Reasons to persuade Jamaicans to find alternative markets for banana

We hope that, this time, there is serious and significant follow-onfrom the campaign, formally launched at the Denbigh AgriculturalShow at the weekend by Governor General Sir Kenneth Hall, toencourage greater domestic consumption of bananas. There are good reasons not only to persuade Jamaicans to eat moreof the bananas at home, but to find alternative markets for, andnew ways to use, the fruit. The bottom line is that thebanana-export business, as things now are, is in an extremelyprecarious situation, as is the case with most traditionalagricultural exports. The latest challenge to the industry was the recent ruling by theWorld Trade Organisation (WTO) disputes panel that a tariff/quotasystem imposed by the European Union (EU) on bananas entering theEU market from Latin American producers was inconsistent with thefindings of a 1994 finding of a dispute panel against thepreferential arrangements Europe provided to the African Caribbeanand Pacific (ACP) group of countries, including Jamaica.
That ruling could hardly have come at a worse time for Jamaica. Theisland's banana industry has had trouble recovering from hurricanedamage, which severely compromised production. Indeed, exports,which are already low, dropped to a mere 32,000 tonnes in 2007.
And the fact is, even at the best of times, Jamaica and otherbanana producers in the Caribbean are less competitive than theLatin Americans, who have mounted consistent challenges to the EU'spreferential regimes. In the Caribbean, wages are higher, there is a greater attempt atabiding by core labour standards and farms which, because ofgeography and size, yield less than their Latin Americancounterparts. Yet, in countries like St Vincent and Dominica, exported bananasaccounted for up to a third of the gross domestic product, while inJamaica, as Sir Kenneth said in his Denbigh speech, banana farmingaffects up to 40,000 people directly and indirectly. Moreover, theUS$50 million a year that Jamaica earned from the export of thefruit up to earlier in this decade was not to be sneezed at. In the circumstance, it is difficult for Jamaica to let go of theexport industry, even as it has become increasingly difficult tohold back the assault against protection.
Among the latest rearguard efforts was the warning by CARICOMleaders that attitudes by the Latin Americans to the EU's bananaregime would be used by the region as a marker in helping todetermine what kind of agriculture Caricom would back at the WTOtalks.
There was a bit of breathing space for the region when the talkscollapsed and the EU took an offer of lower tariffs to non-ACPbananas off the table. This situation, however, will not last notwith-standing the call bythe Jamaican Opposition for CARICOM to seek a compromise with theLatin Americans. History suggests that Ecuador, Honduras and therest are not open to such arrangements. Using bananas as an alternative for some of the grains and starchesimported into Jamaica makes sense if it can be done. But it can'tbe done by one or two exhortations to consumers.
This has to be a serious effort, involving market research on theways people might eat more bananas, and investment in research anddevelopment to bring new and interesting products to market.