Faces of Costa Rica
Faces of Costa Rica |
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Blue plastic bags protect growing bananas
from animals, bugs and other dangers as they grow. |
A Banana Republic? Banana plantations cover the land on Costa Rican's Caribbean coast. Banana trees, with their broad shiny leaves and bag-covered fruit clusters, are the primary source of income for residents of the province of Limon. Ninety-three percent of Limon's working population labors in the banana sector. Costa Rica is the second largest producer of bananas in the world, providing 22 percent of the world's bananas in 2002 (Ecuador is the first). Fifty-eight percent of Costa Rican bananas are grown by independent producers. Bananas workers can earn up to $18 daily, double the country's minimum wage. In addition to a higher than normal salary, workers receive social benefit programs, subsidized housing, health care and electricity.
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