Strong and influential trade unions are the foundation for true social justice in the world of work, as much in Africa as in any other continent on the planet.
A report published jointly by Banana Link and the International Union of Foodworkers (IUF) examines the situation of workers employed in banana export production in Africa, and why a united voice is necessary to address the challenges faced on plantations.
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BANANA LINK ANNUAL REVIEW 2018 – 19
The vast majority of our work is delivered through partner organisations, whom we enable to achieve scalable and sustainable impact.
In 2018/9 we are proud to have made an impact on the lives of workers and farmers around the world as illustrated in this Annual Review.
THE REVIEW ALSO OUTLINES OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR 2018 – 19
This publication summarises this publication summarises practical progress that trade unions and civil society organisations have made to improve the experiences of women engaged in banana export production.
This is the third and final report of an initial three-year-long Banana Link and Fako Agricultural Workers Union (FAWU) partnership project which aims to improve the living and working conditions for workers on banana plantations in the Fako District in the South West of Cameroon.
The data and research findings published in this report relate solely to the conditions found in Cameroon during the one month research programme carried out on behalf of Banana Link. The data that follows is representative of structured questionnaires which were completed by workers over a period of three and a half weeks at eleven different plantations in the Fako region, in the South West of Cameroon.
This report presents the findings of a research study into the working conditions for a section of Ghanaian banana and pineapple plantation workers, conducted during a one- month period (September 2015) at four plantations who are Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO) certified.
It is the final research survey of a three-year project, funded by Comic Relief and coordinated by Banana Link with support from the local union- General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) of the Trade Union Congress of Ghana.
Between 2013 and 2016, Banana Link worked with the General Agricultural Workers Union of Ghana (GAWU) and the Fako Agricultural Workers Union (FAWU) in Cameroon to educate and empower workers and their unions to negotiate living wages and improved conditions on banana and pineapple plantations.
This report captures just some of Banana Link’s and our partner’s achievements over the past twelve months in working For fair and equitable production and trade in bananas and pineapples, based on environmental, social and economic sustainability.
The Review also outlines our strategic priorities for 2018 – 19
The year 2016 has seen a spate of announcements by supermarkets expressing their renewed commitment to sustainability. The flagship product chosen by many to symbolise this commitment will be bananas and to a lesser extent pineapples. Several chains including Lidl and Aldi are promising 100% certified bananas.
Food sales in modern retailing (hypermarkets, supermarkets and discounters) are increasingly concentrated. In 2014, the ten biggest retailers in Europe accounted for almost 50% of modern retail food sales.
Competition authorities in several member states have begun to question the impact that the market power of supermarkets has on their suppliers, led by the UK, which has created a Groceries Code Adjudicator to regulate the relationship between supermarkets and their suppliers within the United Kingdom.
Up to 90% of fresh fruits and vegetables are sold through modern retailers in Europe. Bananas are a key consumer good for setting the price image of retailers and attracting consumers, creating fierce price competition between retailers. As a result, the average consumer price of bananas in Europe, the main fresh fruit imported from outside Europe, is 25% lower than that of apples, the most consumed local fruit.
Bananas are a major staple as well as an important cash crop in developing countries and the most eaten fruit in Europe and Northern America. For decades, the banana economy has been a key example of trade injustice.
The concentration of power in the hands of a few multinational companies has negatively affected the lives of thousands of banana workers and small farmers. These large fruit companies now compete to be the ‘preferred suppliers’ of the retailers whose increasing market dominance gives them the power to control banana value chains across the globe.
The UK’s grocery retail landscape is undergoing a significant structural change, with online, convenience and discount retailing all registering robust growth.
Most noteworthy is the rapid growth of the online channel (with double-digit figures, UK being the most dynamic online grocery market in the world) but which still only represents 4% of the grocery market.
“Women in the Banana Export Industry: Global Overview” provides a summary of the main findings from three regional reports on the economic aspects of gender issues in the banana sector.
Together, these reports consider the experiences of women workers and small producers across three of the main regional centres of production of bananas for export: Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean.
‘Women in the Banana Export Industry Regional Report on West & Central Africa’ is part of a global report on the economic aspects of gender issues in the banana sector. It analyses key issues for women workers with a particular focus on women’s employment in the region.
The main roles carried out by women in the workplace are identified as are any advances towards Decent Work that have been made through multistakeholder and project activity in West and Central Africa. The report will inform the gender work of the World Banana Forum.
Women in the Banana Export Industry Regional Report on Latin America is part of a global report on the economic aspects of gender issues in the banana sector.
It is based on research conducted in Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua with a primary focus on the situation for hired labour and analyses levels of women’s employment in the region and the key challenges for women workers. The report will inform the work of the World Banana Forum.
