Banana farmers in Saint Lucia, according to Minister of Agriculture Alfred Prospere, are not producing enough bananas to satisfy the local market, and he is taking action to expand their supply to that market.
Many banana farmers have abandoned the industry as a result of the loss of the UK market. Prospere claims they don't have enough bananas to send to places like Trinidad, Barbados, Antigua, and St. Kitts.
“There are a lot of big farmers in St Lucia. There are people with 30 acres of land, 20 acres of land. They are in it, they know how to do it. They produce a lot of bananas so we have to work with them to see how they can expand,” he explained.
He bemoaned the fact that many farmers who grow bananas aren't actually turning a profit because of the high expense of production.