Banana Farmers to Benefit from Social Recovery Programme

Tuesday, January 11, 2000 – St. Lucia is the first among countries in the Windward Islands to qualify for financial assistance from the European Commission as a direct result of steps taken by government to privatize the banana industry. That is according to Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry and the Environment, Dr. James Fletcher.

On April 22 1999, a Special Framework of Assistance (SFA) was established by the European Commission to assist banana farmers from Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. This regulation establishes for a period not exceeding ten years, a special framework for technical and financial assistance, to assist traditional suppliers of bananas to adapt to new market conditions following the amendments to the common organization of the market in bananas.

A crucial component of the SFA is the Social Recovery Programme. This programme seeks to provide assistance to those farmers and their families who are unlikely to survive in a fully competitive market environment.

The banana restructuring process currently undertaken in St. Lucia has seen the removal of up to 2200 farmers and their families from the banana sector. In that regard, the Social Recovery Programme will give particular attention to newly created vulnerable groups such as the youth and the elderly.

Areas of activity that are being considered by government include, Adult Education, Housing and Sanitation, Reproductive Health Care, Recreation and Sporting Facilities, Skills Training and Legal and Financial Advice and Planning.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Sustainable Development hosted a sensitization meeting with stakeholders to discuss the execution of the programme, which is expected to commence soon.

The programme will be of a five-year duration. The total cost of the programme over the five-year period will be approximately EC 40 million dollars.

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