source: Equal Exchange
A high yield farm, in more ways than one
Cristian de Mora is a farmer-member of Asoguabo, and his wife Erika Sánchez is an integral part of their farm operations. The land was even passed down through generations of her family, and her sister owns the neighboring farm. Their farm is named "Flor del Gabo", which was inspired by the names of their two children.
They expressed immense pride in their work, particularly the spectacular quality and yield of their farm. In fact, their plot ranked first in productivity in the town of El Guabo, and third in the nearby city of Machala! Each cluster or "racimo" harvested could yield about 2 boxes of fruit for export. That's impressive productivity! They attribute some of their success to Asoguabo, which has high standards for quality and provides resources to help members meet those standards.
On this farm they use ladders to harvest, rather than having a crew member catch the falling fruit, because they can be particularly heavy. This serves a dual purpose: to protect the backs of workers and prevent damage to the fruit.
View of a dirt road between rows of banana plants, lined with pink plants and green bushes
sign showing a logo and name of a farm called Flor del Gabo
While we were there, one employee of the farm's packing area was walking through. Erika told us he had been working in that position nearly since Asoguabo was founded in 1997. Stable employment is just one thing that makes this supply chain different.
“The banana supply chain is a massive one with massive impact. Most people depend on it.” - Erika Sánchez
4 people standing around bananas hanging from a cable
Pictured, from left to right: Kayla (Equal Exchange), Erika (Asoguabo), Cristian (Asoguabo), Paola (Equal Exchange).
Agroforestry in action
Meet Felix Loja, a farmer of Asoguabo for 20+ years. He's pictured below cutting open a cacao pod on his farm.
When we first arrived, Felix was quick to welcome us and more than happy to show us around. He even shared some fruits from his farm with us. This is representative of the feeling on a family farm: one of beaming pride and a welcoming smile.
Felix's farm is a 5 hectare agroforestry plot, a farming method which increases biodiversity and helps the farmer to diversify their sources of income. In addition to bananas, Felix has cacao, trees for wood, and native trees such as the guarumo (scientific name cecropia peltata). When asked about a certain plant, he said he wasn't sure what it was called, but remarked with a laugh that the birds enjoyed the fruit.
farmer using a machete to cut open a cacao pod
Felix's farm is certified under a group organic certification with other growers from Asoguabo, since the costs would be prohibitively high to certify each small farm individually. Recently, these group certifications were deemed insufficient for export to the EU. We are lucky to be able to buy Felix's fruit and bring it to the US market.
