Case Study 3

Small Farmers and Organic-Banana Production in the Dominican Republic

By Octavio Damiani
Consultant, Office of Evaluation and Studies

Report prepared for the Office of Evaluation and Studies

of the International Fund for Agricultural Development
Rome, June 2002

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 Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. An Overview of Organic Agriculture in the Dominican Republic
III. Small Farmers and Organic-Banana Production in Azua
IV. The Effect on the Incomes and the Quality of the Lives of Small Farmers
A. Changes in the Cost of Production
B. Effects on Yields
C. Effects on Product Prices and Net Revenues
D. Effects on the Natural Environment and the Health of the Population
V. Factors in the Development of Organic-Banana Production
A. Characteristics of the Climate and the Location
B. The Structural Characteristics
C. The Role of Government Policies and Agencies
D. Contract Farming and the Role of Production and Marketing Firms
VI. Conclusions and Lessons

References

Annex 1. List of persons interviewed

 Acronyms

Conacado National Confederation of Dominican Cacao Producers

EU European Union
NGO Non-Governmental Organization

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 I. INTRODUCTION

1. This report focuses on organic agriculture in the Dominican Republic. It analyses the participation
of small farmers, the effects of the shift to organic production on the incomes and the quality of the
lives of these farmers and the part played by different actors in the public and private sectors in
helping the farmers solve the problems they have faced in the production and sell of organic products.
The analysis concentrates on the production of bananas, the organic crop that accounts for the largest
share of exports, the second largest share in terms of cultivated area and the highest number of
producers who are small farmers.

2. The Dominican Republic is an important producer and exporter of organic agricultural products. 1
By 2002, the production area certified as organic had reached close to 42 000 ha, 12 times the area
certified in Costa Rica, more than four times the area in Guatemala and slightly less than 60% of the
area in Mexico (see Table 1).2 Exports of organic products grew from USD 9.6 million in 1999 to
USD 24.9 million in 2001, with bananas accounting for 82.3% of total exports. The Dominican
Republic is the largest exporter of organic bananas and cacao in the world, accounting in both cases
for about 60% of the production sold on the world market. Around 90% of the 16 000 producers of
organic crops are small farmers, many of whom are beneficiaries of land reform located in settlements
of the Institute of Agrarian Development.

Table 1: Certified organic areas and areas in transition, various Latin American countries,
January 2002

Certified Organic Area (ha) Area in Transition (ha)

Dominican Republic 41 800 3 000
Argentina 2 684 200 315 800
Mexico 71 500 31 300
Costa Rica 3 500 3 500
Guatemala 9 000 5 700
El Salvador 1 100 3 800
Sources: Based on information provided by BCS ÖKO Garantie, the National Confederation of Dominican
Cacao Producers (Conacado) and banana-exporting firms, for the Dominican Republic; Non-Traditional Product
Exporters Association and Bank of Guatemala, for Guatemala; CLUCSA and Ucraprobex, for El Salvador;
SENASA (2001), for Argentina; Gómez Cruz, Schwentesius and Gómez Tovar (2001), for Mexico, and IICA
(2001) and Agricultural Sector Planning Executive Secretariat, for Costa Rica.

3. The study focuses on the production of organic bananas in the province of Azua in the southern
region of the country (see Map 1). In contrast to the north-western region (provinces of Valverde and
Monte Cristi), where agricultural firms are dominant and account for about 70% of the area and 80%
of the production of organic bananas in the country, around 1 000 small farmers dominate the
production in the southern region. These small producers have been the beneficiaries of a
Government-sponsored land-reform programme that distributed land previously owned by the
Grenada Fruit Company, which was affiliated with United Fruit and produced bananas in the
Dominican Republic until the early sixties. The small farmers started to cultivate bananas with help
from the Secretariat of Agriculture’s extension services (see later). The farmers lacked access to
credit, so they faced great difficulty in purchasing inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. However,

1
This report focuses on bananas that are certified as ‘organic’ according to the guidelines that governments have defined
through the Commission of the Codex Alimentarius for the production, processing, labelling and marketing of organically
produced foods. Banana production is characterized by the use of other certification schemes, in addition to organic
certification, that aim at demonstrating to consumers that the production process does not have negative impacts on the
environment. The most important ones are Eco-OK (Better Banana Project) and ISO 14001.
2
This estimate is based on information provided by BCS ÖKO Garantie, the National Confederation of Dominican Cacao
Producers (Conacado) and the largest banana-producing and marketing firms. It is substantially higher than estimates of
organic-production areas presented in recent articles and workshops. This is explained partly by the large areas of cacao and
coconuts certified during 2001 and 2002. Also, agricultural firms in the Dominican Republic often underestimate the areas
under organic production, especially their own plantations. A more detailed explanation is presented in Section II.

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the particular dry-climate conditions of the southern region acted as a barrier to the pests and diseases
that are common problems in the production of bananas in other countries. These factors led farmers
to produce bananas with few or no chemical inputs. Becoming aware of the great conditions for
organic production, a few foreign professionals who had worked for European or US firms marketing
organic products decided to start their own marketing firms and located in the region in the early
nineties. Initially, for export, they purchased bananas from small farmers, having signed regular
contracts with the farmers and bringing in certification agencies to obtain the proper organic
certification for the output of the small farmers. After a few years, firms began establishing their own
banana plantations and became key actors in the banana-production chain, providing farmers with
credit and technical assistance, paying for the organic certification and selling the output on the
domestic and foreign markets.

Map 1. Location of organic banana production in the

Province of Azua, Dominican Republic

4. The paper discusses the evolution of organic-banana production, focusing on the following issues:
(a) the effects of the shift to organic production on the incomes and the quality of the lives of small
banana producers; (b) the role of the different actors – especially government institutions and
marketing firms – in the development of organic bananas and the shift by small farmers to organic-
banana production.

5. The main benefit of the organic-production system has been to increase the competitiveness of
small banana producers. In fact, the producers of conventional bananas in the Dominican Republic –
both small and large – have faced production costs that are higher than those faced by farmers in other
important producing countries, such as Costa Rica and Ecuador, due to higher wages and the dry-
climate conditions of the Dominican Republic, which require the use of irrigation (though this is
heavily subsidized). In contrast, the organic production of bananas is easier and requires fewer inputs
in the Dominican Republic than in these other countries, mainly because the dry climate inhibits the
pests and diseases that affect banana plantations elsewhere (especially Black Sigatoka, caused by the
fungus Mycosphaerella fijiensis) and that render it difficult or expensive to produce bananas
organically. These conditions have generated competitive advantages for the organic production of
bananas that have made the Dominican Republic the main world producer since the early nineties.
The shift to organic production has also had positive effects on the environment because it has

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reduced the application of chemical inputs and led to the adoption of soil-conservation measures that
have helped curb erosion. In addition, the decline in the use of pesticides and fungicides may have
helped prevent health problems among farmers and wage workers.

