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George
De Freitas |
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Photo: Abigail Hadeed/Oxfam |
George works
for the company that exports bananas from the Windward Islands as
well as being a banana farmer himself.
"St. Vincent is completely dependent on bananas. Whereas other
crops might only be harvested once or twice a year, bananas give
people a weekly income. Farmers do plant other crops but these are
usually used as food for the family.
There are still some younger people on the farms but lots have left.
Farmers paint such a gloomy picture of what it's like that the youth
don't want to get involved.
We depend heavily on being able to sell at a good price to a good
market. If there was a growth in the market for bananas then more
people would get involved in production again."
Fair Trade
"The benefits of Fair Trade for us have been reduction of chemicals
on the environment. The social premium has also really made a difference.
We're thinking about trying to open a nursery school and improve
the roads around us. Anything we can do to make life better for
the community, we'll try and do.
We'd like to see the Fair Trade market increase as we have many
farmers who want to become involved in Fair Trade. They too want
a fair price for a fairly produced banana."
Bonkers about bananas
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