www.oxfam.org.nz
Farmers, Businesses and Shoppers ‐ who wins and who loses in the world’s food market?
YEARS: 5‐10 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
VALUES
Evaluate the impact of an unfair global food trade on farmers. Evaluate the effect on farmers of the Fairtrade scheme. Equity Community and participation KEY COMPETENCIES
RESOURCES Thinking Participating and contributing Large world map. Photocopies of the “Market Share Job Cards”. 5 paper bananas. Fairtrade banana slide show. ACHIEVEMENT OBJECTIVES / CURRICULAR LINKS Social Sciences L2: Understand that people have social, cultural and economic roles, rights and responsibilities.
L3: Understand how people make decisions about access to and use of resources. L4: Understand how producers and consumers exercise their rights and meet their responsibilities. SOCIAL INQUIRY FOCUS PEDAGOGY Exploring values and perspectives: Students develop critical thinking and social inquiry Interest: Students connect with skills through discussion around trade, distribution and cost, and the values and products that they consume daily in perspectives that drive the free market, students consider ideas for social action. an engaging and stimulating manner. OUTLINE To understand where our food comes from and who produces it. Young people will explore the relationships between farmers, businesses and shoppers as they interact to form the world food system via a simulation game based on the banana industry. Young people will be introduced to the idea that the global food system is not always fair. Young people will be introduced to the concept of fair trade; how this benefits small‐scale farmers and what they can do to make the global food system more sustainable. The lesson programme is in five parts: 1. Introduction Class discussion ‐ underlines how we interact globally on a daily basis. 2. Where bananas grow Discussion with world map ‐ identifies geographic regions where bananas grow. 3. Who wins and who loses? Slide show and role play – the slide show explains how bananas arrive in our supermarkets, the role play examines the relative payment to stakeholders and introduces the concept of fairness in the world food market. 4. Case studies Group work – students create a piece of work based around real case studies of small‐scale farmers’ co‐operatives supported by Oxfam or the Fairtrade Association. 5. What can you do? Group discussion and/or social action – ideas to motivate students into social action. KEYWORDS Fair trade, global food system, food justice, small scale farmer, co‐operative, social action Page 1
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
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Activity
Details
Outcomes
Resources
required
1.Introduction
/Starter activity
The World in My Shopping Bag
Aim: to make young people aware of the links they have to other countries/ their role in a
globalised world via the food they eat, the clothes they wear, communications and travel.
Activity: Ask young people to find someone else in the group who
- has eaten a food from another country this week
- is wearing an item of clothing made in another country
- can say hello in another language
- has telephoned/ e-mailed/ written to someone living in another country recently.
Bring the group back together. Ask young people to shout out their responses (for younger
groups you could ask them to come up to the board and point out the country on the world
map). As you receive responses, mark a line from New Zealand to the country mentioned.
By the end, there should be lines stretching out to every continent to reflect the global links
the class has.
Increased
awareness
of the
issues and
empathy
for the
children
affected.
Large
world map
(paper or
smart
board).
Atlas or access to
on-line maps to
check location of
countries.
2. Where do
bananas
grow?
Ask the class where bananas grow.
(For younger groups who may be struggling, tell them that they grow in tropical areas
where the weather is sunny, hot and there is heavy rainfall.)
Young people could call out the answers which could be pointed to on a large
world map. (Or come up with a list as small groups- the team with the most
correct suggestions wins.)
Examples of banana producing countries include: Colombia, Costa Rica,
Ecuador, Nicaragua, USA, Australia, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Mexico, Caribbean,
Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, the Philippines, Thailand, and India.
To recognise
the regions
which produce
the bananas
which are
sold in the
supermarket.
Large
world map
(paper or
smart
board).
Atlas or access to
on-line maps to
check location of
countries.
3. Who wins
and who
loses? Bananas
Tell the class they are going to learn about bananas grown in Ecuador; the farmers who
grow them and the journey from farm to New Zealand supermarket shelves. At this point
you could highlight Ecuador on a world map. Use slide show and script of The Journey of a
Banana up to the introduction of the role play (whole banana slide 11)
Divide the group in five small groups. Explain they are going to do a role play activity to
learn about the different groups of people involved in the banana trade.
Briefly explain the five roles: grower, Banana Trading Company,
Shipping/Importing/Packaging, Wholesaler and Retailer. Give each group a role.
To understand
how a banana is
grown and arrives
in our
supermarket; to
understand that
(cont…)
Who wins?
PowerPoint slide
show.
Page 2
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
Market
share role
cards (p16)
www.oxfam.org.nz
Ensure there are enough role cards for each young person to have one to read.
Ask the young people to read the role cards they have been given.
Display the large photo of the banana (Slide11 from Who wins? PowerPoint). Explain to
the class that a banana costs around 60c in the supermarket. Explain that the 60c goes to
the five groups involved in the banana trade, but isn’t divided equally between the groups.
Give the groups 5 minutes to discuss the work their role (grower, retailer etc) carries out.
They should also decide what share they think they should earn from the 60c. Groups
should consider the amount of work involved, what their job entails and the expenses they
have to meet. They should write their share on their group’s paper banana and assign a
spokesperson to tell the rest of the class why they decided on the amount.
Each group should stick their banana showing their ‘share’ onto the board.
Draw young peoples’ attention to the bananas and ask the group to add up how much the
banana would cost if everyone was paid what they wanted.
It is highly likely that the total will add up to more than 60c.
