Latin American banana growers seek support from the Rainforest Alliance due to increased costs

The unions of seven banana producing countries, including Ecuador, exposed the adverse outlook for producers in international markets

Producers and exporters of bananas, plantains and other musaceae from Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic held a first meeting with the CEO of the Rainforest Alliance, Santiago Gowland.

Rainforest Alliance is an international non-governmental organization with staff in more than 20 countries and operations in more than 70 countries. It is also a world leader in sustainability certification.

The meeting discussed the implementation of the new 2022 sustainability standard.

The seven countries represent 65% of global banana production and are the largest global exporters, led by Ecuador. In total, 145,000 hectares of certified plantations destined for markets around the world, some such as the European Union, where 75% of the bananas consumed come from these countries and 100% are certified.

Both Rainforest Allaince and the banana producers shared the diagnosis that the current scenario is detrimental to farmers, who in their vast majority are small and medium-sized family businesses that are essential for local economies.

It was indicated that growing inflation, the increase in the costs of basic inputs (fertilizers, packaging, plastics, fuel), the increase in freight prices and pressure from supermarkets threaten the economic sustainability of the sector, key to guaranteeing social and environmental sustainability.

Given this situation, Gowland admitted that the Rainforest Alliance maintains an active dialogue with supermarkets, where producers should join, a point that was also shared by representatives of banana-producing countries.