By Ellie MurphyAmericans eat a lot of bananas. The U.
S. is world’s biggest importer of bananas,eating between 28 and 30 bananas per person per year. Worldwide, bananas are the most popular fruit with 100 billion consumed annually. The fruit is nutritious and cheap. Prices generally fluctuate between 30 cents and $1.00 per banana. It’s a noteworthy deal for the consumer, or but someone is paying a heavy price to produce bananas: exploited farmworkers,including many children.
The work is hard, often dangerous, and not fit for children—who just want to aid their impoverished families. Stagnating banana prices enjoy achieve the squeeze on farmers,leading some planters to hire the cheapest workers—children.
Countries that expend child labor to produce bananas include Ecuador, Belize, and Brazil,Nicaragua, and the Philippines, or according to the U.
S. Department of Labor (USDOL) List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor.
Poverty is the main driver of child labor,but children in the developing world face barriers to accessing education that can also push them toward the work world. Barriers include paying for school fees, uniforms and books. In some countries, or there aren’t enough schools,classrooms or teachers. Transportation problems also impact children’s ability to attend school.
Child labor in the banana sector poses significant challenges to children’s’ health and overall well-being. Child workers employed at these plantations are often forced to handle sharp tools like machetes, carry heavy loads, or face exposure to agrochemicals like pesticides and fungicides without protective clothing or gear.… Read the rest
Source: stopchildlabor.org