6. The report is based on fieldwork carried out in the Dominican Republic between 8 and 18 April
2002. During that time, interviews were conducted with farmers, technicians and managers of banana
marketing and producing firms, officials and professionals at government agencies and non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) working in organic agriculture and people at commercial firms
selling organic inputs (see the Annex).

7. The document is organized as follows. The second section presents an overview of organic
agricultural production in the Dominican Republic. The third section describes in more detail the
main characteristics of organic-banana production in the province of Azua. The fourth section focuses
on the effects of organic production on small producers, comparing the costs, yields and net revenues
involved in the organic and conventional systems and looking at the impacts on other variables that
affect the quality of the lives of small producers. The fifth section analyses factors in the development
of organic-banana production, including climate and the role of government policies and marketing
firms. The sixth section offers conclusions and lessons for project design and implementation.

II. AN OVERVIEW OF ORGANIC AGRICULTURE IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

8. Organic agriculture in the Dominican Republic originated in the early eighties when a technician
of US origin who had participated in the US-sponsored Peace Corps programme in the Dominican
Republic returned to the country and established a training centre, the Centro Regional de Estudios de
Alternativas Locales (Regional Centre for the Study of Local Alternatives), in the Río Limpio zone of
the province of Elías Pina that focused on organic production and sustainable agriculture. The centre
provided training to a significant number of small farmers – mainly coffee producers who used few or
no inputs – in Elías Pina and to agricultural technicians working in the region. In addition, it
established links with Swedish buyers of organic coffee, brought in a certification agency, the
Instituto Biodinámico do Brasil (the Biodynamics Institute of Brazil), to certify the coffee plantations
as organic and subsidized the certification costs. In the mid-eighties, coffee producers were able to
start exporting organic coffee to Sweden, where it was sold to consumers by the importing company
using the ‘Río Limpio’ brand.3

9. Soon after this initial successful experience, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in several
regions of the country started to promote the use of organic methods of production among small
farmers, mainly in coffee, cacao and vegetable production. These NGOs – many of them linked to the
Catholic Church – created training centres, provided technical assistance and credit to farmers and
helped them with the marketing of their production. In the late eighties, an Italian marketing firm of
organic cereals and fruits (Mercantile Foods) decided to move into new products and started to
purchase organic coffee and cacao in the Dominican Republic, negotiating mainly with the National
Confederation of Dominican Cacao Producers (Conacado), a third-tier organization comprising nine
federations of cacao producers that in turn included 130 farmer associations with a total of 9 000
members. Most of these cacao producers were small and cultivated cacao under natural conditions
without chemical inputs, so that Conacado was able to contact certification agencies and begin, in
1990, the process of transition towards organic certification.

10. At that time, the Dominican Republic had a significant area where bananas were also being
produced without much use of chemical inputs. In contrast to Ecuador and Central American
producers of bananas, small producers rather than transnational corporations dominated the
production of bananas in the Dominican Republic. The Grenada Fruit Company (owned by United
Fruit) had been producing bananas in the north-western and southern regions, but had left the country
in the early sixties. The lands owned by Grenada Fruit remained idle for a long time, but the

3
For an account of the early history of the organic sector in the Dominican Republic, see FAO/ITC/CTA (2001).

4
Government finally distributed the lands located in Azua among landless workers in the late
seventies. The Government also provided an irrigation infrastructure and free extension services. The
existence of the public extension services encouraged farmers to start new banana plantations, and,
because the farmers lacked access to credit, they continued to cultivate the bananas without fertilizers
and chemical inputs. Having become aware of these favourable conditions for organic production,
several marketing firms started to establish links with the small producers in Azua and brought in
certification agencies to obtain the organic certifications. These firms started to export organic
bananas and then began to establish their own plantations.

11. By early 2002, the area covered by organic crops in the Dominican Republic had grown
dramatically, reaching a certified area of 41 800 ha (see Table 2). This reckoning is substantially
higher than estimates presented in recent articles and at workshops.4 The difference relates partly to
the fact that extensive areas of cacao and coconut, mixed in forests, were certified during 2001 and
2002. In addition, the firms marketing organic bananas usually provide low estimates of the areas
under organic production, especially with respect to their own plantations. The estimates here are
based on information provided by BCS ÖKO Garantie, Conacado and the main firms producing and
marketing organic bananas in the Dominican Republic. BCS ÖKO Garantie is an internationally well-
known certification agency with offices in the Dominican Republic that certifies 90% of the areas of
organic agriculture in the country and maintains detailed records on the areas of organic production,
individual organic producers and associations of organic producers. Conacado is a third-tier
organization that manages the exportation of a high proportion of the organic cacao, including the
exports of 9 000 producers in 130 associations and nine federations. Conacado manages the entire
organic certification process for its members, including the organization of monitoring systems, and
has access to detailed information on each of the associations and the on the certifications undertaken
by BCS ÖKO Garantie. Finally, all the organic bananas exported from the Dominican Republic are
exported through three production and marketing firms: SAVID, Horizontes Orgánicos (Organic
Horizons) and Plantaciones del Norte (Northern Plantations).

12. Most of the organic production is sold on foreign markets. Exports have been growing rapidly in
the last few years, jumping in value from USD 9.6 million in 1999 to USD 24.9 million in 2001 (see
Table 3). Bananas have been the most important product, with USD 20.5 million (82.3% of the total
exports of organic products) in 2001, followed by cacao (USD 3.4 million, or 13.9%) and coffee
(USD 0.40 million, or 1.6%) (see Table 4). Organic bananas accounted for 81.4% of the total value of
banana exports (USD 30.6 million). About 80% of the area with bananas and 90% of the total
production was concentrated in the north-western region. While medium-size and large firms and
farmers have dominated in the north-western region, small farmers have been dominant in the
southern region.

13. The domestic market has been limited to small volumes of vegetables sold through supermarkets
and neighbourhood fairs organized by NGOs. These NGOs have worked mainly with groups of small
farmers, promoting the application of organic technologies and the organization of producers for the
marketing of production. Among the most important NGOs are the Association for the Development
of San José de Ocoa and the Education Centre for Integral Health. In addition, about 30% of the
organically produced bananas that do not meet the minimum quality standards for exportation are sold
on the domestic market, though they are not labelled organic (and are thus sold as conventional).

Table 2: Area cultivated with organic crops and number of organic farmers, 2002

Area (ha) % of Total Area No. Farmers % of All Farmers Average Area/Farmer (ha)
Cacao 27 000 64.6 10 000 61.7 2.7
Coconuts 9 375 22.4 1 200 7.4 7.8
Bananas 4 375 10.5 3 500 21.6 1.3
Coffee 350 0.8 600 3.7 0.6
Mango 50 0.1 12 0.1 4.2
4
For example, see FAO/ITC/CTA (2001) and Suquilanda (2001).

