Banana Link

Identity card

Banana Link is a not-for-profit co-operative based in Norwich, which works for fair and sustainable banana and pineapple trades. We raise awareness of the poor living and working conditions faced by plantation workers and small producers in Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean.

Fruit facts:

• Bananas are the single most profitable item sold in UK supermarkets.

• The average banana worker in Nicaragua earns 75p in an eight-hour day.

• For every £1 you spend on a Costa Rican pineapple in the UK, just 4p of this goes to the workers.

• Plantation workers in Latin America have little protection from toxic pesticides and as a result thousands of these workers have been left sterile.

• In Guatemala, seven members and ex-members of a banana workers’trade union - defenders of human rights - have been murdered in one year alone.

Objectives

Banana Link’s mission is to work towards a world where the tropical fruit we eat provides decent work and secure livelihoods and is environmentally sustainable and friendly. A world where all workers and small farmers can have a voice in decisions that affect them.

We aim to achieve tangible changes in the lives of people working in banana and pineapple chains that incorporate:

• Fair and ethical trade practices which are based on a fair living wage, equitable distribution of value along the chain, and competitive market access for small producers

• Dignity for workers and respect for labour and trade union rights

• Sustainable production systems which reduce dependence on hazardous substances and minimise adverse health and environmental impacts on natural resources, workers and communities

• Constructive dialogue between all economic and non-economic stakeholders that accelerates a transition to fair, equitable and sustainable banana and pineapple chains worldwide.

Related programmes

• International trade and regulation of supply chains