Fair trade bananas

Five companies control about 80% of the conventional banana trade. This situation, plus the intervention of various governments, has kept the price paid to banana growers and wages to workers a small percentage of the supermarket price. Examples of this effect are the banana wars; the formation of the United Fruit Company (now Chiquita Brands Intl.); the Bananagate bribery scandal; military coups to establish and maintain banana republics. There is ongoing industry conflict with unions. In Colombia, banana companies have been known to get involved with paramilitaries that kill human rights activists and confrontations with labor unions. == Fair trade certification ==

FLO has different standards for small banana farms and larger banana plantations. To be eligible to display a Fair Trade Certification Mark, small farmers must create a panel of both workers and management to determine the best use of the fair trade premiums. Revenues to banana farmers must be equally shared between the working members of the cooperative or association. On larger plantations, the premiums can only be used for improving working and living conditions. Forced labor and labor of children under 16 years of age is prohibited, as is dangerous work. Young adults 16 years of age or older must not work so many hours that they have no time for education. Workers must be allowed to join a union, and be paid at least regional industry average or minimum wage. Although fair trade banana workers' wages are not significantly above industry averages, they receive wage related benefits which increase their overall livelihood. However, many small banana farmers barely make living wages themselves, and the restriction of premiums to community development projects may prevent them from covering basic living expenses. == Environmental impacts ==

The agricultural production of bananas on a large scale often uses more pesticides (and fungicides, fertilizers) than any other fresh fruit commodity. Fair Trade banana production promotes sustainable farming practices, but these result in a higher supermarket price which some consumers are willing to pay for ethical reasons. ==Research and discussion==

Because the banana trade is a large world-wide business, a number of studies have been carried out on various aspects of the fair trade banana market, including political ecology, tariffs and quotas, price competition, organic growing, and retail price wars. Fair trade certification programs have been criticized on several grounds. Griffiths has challenged the ethics of fair trade labels in the fair trade debate, and, in the Journal of Business Ethics, has pointed out instances in which negative research is not published and academics choose only successful coops or fair trade organizations for study. In the Dominican Republic, Shreck found minimum pricing, and exclusivity of certification worsened socioeconomic disparity within farming communities, and limited access for non-certified farmers to the market. Furthermore, Shrek found that the standards of certification programs prioritized market interests over farmer rights and well-being. Frank has argued that fair trade initiatives do not generally foster an empowering partnership between consumers and farmers. ==Foncho campaign==

The Fairtrade Foundation campaign 2014–2016 used Foncho (full name Albeiro Alfonso "Foncho" Cantillo) a farmer from Cienaga, Colombia, and member of a Fairtrade-certified co-operative called Coobafiro as the face for a year long video campaign for schools, starting with a visit to the UK to appear at Fairtrade Fortnight. ==See also==