Banana misconceptions

A whole lot of people have been “washing dey mout” on the banana industry in the Windward Islands without even taking the time to understand the changes being forced upon it, the enormous challenges confronting all involved, not just farmers, and hence placing themselves in a situation where they can make informed comments and offer practical solutions.{{more}}

It is very easy to take up the lament of “banana dead” or “banana dying,” depending on your level of perception, (or is it misconception?), or one’s motives. This lament starts with a simplistic look at export figures, comparing them with the days of “green gold” as evidence that SVG is headed for doom. It is an argument which has political appeal, but which fails to take into account the whole range of factors, internal and external, objective and subjective which have virtually turned the industry on its head.

It is not as simple as saying what we used to produce and what we are doing now as justification for economic collapse. St Kitts was once a sugar exporting country; that industry is closed now, but is that the end of the road for our OECS sister-state which is doing well in tourism and last year topped the list of OECS exporters to the USA? Many other countries, in the Caribbean and without, have experienced shifts in their level and types of exports for one reason or another. Jamaica, only a couple years ago, a larger banana exporter than the Windwards, has had to shift strategy and produce for the local market.

Two decades ago, when the more discerning among us were able to see the storm clouds coming, not so many others seemed concerned. The steady deterioration of our terms of access to international markets was even harder to bear because we refused to heed the warning signs and to up our game. External factors, pests, diseases and natural disasters all played their part in the downward slide, but they were not the only cause. Management of our precious resources, on farms and overall in the industry has contributed in no small manner.

For a brief moment in the nineties, faced with the Chiquita-led US challenge to our banana marketing arrangements, we were able to rally as a nation behind the slogan “Banana is everybody business”, with the late Glenn Jackson heading a spirited mobilization campaign. But political divisiveness, shortsightedness and narrow insularity have plagued us since.

When WINFA promoted Fairtrade as our only option for the European market, there were those who not only pooh-poohed the idea, but actively resisted. Today, our only hope on the British market is Fairtrade. Not that Fairtrade is perfect and the solution for all our banana woes, but it certainly has helped and will continue to do so if we make the effort to correct our production deficiencies.

Similarly, rather than seeing strategies in the agricultural sector as being complementary to each other, we, in typically combative fashion, counterposed one to the other. So, some advanced the regional market as an alternative to Fairtrade, not seeing them as co-existing and parts of a multi-pronged strategy, which includes serving the local market. That same regional market has now become as competitive and difficult as the international one.

Another misplaced view is one which pronounced banana as “dead”, including, alarmingly, by several influential persons. Rather than a sound strategic move to diversify ‘around bananas’, all kinds of other economic activities were promoted as alternatives, not healthy supplements. Even in agriculture, some behaved as though diversification was the opposite of banana production.

At all levels these kinds of distractions have sapped the energy and ebbed away at the confidence of farmers in particular, and those involved with the management of the industry in particular. We are at an extremely low ebb now and it will take herculean efforts to lift ourselves out of the morass. An opportunity to do so is being provided by the European Union-funded Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM), though the limited nature of this programme necessitates that the BAM programme itself needs accompaniment by supplemental governmental and private sector initiatives.

For these to succeed, there must be joint approaches and close collaboration between the public, private and non-governmental sectors. It is tempting for those in government to see the BAM narrowly in terms of winning votes in the homestretch to the next general elections. Equally, the temptation on the Opposition side would be not to cooperate, lest the governing party reap political benefits from any success. Neither approach will serve the best interests of our farming community and country as a whole.

Next: BAM, a late opportunity?

Renwick Rose is a community activist and social com- mentator.