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Pineapples 38 0.1 2 0.0 19.0
Lemons 31 0.1 5 0.0 6.2
Herbs 25 0.1 10 0.1 2.5
Sugar cane 310 0.7 68 0.4 4.6
Other 250 0.6 800 4.9 0.3
Total 41 804 100.0 16 197 100.0 2.6
Source: Based on estimates provided by BCS ÖKO Garantie, Conacado and banana-marketing firms.

Table 3: Total exports of organic products, 1999-2002

Volume (t) Value (USD)

1999 29 705 9 601 307
2000 53 346 20 870 401
2001 60 689 20 901 709
2002 – 24 860 813
Source: Dominican Centre for Export Promotion.

Table 4: Value of exports of main organic products (USD millions)

1999 2000 2001

USD % USD % USD %
Bananas 8 092 874 84.3 14 089 769 67.5 20 471 312 82.3
Cacao 1 216 756 12.7 5 191 850 24.9 3 448 086 13.9
Coffee – – 667 164 3.2 401 564 1.6
Mango 25 136 0.3 94 314 0.5 68 500 0.3
Coconuts 55 986 0.6 93 078 0.4 104 771 0.4
Other 210 555 2.2 734 226 3.5 366 580 1.5
Total 9 601 307 100.0 20 870 401 100.0 24 860 813 100.0
Source: Based on information provided by BCS ÖKO Garantie and Conacado.

14. By 2002, the average area of the organic crops cultivated by each producer was 2.7 ha, though
there were significant variations depending on the crop (see Table 2). Small farmers dominated the
production of cacao, coffee, coconuts, sugar cane and vegetables, while large farmers were dominant
in mango and pineapples. While most producers of organic bananas were small, having less than 1 ha
each, agricultural firms accounted for a large proportion of the cultivated areas. Three of these firms
controlled almost all exports of organic bananas.

15. An interesting and important feature that differentiates organic agriculture in the Dominican
Republic from that in most other Latin American countries has been the intensive use of biological
inputs, that is, the organic fertilizers and pesticides authorized in organic agriculture. These inputs are
employed mainly for organic bananas, which are produced in a monocrop system and thus require a
supply of nutrients to compensate for the extraction by the crop, thereby maintaining soil fertility.
Also, some pests cannot be controlled through manual methods without a substantial sacrifice in
yields, so it is necessary to apply pesticides made with authorized materials. The intensive use of
these inputs has led to the development of an important national supply sector that includes input
producers, importers and distributors. Most of these suppliers are members of the Dominican Agro-
Entrepreneurial Board, which represents the interests of private firms in the agricultural sector and
participates in discussions on policy issues related to organic agriculture.

III. SMALL FARMERS AND ORGANIC-BANANA PRODUCTION IN AZUA

16. The organic production of bananas in the province of Azua had its origins in the experience of the
Grenada Fruit Company, which owned lands in Azua and in the northern region of the Dominican
Republic. After the company left the country in the early sixties, the lands remained idle until the late
seventies, when the Government decided to redistribute them among landless workers. The
Government also built an irrigation infrastructure and provided free extension services to farmers.

6
Based on the past experience of the Grenada Fruit Company, the extension services encouraged the
small farmers in Azua to grow bananas. The dry-climate conditions characteristic of Azua inhibited
the pests and diseases that are common in banana plantations in other countries (notably Black
Sigatoka). Thus, as Grenada Fruit had done, the small farmers were able to cultivate bananas using
few or no chemical inputs.

17. Realizing that the conditions for organic production were favourable, a national marketing firm,
Plantaciones Tropicales (Tropical Plantations), established links with small producers in Azua and
brought in a certification agency to certify the production as organic. The firm undertook the first
exports of organic bananas around 1988. Later on, a US technician from Mercantile Foods, an Italian
firm marketing organic products, decided to locate in the Dominican Republic and joined the owner
of Plantaciones Tropicales in starting up another production and marketing firm (Horizontes
Orgánicos) in Azua. This firm applied the principles of biodynamics, which consists of growing crops
using only inputs produced on the farm. In 1994, a Dutch technician who had been providing
technical assistance to Horizontes Orgánicos for the production of bananas left the firm to create her
own company, SAVID. SAVID and Horizontes Orgánicos began signing contracts with small banana
producers, buying their production of bananas and providing them with technical assistance and
credit. They also began establishing their own plantations, and SAVID expanded to the north-western
region of the country (mainly the province of Monte Cristi).

18. By the late nineties, bananas had become the main organic crop in the Dominican Republic in
terms of exports and the second most important crop in terms of cultivated area. The value of the
exports of organic bananas had expanded steadily, reaching USD 8.1 million in 1999,
USD 14.1 million in 2000 and USD 20.5 million in 2001. By 2001, 70% of the production of organic
bananas was being exported, and bananas represented 82.3% of the total value of all exports of
organic products. About 80% of the 4 400 ha of organic bananas grown in the Dominican Republic
were located in the northern region of the country, while the province of Azua accounted for about
20% (900 ha). The northern region produced 90% of the total output of organic bananas, while Azua
accounted for the remaining 10%.

19. Although the share of Azua has declined in terms of both area and production, it is important
because it contains the largest proportion of small organic producers of bananas. Thus, the expansion
of banana production in the northern region has mostly involved large firms that established
themselves there, purchasing land and growing bananas on their own plantations. Meanwhile, the area
cultivated with organic bananas in Azua has remained more or less constant, and most of the
producers are small farmers. Small farmers currently account for about 80% of the area under
cultivation with organic bananas in Azua. They each farm an average area of 1.3 ha and grow between
0.5 and 1 ha of bananas. Some of these small farmers belong to farmer associations, including: (a) the
Francisco del Rosario Sánchez Cooperative (250 producers and 216 ha of bananas); (b) the San
Vicente de Paul Cooperative (140 members and 120 ha of bananas) and (c) the National Association
of Banana Producers (150 producers and 140 ha of bananas).

20. The structure of the production of organic bananas has been dominated by contract farming.
SAVID has contracts with the producers of the Francisco del Rosario Sánchez Cooperative, while
Horizontes Orgánicos has contracts with the National Association of Banana Producers. These firms
have played a major role in the organization of organic-banana production (see later). In both cases,
farmers sell their bananas to the marketing firms at an agreed price and receive technical assistance
and credit from the firms. The marketing firms have also set up and manage and finance an ‘internal
control system’ to monitor the compliance of farmers with the standards of organic production. This is
required by the certification agencies, which, in this way, can avoid carrying out inspections on every
producer and can instead merely inspect a sample.

21. SAVID also grows about 40 ha of bananas on its own land, while Horizontes Orgánicos grows
about 130 ha. In addition, SAVID has been operating in Monte Cristi since the late nineties, buying

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bananas from three farmer associations (150 producers and 312 ha in Monte Cristi) and rapidly
expanding its own plantations, which had reached close to 1 000 ha by 2002.

