After reading the Crazy For Fair-trade Bananas article earlier this month, I finally grasped the 'Banana Wars' debate. I’m not a fan of bananas but I am of trade justice, so I was frustrated to hear of a new banana trade deal being signed in Geneva which has robbed African-Caribbean-Pacific farmers of their privileged rights to the international market.

The Fairtrade Foundation released a press release in Geneva yesterday, expressing the effect these decisions made between the EU, Latin America, African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) countries and the US at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Council Secretariat is likely to have on the farmers on the Winward Islands in the Caribbean. NEWS FLASH! - things aren’t looking good…

Farmers in the Caribbean are already feeling short-changed due to changes in world trade rules in the early 1990s; which meant that banana prices drastically plummeted. Farmers now face increased competition from multinationals who can grow bananas much more cheaply.

Some good news however - 85% of the surviving banana farmers in the Windward Islands now produce Fairtrade certified bananas, which ensures they get a fair price for their bananas. They also get additional money - a Fair Trade ‘social premium’ which is spent on projects that benefit the whole community. Farmers in the Caribbean have previously used the social premium to purchase school furniture and to improve local roads.

However the deal signed this week will see a significant reduction in the trade preferences historically provided to ACP countries by the EU. Though aimed at improving competitiveness, I can’t imagine Windward Islands will be getting on the bubbly to celebrate.

Fairtrade can’t solve all the problems faced by the farmers in the Windward Islands, but it is helping some of them to earn enough to survive.

Arthur Bobb, Programme Officer of the Windward Islands Farmers’ Association (WINFA) says:

“There’s no way these islands can compete with the US. If this industry goes down any more, then what? Should we be able to feed ourselves or must others feed us?”

WINFA is an umbrella organisation which represents more than 10,000 banana growers. Windward Island only accounts for less than 2 per cent of the world export market, which is dominated by multinationals in Latin America - but it still doesn’t stop the big boys from trying their hardest to get them out of the picture completely.

The future here is looking incredibly bleak. More and more farmers are being forced to consider other employment, and in developing nations, there's not much of that around. As people have fallen into deeper poverty, social problems and violence in the islands increases. Tony Quantrill, Head of Public Policy at the Fairtrade Foundation raised his concerns saying, “It is hard to foresee how the social and economic benefits provided by banana farming can be easily replaced, or how these small, mountainous islands can be expected to identify alternative sectors in which they can become instantly competitive.”

So next time you pick up a packet of bananas, make sure you’re supporting Fairtrade and if you're feeling extra eco-warrior esque, and support the farmers in the Windwards.

Words: Holly Davis

Picture: Flickr User Caro Wallis