Alistair Smith

Position

International coordinator

Organisation

Banana Link

Alistair Smith is international coordinator of Banana Link, set up in 1996 to campaign for a fair and sustainable banana trade. He is also a co-founder of the new World Banana Forum, created in 2009 as a space for governments, researchers and civil society to discuss the various problems facing the banana sector and work together to find common solutions.

Blog posts from this author

Advancing living wages: Key insights from the banana sector

30 May 2023

Banana Link's Executive Director reflects on insights from our recent joint webinar on the living wages, and how other sectors might learn from the banana sector's progress.

Where there's a political will...

16 July 2015

When it comes to making living wages a reality for all salaried workers, Ecuador provides a model which other countries would do well to emulate.

Banana industry's progress on living wages

6 November 2013

Retailers, major brands, governments and trade unions are starting to align in a push towards raising wages.

Crisis time for banana pricing?

31 October 2013

Does banana pricing in the UK leave producers and workers short-changed?

The long road to ethical bananas: Part 2

4 February 2011

"If in five years time, the majority of plantation workers have not noticed the difference that the Forum is making, then we can conclude that a promising initiative has failed."

The long road to ethical bananas: Part 1

17 January 2011

"A sustainable banana economy remains a distant goal. The good news is that this goal is now shared by most of the big players and a growing handful of governments - not just the trade unions and small farmers themselves."