We have several friends at OKé USA - the Fair Trade bananas folks - whose farmers need our help. 

As you may know, coastal Ecuador has experienced devastating flooding caused by heavier-than-usual seasonal rains since late January. El Guabo, a cooperative of 500 small farms in that region, are OKé USA farmer partners.  One member’s son was killed, several farmers have lost all of their land, and others have had their productivity severely impaired by the damage. 

Banana farming is the mainstay of the local economy and the effects of the damage ripple beyond their farmers to impact everyone employed in the region, from field hands and packing house workers to truck drivers and cantina owners.  You can see pictures of the damage OKé USA farmers have incurred on their blog.

The Board of Directors at El Guabo askign for help to raise funds for a Bobcat compact excavator for the cooperative.  This piece of machinery would help them drain the flooded farms of their members and do preventative maintenance to mitigate the impact of future floods.  OKé USA estimates that a used excavator would run $20,000 and has already 14% of that pledged.  

You can donate online at www.buythebobcat.org.

Overview of Damage of Ecuador Flooding
A birdeye view of loss in Ecuador:

• 51,300 people affected
• 3,645 people evacuated
• 490 experienced property loss
• 24 provinces affected
• 4 dead

• 25 acres of organic farm land
• 300 acres of conventional farm land
• 4% decreased production
• 6-9 month estimate to recover from damages