IV. THE EFFECT ON THE INCOMES AND THE QUALITY OF THE LIVES OF SMALL
FARMERS

A. Changes in the Cost of Production

22. Small producers of organic bananas in Azua faced costs that were higher than those they had
faced when they were producing conventionally. The shift to organic production led to the
replacement of agrochemicals by manual methods and organic inputs for the control of weeds, pests
and diseases. This generated higher labour costs, which increased from 51.4% to 71.3% of total
production costs. While the cost of inputs was significant, it was lower than the cost for inputs in
conventional production. In contrast to other organic crops, such as coffee and cacao, that are usually
combined with the forest and other species, organic bananas are produced within a monocrop system
in the Dominican Republic. This production system generates higher yields, but it extracts a
significant amount of nutrients from the soil and is more prone to pests and disease. Thus, it requires
the use of substantial amounts of organic inputs, especially fertilizers, fungicides and pesticides.
Small farmers do not produce these inputs on the farm, but purchase most of them on the market or,
occasionally, from the marketing firms with which they have contracts. The cost of these organic
inputs is usually lower than the cost of similar chemical inputs. The outcome of the lower cost of the
inputs and the higher labour costs is that the overall cost of organic-banana production is higher than
that of conventional banana production (see Table 5).

Table 5: Production costs of organic and conventional bananas (USD/ha)

Organic Conventional
Total production cost 2 560 2 370
Labour cost 1 826 1 218
Labour cost/total production cost (%) 71.3 51.4
Source: Based on information provided by farmers and marketing firms.

B. Effects on Yields

23. Small banana producers in Azua obtained relatively low yields, about 14 t per ha, compared with
an average of 26 t per ha among large organic producers. The yields of small producers were similar
to or slightly higher than those they had obtained when they had produced with conventional
technologies and similar to those obtained by small conventional producers in the region. Marketing
firms provided extension services as part of their contracts with farmers. The services focused on the
application of organic technologies for the control of pests and disease and to obtain a product of
reasonable quality. Small farmers introduced some improvements in crop and soil management, but
several problems may have hindered more positive effects on yields. First, small farmers have had
few resources and little access to credit, so they may have been using insufficient amounts of organic
fertilizers to compensate for the extraction of nutrients by the banana crop. This is crucial since the
farmers grow organic bananas within a monocrop system and have rotated crops since they started to
grow bananas in the eighties. Second, the farmers in Azua have been relying an outdated irrigation
technologies and manage irrigation rather poorly. A serious drought that has affected the region since
the late nineties has aggravated this problem by reducing the water available for irrigation.
Improvement in irrigation management would require heavy investment that the farmers have been
unable to carry out. These problems have also affected production quality, which is one of the issues
that have been of most concern to the marketing firms.

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C. Effects on Product Prices and Net Revenues

24. Organic producers sell their bananas to marketing firms, which in turn export about 70% of the
output on foreign markets, mainly in Europe, and about 30% on the domestic market (see later). The
foreign markets pay a higher price, while there is no differentiation on the domestic market between
organic and conventional bananas. The farmers received USD 4.50 per 18-kg box in 2001 and
USD 5.50 per box in 2002. This was 28.6% and 22.2% higher than the respective prices for
conventional bananas, USD 3.50 and USD 4.50 per box (see Table 6). Part of the production was sold
to the fair-trade market, for which farmers received an additional USD 1.75 per box.

25. Thus, the production costs were higher, while the yields were similar, and the prices were higher.
The result was higher net revenues for organic production relative to conventional production (see
Table 6).

Table 6: Comparison of revenues from organic and conventional bananas, 2002

Product Price Yield Gross Revenue Cost Net Revenue

(USD/box) a/ (t/ha) (USD/ha) (USD/ha) (USD/ha)
Organic 5.50 14 4 277 2 560 1 717
Conventional b/ 4.50 14 3 500 2 370 1 130
Source: Based on information provided by farmers and marketing firms.
a/ Each box weighs 18 kg. b/ Certification costs and variables specific to small conventional producers in the
same region are taken into account.

D. Effects on the Natural Environment and the Health of the Population

26. The absence of empirical research and of adequate information was a major constraint in the
analysis of the effects of organic production on the natural environment and the health of producers
and rural workers. However, qualitative evidence suggests that the organic production of bananas may
have had positive effects on the environment and on the health of farmers and rural wage workers.

27. In contrast to other organic crops in the Dominican Republic, such as cacao or coffee, or to
bananas in Talamanca, Costa Rica, which are produced under the forest and mixed with several
species of plants, the organic bananas in Azua (and also in the northern region of the country) are
produced within a monocrop-production system, though the small farmers in Azua sometimes grow
limited amounts of subsistence crops mixed in with or on the edges of the banana plantations. The
mixed-production systems are associated with high ecological diversity and minimal erosion, because
the soil is covered with leaves and product residues are incorporated in the soil. 5 In addition, several
studies have concluded that the management of shaded crops has led to a lower incidence of pests and
disease as a result of the higher ecological diversity. In contrast, large monoculture crops are prone to
increased attacks by pests and disease, so they are usually associated with the increased application of
pesticides. In turn, the extensive use of agrochemicals usually leads to the emergence of pest strains
that are resistant to pesticides.6

28. An additional problem of the organic-banana-production systems dominant among small farmers
in Azua has been that crop rotations have been uncommon. Organic crops are also common in other
Latin American countries, but they are frequently rotated with other crops to maintain soil fertility.
For example, producers of organic sugar cane in Argentina rotate the planting of the sugar cane
among the fields, while the bananas in Azua have been grown in the same plots since farmers started
producing bananas in the eighties. This is because the laws and regulations on organic agriculture in
Argentina require that each organic producer have a five-year production plan and that farmers rotate
crops in order to promote the recovery of the soil.7
5
See Damiani (2001).
6
Holderness et al. (2001) and FAO (1999).
7
See Serrano (2002).

9
29. Thus, the production system that is characteristic of organic farming in the Dominican Republic is
not associated with the ecological diversity of the mixed systems, and it requires a much more
intensive use of organic inputs to control pests and to compensate for the loss of soil nutrients.
However, the organic-production system may have brought positive effects on the environment and
the health of producers relative to the conventional production system. In fact, bananas are one of the
crops that require the most intensive use of chemical inputs in order to maintain fertility and limit the
attack of pests. Organic-banana production relies instead on manual practices and biological inputs in
place of the chemical inputs used in the conventional systems, thereby avoiding the negative effects
on the environment, including pollution of the air, soil, rivers and groundwater, as well as the
emergence of resistant strains of pests. This has also been positive for the wage workers and farmers
on the banana plantations to the extent that their exposure to agrochemicals has been reduced.

