This investigation into Ivory Coast’s banana industry reveals how French companies use pesticides banned in the European Union on plantations supplying the French market.
Ivory Coast is France’s leading foreign supplier of bananas, the country’s most consumed fruit, with annual consumption approaching 12 kilograms per person. French companies control almost all banana production in Ivory Coast. The investigation found that they spray plantations extensively from aircraft, using at least three pesticides banned for use in the EU.
Among them is mancozeb, which EU authorities have identified as toxic to reproduction and an endocrine disruptor. European assessments also identified risks to workers, nearby residents, birds, mammals and soil organisms.
The investigation also examines the expansion into Ivory Coast of companies from the French Caribbean previously implicated in the chlordecone pesticide scandal. Alongside their use of pesticides banned in Europe, it documents controversial land reclamation practices and villagers’ regret at leasing their land for 60 years in return for meagre payments.