Prospere Advocates Increased Plantain Flour Production
St Lucia Agriculture Minister Alfred Prospere has advocated for increased flour production from plantains and other crops, expressing concern about food import costs and an impending price increase for bread.
“I wish we could use our plantain and other products to produce flour.” But, as you are aware, we are doing so in some parts of Saint Lucia. “However, it is nowhere near the quantity that we require,” Prospere told reporters earlier this week.
“I’ve seen high-quality flour made from plantains and other local crops.” “I wish we could increase that level of production so we can reduce our food import bill,” the Minister said.
Prospere expressed concern about the rising cost of food imports and stated that Saint Lucian farmers require assistance.
He spoke ahead of a bread price increase in January 2023 as bakers deal with rising production costs.
Creole bread would rise from 35 cents to 45 cents, while the small pan loaf would rise from $3.60 to $4.35.
The large pan loaf, which was previously $5.40, will now be $6.50.
In announcing the new prices, Commerce Minister Ema Hippolyte stated that the last price increase for controlled bread occurred in 2008.
At a news conference on Monday, Hippolyte stated that the government would continue to subsidise the price of flour for bakers.
Agriculture Minister Alfred Prospere noted that the government had spent millions of dollars in subsidies to support bakers over a long period of time.
At the same time, he believed that the bread price increase was necessary.
“However, we must now consider what we can produce locally,” he told reporters.