Reveal the actual division of income by showing the banana on PowerPoint Slide 12.
Spend a few minutes discussing the following points:
-who gets what?
-how do the growers feel?
-what division would be fairer?
Key Idea: The banana growers receive only a small amount of the money we pay for
bananas, and find it hard to make a living. The largest proportion of the retail price goes to
shipping, importing and packaging, wholesalers and retail companies.
(cont...) the
division of income
derived from a
banana is not
simple and not
always “fair”.
5 paper bananas
(you can use
template p.18
below)
Introduction to
Fairtrade
scheme.
Final slide of slide show introduces the Fairtrade logo.
4.Case studies
(page 5-14)
• There are 5 case studies which allow young people to explore in greater detail the
positive effect Fairtrade and investment schemes for small-scale farmers has had on
individuals. Long and short versions of the case studies have been included
depending on the level of groups.
Give each small group a case study and ask them to read it.
Explain that in these cases a co-operative is a group of farmers who share information and
tools and work together to improve their farms and to bring money into their communities.
Fairtrade Australia New Zealand and Oxfam New Zealand work with small-scale farming
co-operatives to improve their situation.
Encourage groups to highlight the benefits investment or Fairtrade has brought to the
individual and some of the challenges they faced previously.
Page 3
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
Gain an
insight into
the
challenges
facing
farmers,
and the
benefits of
Fairtrade and
supporting smallscale farming.
5 case
studies
www.oxfam.org.nz
Small groups could summarize briefly their case study to the rest of the class.
If there is more time, challenge each small group to produce a creative response to the
case study. Groups could produce a song/ rap/ poem/ news report/ drama about their case
study.
Groups could present their pieces to the rest of the group, or in an assembly to allow
young people to share with their peers their learning on the global food system.
5. What can
we do?
Diamond
Ranking
(page 15)
Aim: to think critically about what young people can do to make a difference to small-scale
farmers around the world.
Explain that Oxfam believes young people can make a positive difference to small-scale
farmers by taking action in their local community. If young people are interested, there are
a variety of things they can do.
Divide the class into small groups (3/4 young people in each).
Give each group a set of 9 action cards - ask them not to touch them until you have
finished giving the instructions.
Explain that on each of the nine cards, there is something that Oxfam invites people to do
to generate positive change. Their task is to rank these in a diamond-nine formation
1
2 2
3 3 3
4 4
5
The cards should be arranged in this shape. They should put the preferred one at the top
and the one they are least inclined to do at the bottom. Say up front that all the choices can
make a real difference but that people sometimes feel that some are better - or more
appropriate to their circumstance - than others.
Ask young people to be prepared to feed back their group’s choices with reasons.
Extension work: choose a social action to support Fairtrade farmers, take part in Oxfam’s
Biggest Chocolate Break, get more ideas from Oxfam New Zealand’s website school links.
Page 4
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
Think
critically
about how
young
people can
make
positive
change
Multiple
sets of Action
Cards
www.oxfam.org.nz
Case Study: Impact of Fairtrade
Credit: All Good Organics, New Zealand
Anibal has a medium-sized piece of land where he grows bananas and some
cocoa. Since 2003 he has been a member of El Guabo Co-operative of 450
small-scale banana producers.
Anibal has lived on this farm since he was 6 years old. Life was tough for his family
before they joined El Guabo. Originally his father Luis farmed cocoa on their land.
“The problem with cocoa is that it only produces an income for four months of the
year, the other eight months we had to borrow money to maintain the farm when
there was no production. We had to migrate to big banana plantations to find more
work in these eight months to be able to survive.” Anibal wanted to find a way to
change this situation for his family.
In the early 1990s, Anibal heard about the El Guabo banana co-operative. Anibal
decided to learn all he could about growing and processing bananas. “I didn’t know
the process so I went to the producers to learn what I could. Now my Dad is very
happy we joined El Guabo and is thankful for all the opportunities this has given us. I
have been a social member, treasurer and am now the secretary of El Guabo.”
“This has meant a lot to me economically because I was in a very poor economic
situation. Now we have a level of income that is a lot more stable throughout the year
for our families and workers. When I started selling bananas to El Guabo I only had
10 boxes of bananas, now I have a much larger volume. With the help of Fairtrade,
life is much better.”
Anibal Cabrera’s daughter Noemi is about to do what no one else in his family has.
Go to university. This is thanks to the money received from selling Fairtrade
bananas.
“Thanks to fair trade my daughter has a high level of education. This is what all the
farmers at El Guabo hope for. She is now preparing to go to university.” What can you do? Look for the Fairtrade logo on the bananas you buy to support Fairtrade farmers like Aniba Cabrera. Page 5
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
www.oxfam.org.nz
Case Study: Impact of Fairtrade Credit: All Good Organics, New Zealand
Anibal has been growing bananas for nearly three decades. When he first
purchased his land it was overgrown and wild. There was no water on his property.
His neighbours in the bordering country of Peru would take all the water to irrigate
their land from the nearby water sources, leaving Anibal with no water on his
property.
“I almost decided to leave because there was not enough water, but then my
bananas started to produce and I decided to stay and build my own homemade well
and that was the beginning of what you can see now at my farm. Step by step I was
recovering the farm and replanting. After some time I built a better well to take out
more water. In the beginning things were very difficult, but now it is much better.”
Before fair trade, growers sold their bananas through dealers; a system that often
meant payment was too low to cover basic costs, making fair wages impossible.
In 2008 Anibal joined El Guabo, a Fairtrade certified banana growers’ co-operative.
Fairtrade has meant a guaranteed fair wage and long-term supply contract.
