Latin American countries export to the United States, Canada, Europe, Russia and the Asia-Pacific region. They are called ‘dollar’ countries because they traditionally belong to the zones of influence of the US dollar, but also because their banana industry is often associated with US multinational companies that control directly or indirectly 60 per cent of their banana exports. Some national growers’ companies are also present on the international market: Noboa/Bonita and Reybanpac/Favorita in Ecuador, Caribana and Acon Group in Costa Rica, Uniban/Turbana and Banacol in Colombia (see Companies for more information).

For Ecuador and Costa Rica in particular, bananas represent a very important source of income.

The main Latin American banana exporting countries are:

Source: FAO Banana Statistics 2005 report

Typically Latin American production occurs in large monoculture plantations, using high levels of chemical inputs. Labour conditions are usually very poor, with workers being required to work long hours at very low rates of pay. Rights of association and collective bargaining are often denied and union busting is endemic in the region. The large plantations are also frequently responsible for extremely damaging environmental impacts.

The monoculture plantations of Latin America (and increasingly Asia and Africa) can extend to over 2,000 acres and require massive capital investments in roads, drainage and irrigation, cable ways and packing facilities.

Ecuador, Colombia and Peru are the only countries among the major banana exporters which still have a few thousand small banana farmers alongside the large-scale plantations. The smallholders fulfil a vital buffer function for the banana exporters. They buy from small producers when the demand on the international market is high, but if less bananas are consumed on the market,they are forced to sell them well below their cost of production. Intensive banana monoculture results in very high yields - 50-80 tonnes per hectare compared with 8-20 tonnes per hectare in the Windward Islands.

In the ‘dollar’ zone, high yields are possible thanks to intensive production methods and the use of very large quantities of external inputs (fertilisers, pesticides, plastic etc). Workers’ wages are often low, and their right to freedom of association and collective bargaining often denied.

Working conditions are made worse by the intensive use of pesticides. Pesticide use seriously affects the health of workers and their families living on or around the plantations in precarious conditions. They can get sprayed with the plants, their water supply is contaminated, and their children play in places that are riddled with harmful chemicals. Studies conducted by the National University of Heredia in Costa Rica reveal that rates of pesticide poisonings are three times higher in the banana regions than in the rest of the country. They also show that cases of sterility and cancers are more and more frequent among workers. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in 1995, the average use of pesticide in the banana plantations of Costa Rica is 44/kg/ha/year - compared to 2.7 kg/ha/year for arable crops in industrialised countries. A recent Swedish environmental study suggests this figure has not reduced.

These huge plantations have a significant environmental impact including soil erosion, water pollution, deforestation and a steady increase in pests and diseases that can only be fought with more harmful pesticides.  Aerial spraying of pesticides contributes to water and land contamination. The colonisation of large tracts of land by banana companies has often driven out indigenous populations and accelerated deforestation and soil depletion, provoking more frequent and more dramatic flooding of the land.

Despite damage caused to human and environmental health, the price of ‘dollar’ bananas in North America and  Europe remains low.  This is possible because social and environmental costs of the product are ‘externalised’ (i.e. they are not reflected in the final price).  Both multinational companies and national producer companies pay low wages, offer little job security, and often impose at least 12 hour days on their workers. 
 
Websites

COLSIBA: Coordination of Latin American Banana Workers' Trade Unions (Spanish only)

FENACLE (Spanish only)

COSIBAH (Spanish only)

SITRAP

Foro Emaus, a Coalition of Costa Rican NGOs (Environmental, Human Rights, Indigenous People etc) Working Towards a More Sustainable Costa Rican Banana Industry

Aseprola - Asociaciervicios de Promociaboral (available in Spanish only)

US Labor Education in the Americas Project (US/LEAP)

Sopisco News - weekly trade bulletin 
 
Corbana - National Banana Corporation of Costa Rica
 
Database of UPEB - Union of Banana Exporting Countries

Links to many Latin American Newspapers & Journals