FT spotlights sustainable practices in banana production, resulting from our partnership with Banco Pichincha

Quito, August 7, 2023.- The banana sector represents 10% of the total exports of Ecuador and 6% of the global production. The banana industry is one of the activities that generates the most employment in the Ecuadorian agricultural sector. The documentary produced by the Financial Times in partnership with Rabobank, mentions the positive impact that the cooperation between Rabo Partnerships (subsidiary of Rabobank Group, a major bank in the agricultural world) and Banco Pichincha has on creating a more sustainable value chain that improves financial inclusion of farmers and, simultaneously, stimulates better practices in the Ecuadorian food & agri-sector.

Together with Rabobank, the British media, through its channel: https:// channels.ft.com/en/foodrevolution/ distributes stories of people and companies that work towards a more sustainable food system. As such it emphasizes the collaboration between Rabo Partnerships and Banco Pichincha. This cooperation initiated in 2019 and has led to an exponential growth of the agri-business portfolio in Ecuador for Banco Pichincha.

The video narrates how, loans and sustainable practices’ trainings for farmers, has led to results such as: [i] an improvement of the fruit productivity with efficient crops; and [ii] farmers with greater knowledge. These results mean that they not only become a real support for the families of farmers and their employees, but also, facilitate their children's access to education.

Alex Doylet, Commercial Officer at Banco Pichincha, explains that “it is of vital importance that we stimulate and develop our producers to continue to grow”. He emphasizes the role of Banco Pichincha in understanding the client, the agri-cycles, and propose sustainable systems and technologies for our farmers.

Joris Timmers, Senior Program Manager at Rabo Partnerships, add that there are “three objectives in the partnership with Banco Pichincha: the first is financial inclusion, that is how to increase access to financial systems of the people in emerging markets; the second is rural development; and the third is increasing of financing in the agri-sector”.

Xavier Lazo, founder and CEO of the Consultancy Company Cluzon, mentions that “our sustainability plan prioritizes the human capital, therefore we have a series of programs addressing topics such as education, improvement of infrastructure, access to credit and the capacity to save…”. In this way, Cluzon runs the project “Cultivarnos” which was born with the objective to support banana farmers and their families.

In this way, the Financial Times video summarizes in 3 minutes how the collaboration between Rabo Partnerships and Banco Pichincha contributes to real life stories. This contribution has led to a positive impact in the rural region, particularly in the banana sector as the partnership supports the productivity of this fruit, which in 2022, registered exports of USD 3,286 million (Source: Central Bank of Ecuador).