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

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.

The 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.

International markets begin to review the price of a box of bananas based on increases in global costs

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

The seven countries account for 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 banana consumed comes from these countries and 100% is certified.

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

It was pointed out that growing inflation, the increase in the cost of basic supplies (fertilizers, packaging, plastics, fuel), the rise in freight prices and pressure from supermarkets threaten the economic sustainability of the sector, which is key to guaranteeing social and environmental sustainability.

Ministers agree to promote, before international markets, an amount of compensation for banana producers and exporters due to rising costs

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