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Globalisation and Fairtrade Bananas in St Lucia: A Solution to Building Resilience?

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Abstract

Historically, bananas are significant because they played an integral role in the establishment of the global fresh produce market in the 1800s (Raynolds and Murray 1998). Today, bananas are one of the most widely traded agricultural commodities in the world (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO] 2003; Murray and Raynolds 2000) with approximately 16.8 million tonnes being traded annually (Morazán 2010). Additionally, globally, they are the most heavily traded tropical fresh fruit by volume, having surpassed apples and citrus (Wiley 1998; Nurse 2005). Persons around the world spend more than US$15.19 billion annually on the fruit. Moreover, worldwide, millions of people depend on banana production to earn a living (NERA 2003).

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Correspondence to Chanelle Fingal-Robinson .

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Fingal-Robinson, C. (2016). Globalisation and Fairtrade Bananas in St Lucia: A Solution to Building Resilience?. In: Beckford, C., Rhiney, K. (eds) Globalization, Agriculture and Food in the Caribbean. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53837-6_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53837-6_4

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