BELLAS—because gender equity is a beautiful thing
Did you know that across the global banana trade eight out of every ten workers are men? This isn’t just a piece of trivia. It’s a reality that impacts women’s abilities to find employment and to realize safe, decent livelihoods for themselves. This is because in banana growing regions, there are very few forms of alternate employment—which means that lacking access to banana jobs means lacking of access to any income.
BanaExport, a Fairtrade banana partner based in Urabá, Colombia, understands that it makes no sense (nor cents!) to exclude women from the workforce, so they’re advancing gender equity in the banana trade. In 2022 they used Fairtrade Premium funds to launch BELLAS (Bananeras, Empoderadas, Líderes, Locales, Autónomas y Seguras), a program that seeks to eliminate stereotypes about women in the banana sector and increase the number of women formally employed by BanaExport—specifically including them in tasks that have been traditionally categorized as the domain of men.
They’ve had tremendously exciting results! Within just the first two years of the program, the presence of women on staff doubled, from 7% to 14%.
Meet BanaExport
BanaExport is a family-owned company based in Urabá, Colombia.
Founded in 2000, they now sell 1.4 million boxes of bananas each year! They cultivate 600 hectares (nearly 1,500 acres) of bananas with the support of 500 employees.
Their mission is to “produce premium bananas, generating shared value and promoting innovation and sustainable growth.”
BELLAS is about sisterhood, skill building and (dismantling!) stereotypes
As a cohort program, BELLAS provides participants with a multitude of ways to learn and grow. For example, there are are moderated conversations to talk about solidarity among women, to encourage women in assuming roles of leadership and to reflect on gender stereotypes.
Beyond these topics, coursework includes hands-on training for every step of the banana selection and packaging process. And each quarter there is the famed “BELLAS shipment”—a shipment of BanaExport bananas that is carried out exclusively by women in the program.
Luz Marelis shares her experience of participating in this capstone of the program: “A day of shipping for the BELLAS is wonderful, because we all arrive here with incredible energy. The first shipment was 26 pallets, 48 boxes each, we were nervous because it was the first time with only women, but it went excellent. There are farms that hardly hire women, and through our example in the BELLAS shipment, other farms began to hire more women, that is the impact of the BELLAS, to show the world that we can do all these tasks that historically they have done only men, and as companions, be on equal terms.”
Reflections from Luatany Pallares, BELLAS participant
“We feel happy to be together and help each other, because there we show everyone that we are capable. It is in those moments that we see how the trainings, meetings, and details that have been provided to us have truly made a difference. Not all farms have that type of support for women, that is the difference of being part of Fairtrade.”
📷: Luatany Pallares
BELLAS has certainly been a boon to its participants and to BanaExport as a broader company. It’s impacted neighboring farms in expanding their hiring practices to include women, and the ripple effect of BELLAS is also felt at regional forums where participants serve as speakers and panelists as they introduce BanaExport’s gender equity program to others in the industry. Together, the future is fair.
Keen to learn more about Fairtrade bananas? Explore with us!
