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Oxfam criticises production of bananas and German Supermarkets

Criticism has amongst others been leveled at the low wages and health risks in the orchards in Ecuador, as per the Oxfam report recently published. The German trading concerns Edeka, Rewe, Lidl and Metro are jointly respnsible for this. These chains control 90% of the German food market and use this position with their suppliere to decrease expenses. This is also valid by the import of bananas. Therefore Oxfam requires these concerns to deal fairly with their suppliers and their employees in future.

Oxfam questioned 63 employees working in the orchards and packing stations of banana producers Dole, Noboa and Reybanpac in Ecuador. Furthermore 54 employees of the supplying orchards of these producers were questioned. Especially wages are a problem: the average nett wages are 237 dollar (183 euro). This is significantly lower than the povety limit, which is 544 dollar for a family of four in this country. But also the use of poisonous pesticides is dangerous for the employees.