New Beginning for Banana Farmers as Government Takes Over NFTOSL Chair
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THE upheavals in the banana industry appears to have stabilised following government’s attainment of the chairmanship of the National Fair Trade Organisation Saint Lucia (NFTOSL).
But does that mean from henceforth it is smooth sailing for farmers? Can government, which has been fighting for control of the NFTO guarantee fair trade prices for fruit exported, increase Saint Lucia’s banana output, reduce on quality claims by buyers and source new and sustained markets for farmers?
The banana industry, over the past five years, has had it rough; a situation that spilled over into 2021 that saw farmers pleading with government to act as a guarantor to a bank loan which they sought to sustain them in the coming months since WIBDECO, owned by the governments of the Windward Islands, collapsed.