Banana producers in Latin America are calling for better pay to help cope with the impact of the climate crisis, as they face big drops in production resulting from extreme weather during this year’s super El Niño event.
High winds in parts of Colombia, one of the biggest suppliers to the UK market where droughts are predicted in some regions this year, and heavy rainfall in Peru and Ecuador are already affecting production, according to the Fairtrade Foundation ethical trade body. In the Dominican Republic, farmers are expected to face drought conditions, with forecasts of drier and warmer than usual conditions.
Fairtrade research suggests that during the previous El Niño cycle, productivity across its farmers and workers dropped by ۱۳% in the Dominican Republic, ۲۲% in Ecuador, and ۶% in Peru compared with the year before. The El Niño event in ۱۹۸۳ – one of the strongest ever recorded – affected ۱۵% of total planted banana area in Ecuador, with a reduction in exports of ۳۶%.
Dr Carley-Jane Stanton, a climate and environment lead at Fairtrade, says this El Niño is expected to lead to more extreme weather, including heavy rainfall and strong winds and “we expect the impacts for producers to be more severe” than in the ۲۳-۲۴ cycle.
Evidence is mounting to fuel those fears. Exports from the Colombian Caribbean region fell ۳۲% to $۱۲۲m (£۹۱m) between July and September this year, according to the Association of Banana Growers of Magdalena and La Guajira, as reported by the trade publication Fruitnet.
It said that in September alone, shipments were down ۴۲% year on year, with earnings close to halving to $۴۰m from $۷۰m.
“Given the risks threatening the continuity of banana production, we are calling on international markets to foster commercial conditions that recognise actual production costs and contribute to the sector’s sustainability,” the association said.
It said that climate-related productivity losses and a decline in earnings from exports made worse by currency issues was “undermining the economic sustainability of the industry”.
Ever Antonio Flores Muños, a worker at the Agrosiete banana producer in Colombia, told Fairtrade: “Over the past ۱۰ years the climate has changed a lot. It’s been getting much hotter … it’s really intense. Some places have had losses due to the climate, flooding, strong winds. It’s going to affect all of us – our workers, colleagues – everything will be at great risk, and our wages will decrease.”
Fairtrade is calling for legislation in the UK to tackle unfair trading practices, such as low or late payments to farmers and contracts which push risk down the supply chain, so that producers can invest more into improving their crops’ resilience to severe weather and more likelihood of pests and diseases. Worker health is also expected to be affected by more extreme weather.
While some businesses, including Sainsbury’s, the Co-op and Waitrose, have taken voluntary steps by sourcing only Faitrade bananas, which guarantee a minimum price, it says there is more work to do.
Eleanor Harrison, the chief executive of Fairtade, said: “The UK’s banana supply depends on the people growing our bananas having the resources they need to adapt to climate change, and to invest in their future. Fair prices, climate resilience and decent work go hand in hand.”
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While bananas are becoming harder and more expensive to produce, supermarket prices have remained unchanged for almost ۴۰ years despite rising costs for fertiliser, fuel and labour.
Caoimhe Buckley, the chief corporate affairs officer at the large supplier Fyffes, said: “The long-term sustainability of the banana sector … cannot be separated from purchasing practices. The price of bananas in the supermarket needs to recognise the real and sustainable cost of production, including labour and decent wages, environmental management, human-rights due diligence and the investment necessary to adapt to climate change.”
Research by the Ethical Trading Initiative found that prices paid to suppliers in ۲۰۲۶ did not even cover basic production costs for ۶۶.۷% of them.
It said producers need more help to adapt or mitigate climatic changes, which could mean suitable land for banana cultivation could shrink by an average of ۶۱% across Latin America and the Caribbean by ۲۰۵۰, according to research for the Inter-American Development Bank published in ۲۰۲۰.
