The president of the Association of Banana Producers of Ecuador (Aprobanec), Byron Paredes stated at the IV Meeting of peoples and organizations for a productive and corruption-free Ecuador, which was held in Quevedo, that several unions of banana producers were analyzing the possibility of stopping their activities in the coming days to demand improvements for the sector
The leader assured that, even though the Government had set the support price at $ 6.40, producers were receiving less than $ 5 and sometimes just $ 2 per box of bananas. "Farmers are not being paid prices that allow them or their families to live dignified lives, there is a primitive marketing system," Paredes stated and denounced that there were some informal producers that generate unfair competition to banana producers who comply with the support prices.
He also said that the lack of public policies was especially affecting small and medium producers and that it was harming the local and national economy. The producer sector, which in the first half of the year beat a record in the production and export of fruit with 200 million boxes, has had losses of nearly $ 400 million due to low prices, he stressed.
Paredes added that the producing sector had elaborated a proposal for the economic reactivation of the sector based on five axes: the first one is an economic one, which has to do with the implementation of the conditions for full entrepreneurship. The second is scientific research and training. The third axis is the elimination of fees, taxes, and tariffs for small businesses. The fourth one is having a development bank with 1% long-term interest rates for small businesses, and the last one is developing zoning for the agricultural sector.
Source: eluniverso.com