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Germania Capa
'I belong to an association of small-scale banana producers in southern Ecuador, called ASOGUABO. There are about 130 members, and of those, we are about 35 women producers.
We've been exporting bananas for 22 years. This year I've been on the board, and it's been gratifying, and we have to contribute to the association.
Fairtrade has had a really positive impact. Women have been able to participate effectively since the beginning.
The Fairtrade premium is really important for lots of social programmes here. The government here doesn't give enough help to schools for example, so we can step in and help build a new classroom or toilet block or a play area. With the workers, we can pay for insurance, health care. Among the producers we can help with organic fertilizers, and increase our productivity. We prioritise what we spend the premium on.
The most important thing for us is the stability and a fair price, stability that we will sell our bananas 52 weeks of the year.
We're really worried here about TR4, it's a fungus that could hurt our business badly, not just ours but everyone in the region'
Tropical Race 4, known as TR4, is a strain of the fungus Fusarium Oxysporum, which causes Fusarium wilt, also known as Panama disease, in Cavendish cultivars. TR4 has devastated commercial plantations of Cavendish bananas in Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia’s Northern Territory. There is a legitimate fear that TR4 can wipe out banana production in Ecuador, it cannot be controlled using fungicides or fumigation, so preparation for containment is being made, but there is a tangible fear among producers that their livelihood can be wiped out, and there are already confirmed cases of TR4 very nearby in Colombia.
- Copyright
- © Sean Hawkey 2019
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- Keywords
- Contained in galleries
- Ecuador: ASOGUABO Fairtrade bananas