Guns and Roses: A Tour of the Dangerous Ecuadorian Flower Industry -- Anna Alvarez, Aren Kintigh, Hanna Guidry
Click for a transcript of the podcast
What is the Cut Flower Industry?
Cut flowers, most notably roses, are a commodity actively sought-after by individuals in many Western countries. Ecuador is the country most known for its lush, vibrant roses that are exported to the United States and beyond. However, before the flowers reach the floral section of the grocery store, they travel through a very complex and multifaceted system. Most notable about this system is the fact that the vast majority of its workers are women. Additionally, complex labor dynamics are at play because workers in the Ecuadorian cut flower industry typically experience better conditions and treatment due to the relative success of the industry. The rose business is extremely lucrative and is one of the most profitable exports in the country.
Globalization's effect on Ecuador
The investment from foreign interests led Ecuador to join the globalized market and changed the way that Ecuadorian companies were run. The cut flower industry depended on these foreign investments to stay afloat, leading them to follow the adoption of better treatment of their employees and more safety requirements. This along with the role that gender had in the industry also proved to be a main contributor to how employees were treated as well – management depended on the women who clipped the flowers, and tended to treat them better because a happier employee meant less mistakes. This directly shows how the interest that management had in improving conditions were related to getting more economic gains. Ecuador’s cut flower business’s involvement in the global market meant that they dealt in the US dollar and not the Ecuadorian Sucre, allowing for their companies and Ecuador to continue to produce revenue in the face of the 1998-99 recession, which plummeted the Sucre and caused Ecuador to shift to the USD in 2000.
The 90s Recession
The 1998-99 recession in Ecuador was caused by several factors including, a currency crisis, financial crisis and high foregin debt. This led to many of the nation’s industries to make major cut-backs or outright collapse. Mr. Alvarez mentions in our interview that the textile businesses were hit especially hard, particularly from the high inflation and drop of the Ecuadorian Sucre (1 USD was equal to 25,000 ECD), companies that ran on the Ecuadorian sucre suddenly couldn’t pay to run, causing them to collapse at the turn of the century. However, the cut flower business was not one of them. This is mainly in part due to foreign investments from both globalized banking organizations and world powers like the United States and Great Britain.
Violence in the Industry
Mr. Alvarez discusses firsthand the dangers he faced being in a management position for a rose company while other businesses suffered. There were few protections available because it was common for hired guards to sell out, so he resorted to arming himself and keeping dogs on the premises of his home. When Dr. Knapp visited one of the rose plantations in Ecuador, he recalls seeing armed guards and barbed wire fences lining the premises. The success of the cut flower businesses places many at risk, especially during times of economic crisis.
Bio of Mr. Alvarez
Mr. Pablo Alvarez is a businessman and agronomist with a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Santa Clara University. He has had significant work experience in management of a rose company in Ecuador, as well as significant experience in other agricultural business management fields in Ecuador and Texas. Currently, he works in Business Development and lives with his family in Texas.
Bio of Dr. Knapp
Dr. Gregory Knapp is a retired professor of Latin American Geography who worked for the University of Texas at Austin since 1984 and retired Spring 2021. He received his BA from the University of California, Berkeley and received his PhD in Geography with a minor in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Knapp’s research has focused on four themes in cultural and regional geography: adaptive dynamics of agriculture; ethnic territoriality and mapping; modernization contextualized in historical cultural ecology; and the history of geographic ideas and researchers.
Bibliography
Alvarez, P. Personal communication, November 12, 2021.
Fuchs, S. & Knapp, G. W. (2018). Leydi’s world : a feminist commodity chain analysis of the cut-flower industry and its women workers in Cayambe, Ecuador / by Sophie Marita Fuchs. [University of Texas].
Hair, C. (2019). Roses Along the Equator: Situating Ecuador and Colombia Within the Global Cut-Flower Market. Southern Quarterly, 57(1), 50-67,115. http://ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/roses-along-equator-situating-ecuador-colombia/docview/2553031533/se-2?accountid=7118
Knapp, G. W. (2021). Cut Flowers in Ecuador [Video]. University of Texas at Austin via Canvas: utexas.instructure.com
Kristof, N. (2008, April 24). Better Roses Than Cocaine. The New York Times. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/opinion/24kristof.html
What is the Cut Flower Industry?
