John and Hunter took us through the 5 main exports that Ecuador relies on and the countries that receive each export. Ecuador is known for shipping cacao, shrimp, bananas, oil and flowers. The top five receivers of such products are the United States, the European Union, Chile, Vietnam and Peru.
Petroleum Ecuador makes 5,054 billion dollars in petroleum exports yearly. They place as the 5th largest provider of petroleum in all of South America and of total exports, 70% is from crude oil. The main extractor of oil in the nation was Cheveron Texaco that focused their energy in the Napo Province. However, this has lead to severe deforestation, contamination of water and oil spill and has polluted the stream and river systems. Studies have shown that in these areas there has been an increase of cancer rates and a decrease in reproductive and psychological health. In response to such issues, the government of Ecuador enacted the Yasuni- ITT initiative in 2007. This initiate worked on protecting the 10 indigenous groups and the area they live in. Shrimp Prepared and preserved shrimp brings in 2,587 billion US dollars to the country of Ecuador. The shrimp farmers use industrialized farming to grow pacific white shrimp. There are over 2,000 shrimp farms around the country that export almost 80% of their crop yield. Although this farming brings in a huge profit for the country, the farms themselves take mangrove space and pollute the area during the shrimp aeration process. In order to remove a section of the mangroves for a shrimp farm, they first bulldoze the land area then they dredge out the mud to place artificial ponds. A common issue within the farming practice is the frequent spread of shrimp disease known as white spot syndrome. Bananas and Plantains Ecuador has a huge banana and plantain industry within the country. Exports total 2,742 billion US dollars and is the largest in the world. Ecuador mainly ships the product to North America and Europe and work with the companies such as Dole, Chiquita, Fyffes and Bonita to market their product. The biggest environmental issue that farmers are recognizing is that more nutrients are needed to combat climate change. Cut flowers Cut or decorative flowers generate 802 million US dollars, or 9% of total exports. The flowers are the second most popular agricultural export. Flower growing increases the use of harmful pesticides that are continuing to poison the land around the farms. Cacao Cacao, my personal favorite export, generates 602 million US dollars for the country. Farmers export two types of cacao beans, CCN51 and the native plant. Ecuador is the fourth largest exporter of cacao in the world and generates 255,000 metric tons of it yearly. Yet there are several sustainable issues that have become a concern. Many farmers are using homogenized forests in hopes to generate a large crop yield, however, this directly results in the spread of cacao disease and is the reason the native species is so limited currently. Also, there has been debate on whether or not the farms should grow these species using organic methods for health or if farmers should continue to grow cacao to generate the highest crop yield.
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ExperienceThrough Stockton University, I traveled to Ecuador where I studied Biodiversity, |