ASOPROBAN - Cooperativa de Parceleros y Pequeños Productores

ASOPROBAN, or the Asociación de Parceleros y Pequeños Productores de Banano, is a banana cooperative located along the Caribbean coast in the Magdalena region of northwestern Colombia. This region is highly militarized and characterized by elevated levels of poverty, unemployment and violence. The cooperative was established in 1984 when 28 farmers united to take control of their production and work together to directly enter international markets, avoiding unjust middlemen infamous for not paying a product’s actual worth. Today, ASOPROBAN has been recognized for its many social programs and environmental protection efforts in the face of conflict and corruption. The cooperative was Fair Trade Certified™ in 1998 and currently exports to the European Fair Trade market.