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Profile of El Guabo in Ecuador |
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 In 1998, 14 small-scale banana farmers decided to take power back into their own hands. The individual, marginalized growers transformed themselves into an organization with collective access to the international market. These farmers took the tremendous risk of selling one container of bananas to Europe on consignment. The
bananas were accepted and with this pivotal first sale, the El Guabo Association of Small Banana Producers was born. Today, El Guabo includes 450 banana farmers, located in three provinces of southwest Ecuador. This is a success story in grassroots organizing.
El Guabo is committed to improving the quality of life of their members and their communities. El Guabo’s members voted to spend 80% of the Fair Trade premium on education, health care, environmental projects and other social programs. The remaining 20% is spent on infrastructure improvements such as packing stations and
warehouses. Today, El Guabo is giving back to the greater community by sharing their highly successful co-operative model with other producer groups in Ecuador and throughout the world.
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Farmer Partners 
