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Reorientation of Jamaican banana sector underway

28 May 2012

Jamaica is looking to introduce banana varieties that are more resistant to Black Sigatoka disease, with efforts to combat the disease in Jamaica reportedly accounting for up to 25% of total costs of banana production. In addition to being more resistant to Black Sigatoka, the new varieties, which have been developed by an agricultural research organisation in Honduras, are aimed at ‘creating a sustainable value-added market within three years’. The particular variety being trialled in Jamaica has lower production costs and is better suited to the production of value-added banana products.

The government target is for the production of 120,000 tonnes of the new variety by 2020, which will increasingly be used to supply local and export markets for banana chips, as well as meet demand for banana flour and flavouring for juice production. This will reduce the current import bill for banana chips and other banana by-products, which in 2011 accounted for US$8.4 million, more than double the $3.7 million recorded in 2010.

These efforts form part of a wider banana resuscitation programme worth J$50 million (€450,000) launched by the Jamaican government in November 2011. This includes plans for ‘tying farmers to specific processors’, so that there is a ready outlet for the expanded production.

The replication and distribution of the new variety is being managed by the Banana Board in Jamaica, using EU financing made available under banana adjustment support programmes. To date, three plant nurseries have been opened where farmers can purchase the new varieties, and farmers have responded favourably.

Editorial comment

The situation in the banana sector in Jamaica is similar to that of other banana producers in the Caribbean, where the difficulties faced in controlling Black Sigatoka disease have been severely debilitating the industry. The recent resurgence of Black Sigatoka in St Lucia and the allocation of part of the EU Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM) programme funding in Belize to controlling the disease are indicative of the seriousness of the situation.

At present, Jamaica appears to be the only Caribbean banana producer to have embarked on a fundamental rebuilding of the banana industry rooted on a completely new, re-engineered variety. The other Caribbean banana producers will be closely observing the performance of the Jamaican industry with this new variety, and especially the impact it could have on the development of a value-added banana products industry.

However, this strategic shift in Jamaican policy was initiated towards the end of the EU’s extensive banana support programme (a €42-million programme initiated in 2000 and scheduled to end in 2012). In recent years the EC has taken the view that despite the European support programme, the Jamaican banana industry ‘has been experiencing a steady decline in terms of production and exports’. As a consequence, a reorientation of the EC’s banana assistance to Jamaica is under way, and the focus of EC support has shifted towards ‘economic diversification and in shielding the negative impact of the downturn of the industry’.

It remains to be seen therefore to what extent the EU will continue to contribute to the implementation of the Jamaican government’s value-added processing strategy for the banana sector, under the new BAM programme.  

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