“I heard that El Guabo was starting a group in my town and I decided to join them. I
know that El Guabo is a serious company and they pay a fair price according to the
law. Now I am happy that I am a member of El Guabo and can see the difference it
makes and how serious they are about helping their producers.”
Today El Guabo works with over 450 banana farmers and their families in Ecuador.
Farmers are now able to manage their own exports, have quality monitoring systems
in place and have much improved living and working conditions.
What can you do? Look for the Fairtrade logo on the bananas you buy to support Fairtrade farmers like Anibal Aponte.
Page 6
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
www.oxfam.org.nz
Case Study: Investing in small-scale farmers
Credit: Oxfam New Zealand
Dominggas Sousa – co-operative farming with Oxfam New Zealand in
East Timor
Dominggas Sousa lives with her two daughters and two sons in Holsa Village, East
Timor. East Timor (also known as Timor Leste) is a small country south of Indonesia.
Life used to be very difficult for Dominggas, growing crops on her land about 3
kilometres from her house and looking after her family.
She joined the Seka Co-operative in 2009. The Seka Co-operative is not Fairtrade
certified but is part of the MCE-A Co-operative which is supported by Oxfam and
helps farmers improve their growing methods.
Now Dominggas is proud of the new farming methods she has learned from the cooperative. She can buy better seed, has better transport to market and can share
tools and information with other farmers in the co-operative. The members also help
each other tending and gathering crops. As part of the co-operative she has a voice
in the decision making of the organisation. Joining with other farmers she is growing
more and better crops and earning more than before.
The extra money she receives from her rice, corn, nuts and watermelon, pays for her
daughters to attend junior high school at Maliana.
Oxfam supports small-scale famers in our neighbouring countries throughout the
Pacific and Southeast Asia.
What can you do? Support Oxfam New Zealand so they can continue their work with small‐
scale producers in New Zealand’s neighbour countries. Join in Oxfam’s Biggest Chocolate Break during Fair Trade Fortnight to support farmers like Dominggas. Page 7
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
www.oxfam.org.nz
Case Study: Investing in small-scale farmers
Credit: Oxfam New Zealand
Faiumu Faimafili and her coconut oil farm
Oxfam New Zealand has been supporting Women in Business Development
Incorporated (WIBDI) in Samoa since 2001. WIBDI was established in 1991 to assist
rural communities in Samoa, and has helped Samoan farmers reach internationally
recognised organic certification standards. This has helped rural families earn more
money, and means less people rely on family members working in towns and
overseas.
Faiumu Faimafili and her family are now all working on their organic farm and
producing coconut oil for export to The Body Shop. Her two older sons lived away
from the family and struggled to send cash back home for their daily needs. With
their coconut oil production the family now earns a lot more every week. With this
they have been able to borrow money to rebuild their home, and their two sons have
returned home to help with the family business. They regularly sell organic produce
at the monthly organic market, and even hire people from the village to help out with
coconut oil production. People now believe that agriculture is a good way to earn
money – they are now returning home to the villages, as families are able to earn a
proper income and develop the land.
It is because of the strong family culture in Samoa that WIBDI focuses its
programmes on individual families and not whole village communities or individuals
alone. When a family earns cash for themselves they tend to take more responsibility
for the project. Because community contributions, such as church and school
donations, are such a part of the Samoan way of life, projects that strengthen
individual families have a flow on effect to the wider community.
What can you do? Support Oxfam New Zealand so they can continue their work with small‐
scale producers in New Zealand’s neighbour countries. Look for organic coconut oil products at The Body Shop. Page 8
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
www.oxfam.org.nz
Case Study: Fairtrade helps the wider community
Credit: All Good Organics, New Zealand
Using the Fairtrade Social Premium El Guabo
El Guabo is committed to improving the quality of life of their members and their
communities. El Guabo receives a Fairtrade premium, a sum of money paid on top of
the Fairtrade price. The 450 small-scale farmers who make up the El Guabo cooperative vote on how the funds are spent in their community. El Guabo members
have decided to invest the social premium in health clinics, local schools, business
development and environmental projects amongst many other things. Since Fairtrade
bananas were launched in New Zealand in February 2010, Kiwis have contributed
over $150,000 (NZD) to the El Guabo community in Fairtrade premium funding
alone.
The premium helps fund 17 primary school teachers and a special needs school.
These schools are located in areas where producers and workers of El Guabo live
and where their children attend.
The El Guabo Medical Centre was set up to ensure that every family belonging to
the association is able to get good medical care when they need it. The service is
available 24 hours a day all year round. The centre is staffed with 5 health care
professionals. In 2009, the health centre saw 7,084 patients.
The co-operative has also invested in organic fertilizer from chicken poop and
organic waste. Using this organic fertilizer, they hope to be able to raise production
by 50% or more. It’s also a great way of helping other local companies and improving
the sustainability of the community.
Twenty percent of the premium funds are spent on developing business and projects
to improve infrastructure and to give local farmers more say. Projects include ways to
borrow money for investment, leadership development and sharing farm equipment.
What can you do? Look for the Fairtrade logo on the bananas you buy to support the Fairtrade scheme and co‐operatives like El Guabo in Ecuador.
Page 9
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
www.oxfam.org.nz
Case Study SHORT VERSION: Impact of Fairtrade
Credit: All Good Organics, New Zealand
Anibal Cabrera has a medium-sized piece of land where he grows bananas and
some cocoa. Since 2003 he has been a member of El Guabo Co-operative of
450 small-scale banana producers.









