WINFA’s Chairman speaks out on EPAs

Although she has only been in agriculture for the past 15 years, Marcella Harris has risen to become the head of one of the region’s most prominent farmers’ organizations.{{more}}

Harris had been a civil servant in Trinidad and Tobago where she was born, but is now a poultry farmer in Dominica, her adopted homeland. She was elected Chairman of the Windward Islands Farmers Association (WINFA) four years ago.

While in St Vincent and the Grenadines for the recent Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) sensitization campaign, Harris told SEARCHLIGHT that she is opposed to EPAs as they are detrimental to small producers in small developing states. “We have to sensitize persons that like the World Trade Organization (WTO), EPAs are going to affect all aspects of our lives,” she said.

Harris, who comes off as being quite knowledgeable and militant, freely admits that she does not know everything and is still in the learning process as trade liberalization and EPAs are quite complex issues.

Harris said that over 30 per cent of farmers are women and that women need to understand the issues as they are mostly charged with the day to day running of the household.

When asked about the future of bananas, Harris said that there would always be a market for Windward Islands bananas as banana is a fruit that is in high demand in the UK. “Our bananas are sweeter and of higher quality so the consumers are more than willing to pay a little bit more,” she said.