V. FACTORS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC-BANANA PRODUCTION

30. This section analyses the influence of different factors on the development of organic-banana
production in the province of Azua and in the Dominican Republic in general. Features of the climate
and location that inhibit pests, a tradition of production that is characterized by little or no use of
agrochemicals, and the existence of preferential access to European markets have been the main
factors that have determined the competitive advantages of the production of organic bananas. The
establishment of marketing firms with expertise in production technologies and with contacts on
foreign markets have played a major role in Azua and the country’s northern region in the success of
organic bananas and the high participation of small farmers. These firms signed contracts with small
farmers and became key actors in the structure of the production system. The firms brought in new
technologies from other countries, adapted them to local conditions and transferred them to the small
farmers. They also helped farmers organize production and harvesting so as to avoid too many
harvests at the same time and promoted changes suggested by foreign buyers so as to improve the
quality of the output.

A. Characteristics of the Climate and the Location

31. The dry climate (an annual average rainfall of 600 mm) of the Dominican Republic – especially
Azua, which is dryer than other regions of the country – and the fact that the country is located on an
island have been important factors in the competitive advantages of organic-banana production. These
characteristics have hindered the pests that are common on banana plantations in most other banana-
producing countries. In particular, banana plantations in the Dominican Republic have been free of
Black Sigatoka, a fungus that leads producers in countries such as Costa Rica, Ecuador and Honduras
use significant amounts of agrochemicals.8 Black Sigatoka has been recognized as one of the main
constraints on the organic production of bananas elsewhere because no effective organic treatment has
so far been found to fight it. Thus, it can be extremely difficult to produce bananas organically where
Black Sigatoka is prevalent.9 Because Black Sigatoka is not prevalent in the Dominican Republic, the
production of bananas has traditionally relied on less inputs there than in other countries, even when
the Grenada Fruit Company was the main producer.

B. The Structural Characteristics

32. The emergence of organic bananas was greatly influenced by the characteristics of the producers
who were dominant in banana production and the types of technologies that they had been applying.
These obviously determined the changes and the money outlays necessary to shift to organic
production. After the Grenada Fruit Company left the Dominican Republic, small farmers became the
dominant actors in the production of bananas. These small producers had little access to credit and
extension services, so they produced under a production system that was more or less ‘organic’, using
8
Black Sigatoka recently entered the Dominican Republic, though its presence is limited to the northern region, and the
attacks have been very mild due to the climate.
9
See Holderness et al. (2001).

10
few or no inputs. In addition, unlike the large farmers, they relied mainly on family labour, not hiring
much wage labour, and thus kept their labour costs down. While the yields of conventional bananas
were low, and the quality of production was a constraint in selling on foreign markets, the
characteristics of the production system made the transition to organic bananas easier and less costly
than it would have been if the larger farmers who apply technologies involving the intensive use of
agrochemicals had been dominant. Marketing firms active in organic products identified these
competitive advantages of the production of organic bananas in the late eighties, so they started to
promote the certification of the production of small farmers.

C. The Role of Government Policies and Agencies

1. Macroeconomic and agricultural and rural development policies

33. The growth of organic agriculture in the Dominican Republic took place in the context of an
impressive evolution of the economy during the nineties. The country had experienced a difficult
period in the late eighties, when fiscal deficits, the flight of capital and mistaken economic policies
resulted in high inflation that caused a general economic and social crisis. In 1991, the Government
started a stabilization and structural adjustment programme that was successful in reducing inflation
and the fiscal deficit and that promoted substantial growth in the gross domestic product. Indeed, the
gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 5% in the period 1991-95 and at an annual rate of
7.2% between 1995 and 1999: one of the best performances among Latin American countries. During
1996-98, the Dominican Republic ranked among the world’s most rapidly growing economies. Free
trade zones, tourism, telecommunications and construction were the main sources of the economic
growth.10

34. These macroeconomic conditions were favourable for all economic sectors in general. In
particular, they attracted an important flow of foreign investments in various sectors. While most
foreign investments went to sectors other than agriculture (especially tourism), organic agriculture
received a share. In fact, the largest production and marketing firms involved in organic bananas in
the Dominican Republic were established by foreign investors during the nineties. These firms are not
transnational corporations, but were created by individual technicians who had come to the
Dominican Republic as employees of marketing firms either to buy bananas, or to provide technical
assistance in banana production. The three largest producing and marketing firms (SAVID,
Plantaciones del Norte and Horizontes Orgánicos) account for about 70% of the production and
almost all of the exports of organic bananas. These firms were key in the development of organic
bananas in the Dominican Republic and the shift of small farmers to the production of organic
bananas (see later). They signed contracts with small farmer associations both in Azua and in the
northern region of the country; they purchased and exported the organic bananas produced by these
associations, transferred organic-production technologies to them, provided them with credit, and they
organized systems to monitor the compliance of small farmers with the organic standards of
production.

35. While the Government made substantial progress in implementing reform policies in various
economic sectors, it made less progress in reforming the agricultural sector. High taxes protect several
agricultural products, imposing a heavy tax burden on urban consumers and farmers who produce
export-oriented crops such as coffee, cocoa and tobacco. Moreover, state interventions through import
controls and direct-marketing schemes have encouraged rent-seeking and a lack of transparency.11

36. The Government implemented some interventions in agricultural and rural development that were
essential in the development of banana production by small farmers. The most important interventions
included the distribution of land among landless workers and the provision of subsidies for irrigation.
Among landless workers in Azua, the Government redistributed land that had been previously owned

10
See World Bank (2000) and IMF (1999).
11
See World Bank (2000).

11
by the Grenada Fruit Company. Through the Institute of Agrarian Development, the Government
provided small banana producers in Azua with land and free extension services, while it invested in
irrigation infrastructure through the National Institute of Water Resources. Most beneficiaries of the
land-redistribution programme had limited experience with agriculture, so the extension services had
a great influence in their choice of crop. Based on the experience of Grenada Fruit on the same lands,
the extension services encouraged farmers to grow bananas. In addition, the National Institute of
Water Resources provided substantial subsidies for irrigation, including support for the construction
of irrigation infrastructure and supplying the water for irrigation free of charge.

37. Although irrigation has been heavily subsidized, there are still problems that have become some
of the main constraints on improvements in the productivity and quality of banana cultivation among
small farmers. The maintenance of irrigation infrastructure has been inadequate, and farmers have
been applying outdated irrigation technologies. Gravity irrigation is the dominant technology. It is an
inefficient system that uses too much water and has frequently led to a scarcity of water during dry
periods.

2. Government agencies and regulations dealing with organic agriculture

38. Although the Dominican Republic has developed a vibrant organic agriculture, the Government
only began to create agencies and regulations to deal with organic agriculture in 1999. In that year, the
Secretariat of Agriculture created a department of organic agriculture within the extension division
and another one within the production division. These entities have concentrated on the promotion of
organic agriculture – mainly vegetable production – among small farmers, providing them with
training and extension services. Both departments have had scarce funding and showed a limited
impact. The most important action has been the implementation of a project to promote the adoption
of organic technologies of production among vegetable producers. The project has been supported by
the Japanese International Cooperation Agency.