Anibal has lived on this farm since he was 6 years old.
Life was tough for his family before they joined El Guabo.
His father Luis used to farm cocoa on their land.
Cocoa only made money during four months of the year.
To survive they had to borrow money or move away to big banana plantations
to work during the rest of the year.
Anibal wanted to find a way to change this situation for his family.
Anibal heard about the El Guabo banana co-operative. He decided to learn all
he could about growing and processing bananas. He joined the co-operative
and now grows his own bananas.
I was in a very poor situation. Now our income is stable throughout the year.
When I started selling bananas to El Guabo I only had 10 boxes of bananas,
now I grow many more. With the help of Fairtrade, life is much better.”
Anibal Cabrera’s daughter Noemi is about to do what no one else in his family
has: go to university. This is thanks to the money received from selling
Fairtrade bananas.
What can you do? Look for the Fairtrade logo on the bananas you buy to support Fairtrade farmers like Anibal Cabrera.
Page 10
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
www.oxfam.org.nz
Case Study SHORT VERSION: Impact of Fairtrade
Credit: All Good Organics, New Zealand
Anibal Aponte has been growing bananas for nearly 30 years. When he
bought his land it was overgrown and wild. There was no water. His
neighbours in the bordering country of Peru took all the local water for
their land, leaving Anibal with no water on his property.

