Minister of Agriculture for Agriculture, Fisheries Food Security, and Rural Development, Hon. Alfred Prospere will lead a delegation to London, England with the goal of engaging and securing various markets for Saint Lucia’s agricultural outputs.

Minister for Agriculture, Hon. Alfred Prospere alongside representatives from the Department of Agriculture and the National Fair Trade Organization (NFTO), will engage in discourse with banana market stakeholders in England, with the goal of identifying some of the challenges of banana quality and securing existing markets, as well as identifying news venues where farmers can sell their bananas.

Honorable Minister, Alfred Prospere, emphasized the importance of strengthening relationships with regional and international markets in order to build a successful banana industry in Saint Lucia.

“We know the regional market also exists, but England has been our market for decades. If we have to ensure that the banana industry remains viable industry for Saint Lucia, we must continue to engage the markets in London. My real aim is to really have a conversation with the various market to see how our banana farmers can make money and to ensure that the marketing entities in England can make a profit out of the business”

With a strong focus on diversification of Saint Lucia’s agriculture sector, an additional delegation led by Export Saint Lucia will look into opportunities for other commodities q including cocoa, breadfruit, mango, and soursop.

“I believe diversification is very important for us as a country and there is a heavy dependency on bananas in recent times we must change that, especially with the fact given what the industry is like now.  I always believe that diversification is the direction to go given the food security issues that the world is faced with now, the opportunity for us to look at other commodities other than bananas is very important.”

Minister Prospere expressed optimism for a favourable outcome as the delegation prepares to embark on a week-long mission to preserve the livelihoods of Saint Lucian farmers.