Cut flowers, most notably roses, are a commodity actively sought-after by individuals in many Western countries. Ecuador is the country most known for its lush, vibrant roses that are exported to the United States and beyond. However, before the flowers reach the floral section of the grocery store, they travel through a very complex and multifaceted system. Most notable about this system is the fact that the vast majority of its workers are women. Additionally, complex labor dynamics are at play because workers in the Ecuadorian cut flower industry typically experience better conditions and treatment due to the relative success of the industry. The rose business is extremely lucrative and is one of the most profitable exports in the country.
Globalization's effect on Ecuador
The investment from foreign interests led Ecuador to join the globalized market and changed the way that Ecuadorian companies were run. The cut flower industry depended on these foreign investments to stay afloat, leading them to follow the adoption of better treatment of their employees and more safety requirements. This along with the role that gender had in the industry also proved to be a main contributor to how employees were treated as well – management depended on the women who clipped the flowers, and tended to treat them better because a happier employee meant less mistakes. This directly shows how the interest that management had in improving conditions were related to getting more economic gains. Ecuador’s cut flower business’s involvement in the global market meant that they dealt in the US dollar and not the Ecuadorian Sucre, allowing for their companies and Ecuador to continue to produce revenue in the face of the 1998-99 recession, which plummeted the Sucre and caused Ecuador to shift to the USD in 2000.
The 90s Recession
The 1998-99 recession in Ecuador was caused by several factors including, a currency crisis, financial crisis and high foregin debt. This led to many of the nation’s industries to make major cut-backs or outright collapse. Mr. Alvarez mentions in our interview that the textile businesses were hit especially hard, particularly from the high inflation and drop of the Ecuadorian Sucre (1 USD was equal to 25,000 ECD), companies that ran on the Ecuadorian sucre suddenly couldn’t pay to run, causing them to collapse at the turn of the century. However, the cut flower business was not one of them. This is mainly in part due to foreign investments from both globalized banking organizations and world powers like the United States and Great Britain.
Violence in the Industry
Mr. Alvarez discusses firsthand the dangers he faced being in a management position for a rose company while other businesses suffered. There were few protections available because it was common for hired guards to sell out, so he resorted to arming himself and keeping dogs on the premises of his home. When Dr. Knapp visited one of the rose plantations in Ecuador, he recalls seeing armed guards and barbed wire fences lining the premises. The success of the cut flower businesses places many at risk, especially during times of economic crisis.
Bio of Mr. Alvarez
Mr. Pablo Alvarez is a businessman and agronomist with a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Santa Clara University. He has had significant work experience in management of a rose company in Ecuador, as well as significant experience in other agricultural business management fields in Ecuador and Texas. Currently, he works in Business Development and lives with his family in Texas.
Bio of Dr. Knapp
Dr. Gregory Knapp is a retired professor of Latin American Geography who worked for the University of Texas at Austin since 1984 and retired Spring 2021. He received his BA from the University of California, Berkeley and received his PhD in Geography with a minor in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Knapp’s research has focused on four themes in cultural and regional geography: adaptive dynamics of agriculture; ethnic territoriality and mapping; modernization contextualized in historical cultural ecology; and the history of geographic ideas and researchers.
Bibliography
Alvarez, P. Personal communication, November 12, 2021.
Fuchs, S. & Knapp, G. W. (2018). Leydi’s world : a feminist commodity chain analysis of the cut-flower industry and its women workers in Cayambe, Ecuador / by Sophie Marita Fuchs. [University of Texas].
Hair, C. (2019). Roses Along the Equator: Situating Ecuador and Colombia Within the Global Cut-Flower Market. Southern Quarterly, 57(1), 50-67,115. http://ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/roses-along-equator-situating-ecuador-colombia/docview/2553031533/se-2?accountid=7118
Knapp, G. W. (2021). Cut Flowers in Ecuador [Video]. University of Texas at Austin via Canvas: utexas.instructure.com
Kristof, N. (2008, April 24). Better Roses Than Cocaine. The New York Times. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/opinion/24kristof.html
The BellaRosa plantation beneath the volcanic peak of Cayambe: https://www.ft.com/content/eb5114d6-d846-11e4-ba53-00144feab7de
