Banana production in Brazil
Banana production in Brazil accounts for approximately 10% of the entire world banana production, making Brazil a major banana-producing country in the world. Production has steadily increased over the years, rising from 5.4 million tonnes in 1997 to almost 7 million tonnes in 2007. In 2000, Brazil was fourth, behind India, Uganda and Ecuador, in banana production. By 2006, Brazil became the second largest banana-producer, behind only India, followed by China, Ecuador and the Philippines. Most of the bananas produced are consumed domestically. Gross exports has increased from 12.5 thousand tonnes in 1995 to more than 220 thousand tonnes in 2002 and 2003, mostly to neighbours Argentina and Uruguay, but these figures are still far behind industry leaders such as Ecuador, Costa Rica, the Philippines and Colombia which export more than a million tonnes of bananas annually.
Fair trade
Studies in the early 2000s show that the income, education and health of coffee producers involved with Fair Trade in Latin America were improved, versus producers who were not participating. Brazil, Nicaragua, Peru and Guatemala, having the biggest population of coffee producers, make use of some of the most substantial land for coffee production in Latin America and do so by taking part in Fair Trade. Countries in Latin America are also large exporters of fair trade bananas. The Dominican Republic is the largest producer of fair trade bananas, followed by Mexico, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. Producers in the Dominican Republic have set up associations rather than cooperatives so that individual farmers can each own their own land but meet regularly. Fundación Solidaridad was created in Chile to increase the earnings and social participation of handicraft producers. These goods are marketed locally in Chile and internationally. Fair trade handicraft and jewellery production has also shown a significant uplift over recent years, aided by North American and European online retailers developing direct relationships to import and sell the products online. The sale of fair trade handicrafts online has been of particular importance in aiding the development of female artisans in Latin America