St Lucia Agriculture Minister Alfred Prospere says Saint Lucia produces more bananas than the market needs.
Compared to last year, excess output is striking. Prospere worried that Saint Lucia was not meeting the 15,000-box weekly banana export demand.
Farmers were still recuperating after Tropical Storm Bret destroyed over 75% of the Island’s banana and plantain harvests in June 2023.
The situation has altered.
“We have more production on the ground than we can market or export,” stated the Agriculture Minister.
He learnt that the Dominican Republic and Suriname supply Barbados with bananas, hurting local exporters.
Prospere claimed he had heard of growers delivering bananas to pig farmers to feed their animals.
I was startled since those bananas could have been sold or given to schools. However, it is what I’ve heard. I hope it stops, the minister said.
“Our bananas are too important to be used for that,” Prospere said.
I spoke to the National Fair Trade Organisation, he told reporters outside Tuesday’s House of Assembly meeting.
“When I engaged NFTO I was told we have a surplus now,” the Minister said. Prospere said the NFTO showed market demand was lower than projected.
A new buyer for banana exports to St. Thomas was hired by the Minister on Monday.
Prospere said the shipments’ seven-to-eight-day arrival was a problem. Despite that, he hoped Saint Lucia got the buyer.
This time of year, we expect tremendous production. We receive constant rainfall, so it’s not the first time,” the minister told reporters.
He further stressed that the NFTO and other banana exporters are private companies.
Prospere stated the government does not administer the NFTO but will help banana farmers.
He also hoped banana overproduction would end.