“I almost decided to leave because there was not enough water, but then
my bananas started to produce and I decided to stay and build my own well
and that was the beginning of what you can see now at my farm. In the
beginning things were very difficult, but now it is much better.”

Before fair trade, growers sold their bananas through dealers and payment
was often too low to cover costs.

In 2008 Anibal joined El Guabo, a Fairtrade certified banana growers’ cooperative. Fairtrade has meant a guaranteed fair wage and long-term
contract.

“I heard that El Guabo was starting a group in my town and I decided to join
them.” “El Guabo … pay a fair price according to the law. Now I am happy
that I am a member of El Guabo and can see … how serious they are about
helping their producers.”

Today El Guabo works with over 450 banana farmers and their families in
Ecuador. Farmers are now able to manage their own exports, have quality
monitoring systems in place and have much better living and working
conditions.
What can you do? Look for the Fairtrade logo on the bananas you buy to support Fairtrade farmers like Anibal Aponte. Page 11
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
www.oxfam.org.nz
Case Study SHORT VERSION: Investing in small-scale farmers
Credit: Oxfam New Zealand
Dominggas Sousa – co-operative farming with Oxfam New Zealand
in East Timor
Dominggas Sousa lives with her two daughters and two sons in Holsa Village,
East Timor. East Timor (also known as Timor Leste is a small country near
Indonesia.

Life used to be very difficult for Dominggas, growing crops on her land
about 3 kilometres from her house and looking after her family.

She joined the Seka Co-operative in 2009. This farmers’ co-operative is
supported by Oxfam New Zealand and helps farmers improve their growing
methods.

Now Dominggas can buy better seed, has better transport to market and
can share tools and information with other farmers. The members also help
each other with looking after and gathering crops. As part of the cooperative she can join in making decisions for the organisation. With the
other farmers she is growing more and better crops and earning more than
before.

The extra money she receives from her rice, corn, nuts and watermelon,
pays for her daughters to attend junior high school.
What can you do? Support Oxfam New Zealand so they can continue their work with small‐
scale producers in New Zealand’s neighbour countries. Join in Oxfam’s Biggest Chocolate Break during Fair Trade fortnight to support farmers like Dominggas. Page 12
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
www.oxfam.org.nz
Case Study SHORT VERSION:
Investing in small-scale farmers
Credit: Oxfam New Zealand
Faiumu Faimafili and her coconut oil farm
Oxfam New Zealand has been supporting Women in Business Development
Incorporated (WIBDI) in Samoa since 2001. WIBDI began in 1991 and has
helped Samoan farmers earn more money so less people rely on family
members working in towns and overseas.

Faiumu Faimafili and her family are now all working on their organic farm
and producing coconut oil for export to The Body Shop.

The two older sons used to live away from the family and tried to send cash
back home to help pay the bills. But it was difficult.

With their coconut oil production the family now earns a lot more every
week. With this money they are able to rebuild their home, and the two sons
have returned home to help with the family business.

They regularly sell organic produce at the monthly organic market, and even
hire people from the village to help with coconut oil production.

People now believe that farming is a good way to earn money – they are
returning home to the villages to develop the land.

Contributions, such as church and school donations, are a big part of the
Samoan way of life, so projects that help individual families are good for the
whole community.
What can you do? Support Oxfam New Zealand so they can continue their work with small‐
scale producers in New Zealand’s neighbour countries. Look for organic coconut oil products at The Body Shop. Page 13
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
www.oxfam.org.nz
Case Study SHORT VERSION: Fairtrade helps the wider
community Credit: Oxfam New Zealand
How El Guabo uses the Fairtrade bonus money
El Guabo receives a Fairtrade premium, a sum of money paid on top of the
price for bananas. The 450 small-scale farmers who make up the El Guabo cooperative vote on how the money is spent in their community.

El Guabo members have decided to spend the premium money on health
clinics, local schools, business development and environmental projects
amongst many other things.

Since Fairtrade bananas were launched in New Zealand in February 2010,
Kiwis have contributed over $150,000 (NZD) to the El Guabo community in
Fairtrade premiums alone.