39. In addition, two other state agencies have carried out important initiatives related to organic
agriculture. The Dominican Centre for Export Promotion collects detailed statistics on exports of
organic products, has organized workshops and participated in fairs in the Dominican Republic and
abroad in which it has promoted organic products and has published special issues of its monthly
magazine (El Exportador Dominicano) dedicated to organic agriculture. The Dominican Institute of
Agricultural and Forestry Research, a decentralized state agency created in 1985, promotes
agricultural and forestry research. It has worked on the validation of organic technologies and has
carried out comparisons of these technologies with conventional technologies in its various research
programmes.

40. In 2001, the Government created a set of regulations on organic agriculture in response to
pressure from the larger producing and marketing firms of organic products, the certification agencies
located in the country and NGOs, mainly the Dominican Association of Organic Agriculture, which is
the most important representative of the organic movement in the country, and the Dominican Agro-
Entrepreneurial Board, which is the main organization representing the interests of farmers (mainly
medium and large farmers). These organizations were worried that, if there were no specific policies
and regulations, the access to foreign markets, mainly countries of the European Union (EU), might
be compromised.

41. The regulations created by the Government consisted of two Presidential decrees (No. 695 and
696-01) approved in June 2001. These decrees provided various definitions of ‘ecological
agriculture’, including the requirements that the process of the production of crops and animal
products must meet in order to be identified as ‘ecological’ and the specific types of inputs that can be
used in the production process. In addition, the decrees created a National Council of Ecological
Agriculture comprised of one representative of the Secretariat of Agriculture (who is the council’s
president), three representatives of the Dominican Agro-Entrepreneurial Board, one representative of
the Dominican Association of Organic Agriculture, one representative of the organic certification

12
agencies, one representative of the Secretariat of the Environment and one representative of the
Dominican School of Agronomy. The norms established a long list of functions for the National
Council of Ecological Agriculture, mainly revolving around the provision of support in the
formulation of policies, promotion for education and training programmes, the creation of
mechanisms for coordination among national and international institutions, the collection of
information on organic agriculture and the formulation and implementation of annual operational
plans.

42. Although these norms have represented substantial progress, the vibrant organic sector in the
Dominican Republic was developing well before the creation of the norms and in spite of the absence
of policies towards organic agriculture. However, this does not mean that specific institutions and
policies have not been relevant. The recently created institutions are important because the importing
countries (especially the EU) have been developing norms requiring that countries producing organic
products must meet minimum standards in terms of a national legal framework and specialized
agencies dealing with organic agriculture. The laws and institutions are supposed to ensure that the
production and certification of organic products meet the standards of the importing countries. For the
EU, every country that meets the acceptable standards can receive the so-called “third-country status”,
and all countries exporting organic products to Europe are supposed to meet these standards by 2005.
By 2002, Argentina was the only Latin American country that had obtained the third-country status,
while a few others had applied, but had not yet obtained it. Thus, the development of these institutions
is necessary in order to maintain access to export markets. In addition, the laws and specialized
agencies can help exporters of organic products in case they have legal problem with buyers. Finally,
the provision of clear definitions about ecological or organic products and the norms for certification
inhibit the loose use of terms that confuses consumers and represents a constraint on the development
of the domestic market.

D. Contract Farming and the Role of Production and Marketing Firms

43. Contract farming has been the main means of organization in the production and marketing of
organic bananas in Azua. The three associations of producers of organic bananas have signed
contracts with two commercial firms (SAVID and Horizontes Orgánicos) that produce and market
organic bananas, while the farmer associations have in turn signed contracts with each of their
association members. Agricultural firms like the ones that produce and market organic crops in the
Dominican Republic have been criticized for several reasons. Some analysts have argued that the
contracts that these type of firms sign with small producers are often exploitative because they pay
low prices for the products of the small farmers.

44. Despite this criticism, the commercial firms have played a significant part in the development of
organic-banana production and the shift of small farmers to this production in several ways:

(a) These firms have been very active in bringing new crop and post-harvest technologies from other
countries, adapting them to the conditions of Azua and transferring them to small farmers through
their own extension services. While these firms are large in the context of the agricultural production
in the Dominican Republic, they are far from being like the transnational corporations that dominate
banana production and marketing worldwide. In fact, the most important firms in Azua (SAVID and
Horizontes Orgánicos) are managed directly by their owners and have not undertaken investments in
other sectors. However, they have access to capital and experience in organic production. Their
owners are agronomists or have studied and worked extensively in organic agriculture. They have
frequently travelled to other countries to learn about new organic technologies and are truly interested
in improving the production and living conditions of small farmers. Both firms have been able to
establish links with agricultural research institutions carrying out work with bananas and with organic
technologies of production, introduce new technologies of production and adapt them to the
conditions of the Dominican Republic. For example, by way of the Honduran Foundation of
Agricultural Research, they have introduced new varieties of bananas that are resistant to Black
Sigatoka and other pests, and have transferred them to small farmers. They have also transferred most

13
of the technologies for organic-banana production developed at EARTH, an international education
and research centre located in Costa Rica.

(b) The commercial firms in Azua have been very important in opening new export markets for
organic bananas by developing connections that farmers in the Dominican Republic did not have.
Both SAVID and Horizontes Orgánicos had connections with European and US buyers who
frequently visited the plantations. SAVID was also successful in encouraging transport firms
specialized in bananas to make regular stops in the Dominican Republic. The transport of bananas is a
very specialized undertaking that requires that the ships be furnished with cooling facilities handled
by personnel who know how to care for the fruit. Such transport firms do not stop at a particular
harbour along their routes unless they can load a reasonable volume of product. Thus, commercial
firms in the Dominican Republic initially had to rely on ships that transported other products. This
was more expensive and had a negative effect on the quality of the bananas. Eventually, SAVID was
able to negotiate with the specialized firms to include the Dominican Republic on their routes.

(c) The commercial firms negotiated contracts with small farmers in Azua, purchasing their organic
production and providing them with technical assistance and credit. SAVID and Horizontes
Orgánicos signed the first contracts with the three farmer associations in the mid-nineties. These
contracts were initially signed for periods of up to three years, but the more recent contracts are
shorter in order to avoid the problems that can arise because of price variations. The contracts have
been a positive step for small farmers because they have offered the farmers a safe market at an
agreed price. In addition, the firms provide small producers with technical assistance and inform them
about new organic technologies that have helped solve production problems (for example, the attack
of pests and diseases), including the introduction of new varieties and the use of new organic inputs.
Also, the firms obtain funds in advance from buyers and use the funds to provide small farmers with
short-term credit for the purchase of inputs. This credit has been important because the farmers do not
have access to other sources of credit. Thus, small farmers were unable to carry out improvements in
their irrigation technology without long-term credit. Finally, in contrast to cases of organic production
in other countries where associations of small organic producers have created and manage control
systems to monitor the compliance of their members with organic standards, the firms themselves
have established, manage and finance the monitoring systems in the Dominican Republic.

