Rome, Nov. 10 (EFE) .- The new manual to improve the health and safety of banana workers in Ecuador can be adapted in other countries, according to the Organization of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The economist of that agency Víctor Prada told Efe that the manual - presented this week at a meeting of the World Banana Forum in Geneva- has been agreed by the public, private and civil society sectors in Ecuador.

The Latin American country is the world's largest banana exporter, leaving almost 6 of the 20 millions of tons that are sold abroad every year in the world.

The guide, developed by FAO and Ecuador, will serve about 250,000 direct workers and about 2 million employees related to the export of that fruit in that country.

It includes recommendations directed to trainers and workers of the sector for the use of the pesticides (very recurrent in that type of plantations); matters.

Prada said that the training of those responsible for the occupational safety committees of the banana industry and, through the Government, the dissemination of the information among small Ecuadorian producers.

The intention is to "replicate that project in all producing countries if there is a political interest," said the expert, taking into account He says that banana growing is done in a similar way throughout the world, from Latin America to Asia-Pacific.

After cereals, sugar, coffee and cocoa, the banana is the The world's most traded agricultural product and attempts to cheapen prices often have disastrous consequences on the labor rights of workers and the environment.

Prada highlighted the importance of institutional support and the existence of well-organized multi-actor platforms with an adequate governance system so that they can be to carry out agreements "like the one reached in Ecuador.

In this regard, the secretariat of the FAO Global Banana Forum is acting as a neutral facilitator between the parties involved. in that sector.