Women in the Banana Export Industry Regional Report on the Caribbean is part of a global overview report on the economic aspects of gender issues in the banana sector. Based on desk research of a dozen recent studies, this Report presents the key issues for women workers and small farmers in the Dominican Republic, considered as the region’s new banana exporting “superpower”.
The relevance of the key issues that women small farmers are facing arose during a workshop organised by the Windward Islands Farmers’ Association in late 2014. On this occasion, the most relevant issues were presented together with further recommendations to the World Banana Forum.
What are the barriers to ensuring that a living wage is paid, and what are the root causes of low wages? Almost a century after the ILO constitution recognized the need for workers to earn a living wage, this Oxfam paper outlines the compelling reasons for responsible companies to act now to raise wages that are inadequate to meet the needs of workers and their families.
The paper looks at the positive steps taken in a range of sectors, and provides a framework for deeper change. It highlights initiatives already underway and aims to help companies which source from developing countries to understand the issue and what success looks like from an Oxfam perspective. It includes recommendations, signposts further reading and suggests indicators of good practice.
This paper provides an overview of the discriminatory working conditions and human rights violations on plantations worldwide where the raw materials are produced for those food companies who control the world’s food systems, and increasingly present themselves as champions of the fi ght against hunger and malnutrition. The paper then outlines ways to strengthen the power of plantation workers, and the trade unions that represent them, and proposes policy steps towards an agenda on rights for plantation workers that would ensure their human right to food.
The Fairtrade Foundation commissioned this report in order to understand the dynamics affecting the distribution of value in banana supply chains. We also wanted to assess the impact of the failure to deliver adequate value on the lives of banana farmers and workers and their ability to secure long-term sustainable livelihoods. We wanted to assess how far a falling retail price translates into problems for producers.
Our aim is to set out what can be done to change things for the better. The Fairtrade Foundation wants to see farmers and workers building sustainable, decent futures from the bananas they grow. We hope that this report will be a call to action for government, retailers and the public to build a more sustainable and ethical banana industry.
This paper reports on a visit to three out of the five banana producing provinces of China carried out by Dr. Iain Farquhar in May 2012, on behalf of Banana Link and the Steering Committee of the World Banana Forum.
Since the 1960’s, pineapple production has quadrupled and export has tripled worldwide. While profits for some have tremendously expanded under such development, this report demonstrates how pineapple workers, their families and communities, and the environment in the largest pineapple producing nations have not enjoyed the benefits of such growth.
ILRF’s partner labor advocacy NGOs in Costa Rica, ASEPROLA, and in the Philippines, EILER, have found abundant evidence that labor rights abuses, inhumane working conditions, and environmental degradation have plagued the industry around the world. These groups conducted fi eld research on pineapple plantations and processing facilities.
This research was commissioned by Consumers International as part of an EC funded project to raise awareness amongst European consumers of the impact that supermarket supply chain policies can have on producers, workers and communities in developing countries; and to help bring about positive change.
Three years on from “Dole, behind the smoke screen… Investigation in the banana plantations of Latin America”, this report assesses the progress made as a result of the campaign, but also to consider the numerous issues that remain unresolved and the road left to travel. This is the purpose of this document.
Like the first report, this document is based on contributions from plantation workers and their trade unions in banana producing countries.
The focus of this report is Dole’s Latin American banana operations, although the authors believe that the picture painted is unfortunately representative of many Dole operations around the world.
This report is based on a number of contributions from people on the ground, people working in the plantations, trade unionists and environmentalists, mainly in Latin American banana exporting countries. Our aim is to contribute to a more accurate portrait of the biggest single sector of the company’s operations, as well as to motivate Dole to change its practices in a more sustainable direction with full respect for workers’ rights and the environment.
This paper looks at the impact of changes in the way international supply chains operate on workers and producers in developing countries. Relationships within supply chains can be organised be so that each part of the chain benefits in proportion to its contribution. In this way trade would be reducing poverty. This briefing paper charts the sometimes negative impacts of business practices within our increasingly global trading system and recommends some solutions.
The banana: cheap, colourful and the UK’s firm favourite in the fruit department. But delve into the reality behind the piles of yellow fruit on our supermarket shelves and the story is not always so sunny. This briefing sets out to explain why we all need to go further and make Fairtrade bananas the norm in our shops and supermarkets. It explains why the situation for so many banana producers remains so precarious, describes the impact that Fairtrade has had in the banana sector so far and identifies what more can be done to support those at the bottom of the banana supply chain.
This report is part of a project that seeks to inform European consumers about the impact of supermarket policies on producers and suppliers in developing countries and engage them in actions to support poverty reduction and development. Leading supermarkets in Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain were surveyed on their policies relating to labour conditions and trading relationships in developing country supply chains.
