World Trade in Bananas

Question 1

Where do bananas rank in terms of their importance as a food product in developing countries?

Answer 1

They are the 4th most important food product within least developed countries

Question 2

For how many people are bananas a staple food?

Answer 2

Around 400 million people

Question 3

How many calories are in 100g of banana?

Answer 3

50

Question 4

How much of an adults daily potassium requirement does one banana provide?

Answer 4

More than the daily amount

Question 5

Where do bananas rank in terms of being the most traded agricultural commodity?

Answer 5

They are the 5th most traded agricultural food commodity

Question 6

How many tonnes of bananas were exported in 2013?

Answer 6

16.5 million tonnes

Question 7

Where were the bananas mainly exported from?

Answer 7

Latin America and the Caribbean

Question 8

In what type of climate are bananas grown?

Answer 8

In hot, rainy lowlands of tropical regions

Question 9

What happens to many of the bananas in India, Brazil and much of Africa?

Answer 9

They are consumed domestically

Question 10

Which country is the largest producer of bananas globally?

Answer 10

India

Question 11

Where does India export its bananas to?

Answer 11

The Middle East and other parts of Asia

Question 12

Where does the Philippines export its bananas to?

Answer 12

Japan and other parts of East Asia

Question 13

How do banana growers prevent disease?

Answer 13

They treat the bananas with chemicals throughout the production cycle

Question 14

How many kg of chemicals are applied in commercial banana plantations by TNCs every year?

Answer 14

30kg of active ingredients per hectare per year

Question 15

What type of chemicals are used to prevent disease in bananas?

Answer 15

Fungicides, insecticides and herbicides

Question 16

What other chemicals are applied to bananas?

Answer 16

Fertilisers and the bananas are washed with disinfectant

Question 17

How do bananas rank in terms of agrochemical input into the environment?

Answer 17

The banana industry has the secondn largest agrochemical input into the environment

Question 18

What are the environmental impacts of banana plantations?

Answer 18

Deforestation
Waste
Soil fertility
Loss of biodiversity

Question 19

Why is there a problem with biodiversity as a result of banana plantations?

Answer 19

Pollutants run into water courses

Question 20

How much waste is produced from growing bananas?

Answer 20

For every one tonne of bananas there are two tonnes of waste

Question 21

Why is there a problem with soil fertility as a result of banana plantations?

Answer 21

Contaminants get into the soil

Question 22

Which two groups of producers dominate the banana trade?

Answer 22

The ACP group

The ‘dollar producers’

Question 23

What is the ACP group?

Answer 23

Africa, Caribbean and Pacific

Question 24

Who are the ‘dollar producers’?

Answer 24

Central American republics (mainly Ecuador and Columbia) controlled by US TNCs

Question 25

What is the pattern of banana trade?

Answer 25

From LICs to HICs

Question 26

What percentage of exported Bananas are from the Caribbean and Latin America?

Answer 26

80%

Question 27

What percentage of the banana export market does Asia have?

Answer 27

17%

Question 28

Who are the largest importers?

Answer 28

The EU and the USA

Question 29

What percentage of exported bananas are consumed by the USA?

Answer 29

27%

Question 30

What percentage of exported bananas are consumed by the EU?

Answer 30

27%

Question 31

What percentage of the price paid by the end consumer stays in the richer countries and never reaches the producer?

Answer 31

90%

Question 32

Who has the most risks from producing this fruit?

Answer 32

The producer

Question 33

Who takes the largest slice of profits?

Answer 33

Retailers

Question 34

Which four TNCs dominated 80% of the banana trade in the past?

Answer 34

Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte from the USA | Fyffes from Ireland

Question 35

Who is the other important banana producer?

Answer 35

Noboa

Question 36

Where is Noboa based?

Answer 36

Ecuador

Question 37

How are these banana TNCs integrated?

Answer 37

Vertically up the chain

Question 38

What is a benefit of vertical integration?

Answer 38

Significant economies of scale

Question 39

On what type of plantations are most bananas grown?

