ten most consumed food crops. World exports of bananas come mainly out of “developing" countries. Latin America and the Caribbean supplied more than 80% of total exports in 2003, according to the FAO.  The four main exporter countries (Ecuador, Costa Rica, Philippines and Colombia) accounted for two thirds of the world exports.
These statistics are telling as they illustrate vulnerability for these producers when market prices drastically decrease. For example, the FAO reports that St. Lucia's banana exports are 49% over total exports. This means that 1/2 of their export revenue stream comes from bananas. Similarly, Ecuador's banana export in 2000 represented 16.7% of total exports and Costa Rica's banana exports represented 23.1% of total exports.

From these statistics is where the idea of empowerment bananas is born.  Empowerment bananas stem from the idea of deconstructing some of the abusive practices historically associated with the banana trade. Therefore, what empowerment bananas are essentially doing is offering producers a buffer to sways in international banana prices. In short, empowerment bananas make a difference because they:

1. Protect growers from price decreases created by the market, and
2. They provide an alternative that enables the producer to continue to work and earn his/her livelihood.

Our Role

USFT is committed to creating international linkages between producers and consumers in ways that help empower communities. We believe that empowerment bananas are the feasible and more ethical alternative over regularly traded bananas. We the consumers have a power vested in us through our consumption; to make a difference in the lives of our friends from different parts of the world. Empowerment bananas are just one alternative that USFT endorses in building the solidarity in our struggle toward social justice.