The premium helps pay for 17 primary school teachers and a special needs
school near to where producers and workers of El Guabo live.

The El Guabo Medical Centre was set up to ensure that every family in the
association can get good medical care when they need it.

The extra money is also spent on other projects such as organic fertiliser,
easier ways to borrow money to improve farms and sharing farm
equipment.
What can you do? Look for the Fairtrade logo on the bananas you buy to support the Fairtrade scheme and co‐operatives like El Guabo in Ecuador.
Page 14
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
www.oxfam.org.nz
Fair Trade Action Cards
The best action is to…
The best action is to…
Buy Fairtrade
products.
Try out some Fairtrade
recipes
There are hundreds of
products available; from
T-shirts to tea; from
coffee to rice; from
chocolate to bananas.
For more recipe ideas visit
The best action is to…
www.oxfamcoffeebreak.org.nz
(This card has been left
blank for your own ideas)
The best action is to…
The best action is to…
The best action is to….
Screen a film, followed
by a panel discussion to
encourage others to
learn about the global
food system and its
inequalities.
Tell our friends and
families about fair
trade and encourage
them to buy Fairtrade
certified products.
Perform a play or give
an assembly to share
with others in the
school the challenges
faced by small-scale
farmers and what we
can do to give them a
fairer deal.
You could invite your MP
to let the government know
how you feel about the
issues.
Look for products with the
Fairtrade logo at your local
supermarket or buy
products from Trade Aid
shops.
The best action is to…
The best action is to…
The best action is to…
Take part in Oxfam’s
Biggest Chocolate
Break during Fair
Trade Fortnight and
raise money for smallscale farmers like
Dominggas.
Design a poster or
leaflet about global
food justice and the
Fairtrade scheme to
share your learning
with others.
Make your school a
Fairtrade school. You
could ask the school
council to put this on
their agenda.
www.oxfamcoffeebreak.org.
nz
For more information, visit
You could send a copy
to your MP to let the
Government know how
you feel about the issues
www.fairtrade.org.nz/getinvolved/school
Page 15
Copyright © Oxfam New Zealand. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only.
www.oxfam.org.nz
Market Share Role Cards
Grower





You are a small farmer who grows bananas.
After planting it will take 9 months of caring for the trees before the bunches of
bananas are ready to be cut down.
You must protect the trees during this time from damage caused by weather and
insects. To do this you must buy plastic sheets and wrap each bunch on every tree.
When the bananas are ready to pick, you cut each bunch down with a large knife and
pack them in boxes.
You drive a van to the port to deliver your bananas to ships.
Banana Trading Company




You are a new company. You are the only link between farmers and the outside world.
You work to get a good price for the farmers’ bananas and to get cheaper shipping
costs.
You buy pesticides, fertiliser, boxes and plastic sheeting in large amounts that the
small farmers can buy from you.
You offer advice about banana growing and can help arrange insurance for the
farmers.
Shipping and Packaging Company




Your company transports the boxes of bananas in ships. The journey from Ecuador to
New Zealand takes 3 weeks.
In New Zealand the bananas are ripened and packed in your factory. This takes a
week.
The bananas are sorted into different sizes. Some are weighed and priced for selling
direct to big supermarkets.
Others are packed and sent to a wholesaler (who sells to smaller shops).
Wholesaler

You get boxes of ripe bananas from the packaging company and sell them to
fruit shops, market stalls and supermarkets.
Retailer


You sell the ripened bananas in your shop or market stall.
You have to sell them fast, before they over-ripen and turn brown.
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World map ‐ Pacific view Page 17
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60c
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Market Share of a Banana
Split of income
18c
6c
18c
Growers
Shipping,
importing
and
packaging
12c
Wholesaler
60c
6c
Retailer
Banana
Trading
Company
(This activity is adapted from Go Bananas, Oxfam 2000)
Note: the split of income cited here is representative of non Fairtrade bananas around the world and may vary depending on market
fluctuations and the companies involved.
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This material is adapted by Oxfam New Zealand from Farmers Businesses and Shoppers – who wins and who loses in the world’s food markets?
2012 with the permission of Oxfam Great Britain, Oxfam House, John Smith Drive, Cowley, Oxford OX4 2JY, UK
www.oxfam.org.uk/education. Oxfam Great Britain does not necessarily endorse any text or activities that accompany the materials, nor has it
approved the adapted text.
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