45. While SAVID and Horizontes Orgánicos have facilitated the marketing of the production of small
farmers and helped them improve their production technology, the relationship between these actors
has not always been positive for the small farmers. Small farmers have a relatively weak position in
negotiations with the firms because they have limited information and are poorly organized and
because the two firms have become the only buyers of the output. Thus, the small producers have
ended up receiving relatively low prices and accepting contract terms that are not always favourable.
The most important examples include the following:

(a) Marketing firms are not obliged to buy the banana production of the small farmers during certain
months, specifically when it is summer in the Northern hemisphere (June-August). During that time,
the demand for bananas in Europe and the United States falls substantially because of the supply of
other seasonal fruits. As a result, small farmers have to sell an important proportion of their bananas
in the domestic market as conventional during these months.

(b) The commercial firms have often paid for the organic certification and organized, financed and
managed the internal control systems that monitor the compliance with organic standards of
production among the farmers in farmer associations. Thus, the certification agencies issue the
certifications in the name of the commercial firms, making it difficult for farmers to negotiate with
foreign buyers directly or to sign contracts with other certification agencies without incurring great
additional costs. This is explained in more detailed below.

46. The weak position of small farmers has been due mainly to the following:

14
(a) The predominant market position of the firms. Three marketing firms (SAVID, Horizontes
Orgánicos and Plantaciones del Norte) export all the production of organic bananas from the
Dominican Republic. SAVID accounts for 80% of the exports. Two of the firms (SAVID and
Horizontes Orgánicos) control the marketing of all the production of organic bananas in Azua,
including the production of small farmers. These firms have the contacts on foreign markets and take
advantage of economies of scale in the packing, transport and marketing of the product.

(b) The weak organization of small farmer associations. As an alternative to contracts with marketing
firms, the banana-producer associations might have played an more active role in marketing, making
direct contacts with buyers, contracting shipping and planning production and harvests so as to send
the product out at the times agreed with buyers. However, the banana-producer associations in Azua
exist more on paper than in reality. They have been characterized by poor organization and
management problems. Thus, international buyers have preferred to deal with the firms because they
view them as more reliable in negotiations, keeping commitments and meeting quality standards.

(c) The ‘ownership’ of organic certification. While the farmer associations could in theory negotiate
with other buyers, SAVID and Horizontes Orgánicos have managed the organic certification in such a
way that this alternative is too difficult and costly for the small farmers. The firms contacted the
certification agencies, organized the monitoring systems to control the compliance of the producers
with the organic standards of production and pay for the certification. This is partly related to the
requirements of the buyers, who have been worried that farmer associations experiencing
organizational problems might become unable to manage the monitoring systems adequately. If a
monitoring system does not function properly, an ‘organic’ product might show traces of pesticides,
become unacceptable on foreign markets and thus damage the buyers greatly. Under these conditions,
the certification agencies issue the certifications to the marketing firms directly. This means that, if
one or more farmers or the entire farmer association that has signed the contract with the commercial
firm decides to negotiate a contract with another buyer, it will have to start the certification process
over again and go through another transitional period of two or three years. One of the firms
(Horizontes Orgánicos) has been concerned about its relationship with small farmers and has assigned
more benefits to them. It has been encouraging them to take over the internal control system and
helping them to obtain organic certifications through their farmer associations.

47. The production and marketing firms have been implementing a strategy that may worsen the
already weak position of small banana producers. They have been expanding their own plantations
over the last few years, and they have been taking steps to establish new plantations. This would make
them less dependent on the output of small farmers and give them more power to negotiate convenient
terms in their contracts with small farmers. In particular, SAVID – the largest of the production and
marketing firms – recently started new plantations on about 1 000 ha in the northern region. This is
surprising because it contradicts the strategy followed by the transnational corporations, which have
been decreasing their own plantations and have increasingly promoted contracts with small farmers.

48. The strategy of SAVID and the other production and marketing firms in the Dominican Republic
has been strongly motivated by the quality problems that have characterized the banana production of
small farmers. These problems relate partly to crop management, and SAVID and Horizontes
Orgánicos have made great efforts to solve them by promoting technical changes among small
farmers through the extension services the firms provide. However, the small producers in Azua often
have limited resources for the purchase of inputs and to hire labour, so they frequently delay tasks that
have to be implemented at particular times, and this affects negatively the quality of the product. Poor
irrigation management also affects the quality of the output, but improvements in irrigation would
require important investments that small farmers would find impossible to make. The firm managers
who were interviewed stressed that the international buyers of organic bananas, which usually channel
the product through supermarket chains in Europe, have become increasingly demanding in terms of
quality. Thus, the firms have found that the best way to deal with the quality problems is to produce
directly on their own plantations, thereby exercising direct control over product quality.

15
49. In brief, small banana producers in Azua have benefited greatly from organic production, but they
face important challenges if they are to maintain and improve on the gains. The key solutions involve
improvements in the quality of banana production (which in turn requires technical assistance and
credit to obtain working capital and to undertake investments) and more control over marketing and
the ownership of the certification process (which requires the strengthening of farmer associations).

VI. CONCLUSIONS AND LESSONS

50. The experience of organic-banana production in the Dominican Republic provides some
interesting and useful lessons on ways to help small farmers to produce organic crops. The main
conclusions and lessons are the following:

(a) The shift to organic production has positive impacts on the incomes of small banana producers.
While small producers now face higher costs and obtain similar yields relative to the situation when
they were producing conventionally, they also obtain significantly higher prices and revenues.
Although there is very limited information and no empirical research on the effects of organic
production on the environment and on the health of farmers and workers, anecdotal and qualitative
evidence suggests that these effects may be positive. Organic-banana production is based on the use
of biological inputs instead of agrochemicals. Thus, the potentially direct, negative effects of
agrochemicals on farmers and rural workers and the contamination of soils and water are avoided.

(b) In contrast to other organic crops in the Dominican Republic such as cacao and coffee, which are
produced mixed with forests and other species, bananas are produced in a monocrop system that is
similar to the conventional production system, except for the application of biological instead of
chemical inputs. While the yields are lower than they are on commercial banana plantations, the
monocrop system still implies a significant extraction of nutrients from the soil. Thus, the
sustainability of organic bananas depends greatly on the application of natural fertilizers that can
compensate for the extraction of nutrients by the crop.

(c) Small farmers in Azua have found the production of organic bananas it easy because they were
already producing more or less ‘organically’ before the shift to organic production. Mainly because
they had little access to credit, they used few chemical inputs, so they had to introduce only marginal
changes in the technologies they had been applying. They did not experience the fall in yields
experienced by most farmers who produced with conventional technologies characterized by an
intensive use of agrochemicals. The contracts with marketing firms made the transition easier because
the firms covered the certification costs and provided the farmers with credit and extension services.