Answer 39

Monoculture plantations

Question 40

Which area is starting to have more monoculture plantations?

Answer 40

Africa

Question 41

Where are there lots of small-scale family banana farms?

Answer 41

Caribbean

Question 42

Up until when did the big five companies control 60% of the marker?

Answer 42

2002

Question 43

How much of the market share do the big five companies now have?

Answer 43

45%

Question 44

How have the big five companies changed their production line?

Answer 44

They now use supply contract with medium and large scale producers instead of taking direct ownership of plantations

Question 45

Why do suppliers have little option but to accept conditions such as low prices and delayed payments?

Answer 45

They risk being taken off the supplier list as retailers are now increasingly dominating the supply chain

Question 46

How long was the banana trade dispute?

Answer 46

20 years

Question 47

When did the banana trade dispute start?

Answer 47

1992

Question 48

When was the Geneva Banana Agreement?

Answer 48

2009

Question 49

When did the Geneva Banana Agreement come into force?

Answer 49

2012

Question 50

Why did the dispute start?

Answer 50

In 1975, EU countries signed an agreement with former European colonies known as the Lome Convention

Question 51

Who was the Lome Convention made with?

Answer 51

71 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries

Question 52

What happened to the 71 ACP countries in the Lome Convention?

Answer 52

They got special and differential treatment with preferential tariff-free quotas to supply EU markets

Question 53

What was the aim of the Lome Convention?

Answer 53

To help the former European countries to develop independently without having to use overseas aid

Question 54

What was the effect of the Lome Convention?

Answer 54

To protect mainly smaller, family-run farms in the Caribbean and Africa from competition with the large Latin American producers that produced cheaper bananas on mechanised plantations

Question 55

At the time of the Lome Convention, what percentage of the EU market was supplied by Latin America?

Answer 55

75%

Question 56

At the time of the Lome Convention, what percentage of the EU market was supplied by Caribbean suppliers?

Answer 56

7%

Question 57

When did TNCs file a complaint to the WTO that the EU practice was unfair trade?

Answer 57

1992

Question 58

What did the WTO rule as a result of the TNC complaint and when?

Answer 58

In 1997, the WTO ruled against the EU and Lome Convention and stated that the EU had to cease the discrimination

Question 59

Why was the dispute not resolved after the 1997 WTO ruling?

Answer 59

The EU proposals did not satisfy larger producers

Question 60

How did the USA retaliate?

Answer 60

It imposed WTO approved sanctions on a range of EU products

Question 61

Why did the USA retaliate?

Answer 61

It was under pressure from TNCs

Question 62

Who was the compromise reached by in the Geneva Banana Agreement?

Answer 62

The EU and 11 Latin American countries

Question 63

What was the result of the Geneva Banana Agreement?

Answer 63

The EU agreed to gradually reduce tariffs on Latin American bananas

Question 64

Of the Caribbean countries, which ones are now able to successfully compete with larger producers?

Answer 64

Dominican Republic Belize The Windward Isles

Question 65

Why are many large companies relocating their plantations?

Answer 65

Due to low prices paid to suppliers by supermarkets

Question 66

Where are many large companies relocating their plantations?

Answer 66

To West Africa

Question 67

Why are many large companies relocating their plantations to West Africa?

Answer 67

There is weaker legislation and labour costs are lower

Question 68

What is meant by 'a race to the bottom'?

Answer 68

In terms of social and economic standards this is where countries compete by cutting labour costs

Question 69

What type of contract do plantation employees have?

Answer 69

It is normally sub-contract labour so work is becoming increasingly casual

Question 70

What are the working conditions like for plantation workers?

Answer 70

Long shifts in unbearable heat

Question 71

What do many plantation workers fail to do?

Answer 71

Earn enough to cover their basic needs

Question 72

What has there been a steady growth in?

Answer 72

'Sustainable' bananas

Question 73

What do sustainable bananas include?

Answer 73

Organic and fair trade bananas