Jamaica: Gov't will not abandon banana production, says Tufton

Buoyed by a $230-million injection of funds from the European Union (EU) last week to further assist the island's ailing banana industry, Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton is assuring banana farmers that the Government will not allow the sector to die.

"I want to make it very clear we don't intend to abandon banana production. We believe that there are opportunities in the marketplace for bananas and so we have to develop a programme to get there," he told scores of banana farmers at a meeting in this rural farming district on Thursday.

The EU has been providing billions of dollars in support to the island's banana industry since 1996.

The funds that became available to the Government last week, were provided under the EU Banana Support Programme and will be used to assist communities formerly dependent on the sector for a livelihood, to develop infrastructure and to find alternative forms of economic activity.

Additionally, the funds will be used to assist those farmers who remain in banana cultivation to improve efficiency and competitiveness.

The latest injection of funds from the EU, the agriculture minister said on Thursday, is a clear sign that "we are not going out of banana production".

At the same time, he noted that the Banana Unit in the Ministry of Agriculture is developing a policy framework, in an effort to better understand and to achieve viability in the sector.

"The first thing that I have asked the Banana Unit to do is to develop a study of the banana market nationally," said Dr Tufton." I want to know, for example, how many banana farmers exist in all parishes; where they are cultivating; the acreage under cultivation; where the bananas are sold. and I have asked the team to come back to me with that information within three months because I want to know who I am working with."

He added that the team was charged with the responsibility of documenting the challenges being experienced by banana farmers.

The agriculture minister also told the farmers that the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) was finalising plans to construct banana-ripening facilities throughout the island.

One such facility, he said, would be constructed in St James - one of the island's six major banana growing parishes.
He also told the meeting that RADA would soon be making planting materials more accessible to the farmers and would assist them in finding suitable markets for their produce.

"All this means is that the Government is not abandoning the production of bananas in Jamaica. In fact, we are going to put in more resources to ensure that banana production is expanded and will give the farmers an opportunity to survive and make money," said the agriculture minister.

The local banana sector has been faced with severe challenges over the years.

Among them are the increased incidence of natural disasters, the most recent being Tropical Storm Gustav last August, which followed on the heels of Hurricane Dean in 2007.

Additionally, there has been a continued erosion of the preferential access to the European markets.


Source: jamaicaobserver.com

Publication date: 3/17/2009