(d) Government policies and institutions dealing specifically with organic agriculture had only a
marginal role in the development of organic bananas and other organic crops in the Dominican
Republic. These institutions were created between 1999 and 2001, after organic agriculture had
already become significantly developed. However, macroeconomic and agricultural and rural
development policies were influential in the development of organic bananas and the shift of small
farmers to organic-banana production in Azua. The growth that characterized the Dominican economy
during the nineties encouraged foreign investments, some of which went to organic agriculture.
Indeed, the main producing and marketing firms involved in organic bananas were established by
foreign investors, most of whom were professionals in the agricultural sciences who had worked for
foreign marketing firms in organic products. In addition, small banana producers in Azua received
land through a government programme that distributed land among landless workers and built an
irrigation infrastructure for them. These small producers also received free water for irrigation,
subsidies to cover production costs and free extension services that encouraged them to grow bananas.
The recent development of institutions dealing with organic agriculture has also been important in
meeting the requirements of importing countries (mainly in the EU) and thus keep the access to
foreign markets open.

16
(e) Production and marketing firms have played a major role in the development of organic bananas in
the Dominican Republic and in Azua in particular. These firms are large compared with the average
producers in the Dominican Republic and have cornered a large share of the production and marketing
of organic bananas, but they are small relative to the transnational corporations that dominate the
production and marketing of bananas in most developing countries. The firms have introduced new
crop and post-harvest technologies, opened new export markets for organic bananas and convinced
firms specializing in the transport of bananas to include Dominican harbours on their routes.

(f) The negotiation of contracts with commercial firms has been essential in the shift of small farmers
in Azua to the production of organic bananas. These contracts were negotiated beginning in the early
nineties and allowed small farmers to sell their bananas at prices that were higher than those for the
conventional product. They also received technical assistance from the firms and credit to use as
working capital. The technical assistance provided them with new varieties of bananas and taught
them new technologies of organic production. In addition, the commercial firms organized, financed
and managed the internal control systems that the certification agencies required for monitoring the
compliance of farmers with the organic standards of production.

(g) While the contracts with commercial firms have helped small banana producers substantially, the
farmers have had limited price information and are too dependent on the commercial firms. They
could not sign new contracts elsewhere without incurring great costs. Small farmers would be able to
obtain higher revenues if they developed producer associations that could take over the marketing of
production, negotiate directly with the certification agencies and organize their own monitoring
systems. This would require a great effort at building organizational and management capacity.

(h) Small producers of organic bananas are having significant problems in quality at a time when the
international buyers of organic bananas have become increasingly demanding in terms of quality. For
this reason, marketing firms have been expanding their own plantations. Therefore, major challenges
faced by small organic producers of bananas include the need to improve the quality of banana
production, which in turn requires technical assistance and credit to use as working capital and for
investment, and the need to take over the marketing of production and the ownership of the
certification process, which requires the strengthening of farmer associations.

17
 References

Damiani, Octavio (2001), “Organic Agriculture in Costa Rica: The Case of Cacao and Banana
Production in Talamanca”. Report prepared for the Office of Evaluation and Studies,
International Fund for Agricultural Development. Rome: IFAD.
FAO (1999), “The Market for Organic and Fair Trade Bananas”. Intergovernmental Group on
‘Organic’ and ‘Fair Trade’ Bananas, First Session, Gold Coast, Australia, 4-8 May 1999.
FAO/ITC/CTA (2001), World Markets for Organic Fruit and Vegetables: Opportunities for
Developing Countries in the Production and Export of Organic Agricultural Products. Rome:
FAO/ITC/CTA.
Gómez Cruz, Manuel, Rita Schwentesius and Laura Gómez Tovar (2001), Agricultura Orgánica en
México: Datos Básicos. Mexico City: SAGARPA, Autonomous University of Chapingo.
Holderness, M., S. Sharrock, E. Frison and M. Kairo (eds) (2001), Organic Banana 2000: Towards
an Organic Banana Initiative in the Caribbean, Report of the International Workshop on the
Production and Marketing of Organic Bananas by Smallholder Farmers. Montpellier, France:
International Network for the Improvement of Bananas and Plantain.
IICA (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture) (2001), Aproximación a la Oferta de
Productos Orgánicos en Centroamérica y desarrollo de sus Mercados: Caso de Costa Rica.
San José, Costa Rica: IICA.
IMF (International Monetary Fund) (1999), “Dominican Republic: Selected Issues”. IMF Staff
Country Reports, No. 99/117 (October). Washington, DC: IMF.
SENASA (National Service of Agricultural and Food Health and Quality) (2001), Situación de la
Producción Orgánica en la Argentina durante el año 2000. Buenos Aires: SENASA.
Serrano, Rodrigo (2002), “Small Farmers and Organic Agriculture in Argentina: General Trends and
the Case of Sugar-Cane Growers in San Javier, Misiones”. Report prepared for the Office of
Evaluation and Studies, International Fund for Agricultural Development. Rome: IFAD.
Suquilanda, Manuel (2001), “Estrategias de Producción Orgánica”. Paper presented at the Second
Regional Forum on Organic Agriculture, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 5-7
December 2001. –Also published in Dominican Centre for Export Promotion (2002), El
Exportador Dominicano (Santo Domingo), No. 119 (January-February), pages 4-8.–
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20192. Washington, DC: World Bank.

18
 Annex: List of Persons Interviewed

Gustavo Gandini, Dominican Association of Organic Agriculture and LIGA S.A.

Fausto Dominguez, executive secretary, Dominican Association of Organic Agriculture
Juan Arthur, director, Division of Sustainable Agriculture and Development of Rural Alternatives,
Secretariat of Agriculture
Julio Alcántara, Division of Sustainable Agriculture and Development of Rural Alternatives,
Secretariat of Agriculture
Isidro Severino, Division of Sustainable Agriculture and Development of Rural Alternatives,
Secretariat of Agriculture
Ariosto Sosa, Division of Sustainable Agriculture and Development of Rural Alternatives, Secretariat
of Agriculture
Marta Castillo, Division of Sustainable Agriculture and Development of Rural Alternatives,
Secretariat of Agriculture
Winston Martes, Division of Sustainable Agriculture and Development of Rural Alternatives,
Secretariat of Agriculture
Pilar Ramírez, BCS ÖKO Garantie
Francisco Roberto Arias Milla, FAO Representative in the Dominican Republic
Rafael Pérez Duvergé, research manager, Centre for Agricultural and Forestry Development
Rigoberto Díaz, member of the Organic Agriculture Committee, Dominican Agro-Entrepreneurial
Board and Dominican Biological Products
Ramón Payano, Dominican Biological Products
Isidoro de la Rosa, executive director, Conacado
Clara Luz Fernández, general manager, Exproeco and Agriculture and Environment Foundation
Jorge Stom, general manager, SAVID
Marike de Pena, coordinator, Fair Trade Programme, Bananos Ecológicos de la Línea Noroeste
Fulvio Pellegrini, general manager, Plantaciones del Norte
Christopher Mayer, general manager, Horizontes Orgánicos

19