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Volume No. 1 Issue No. 39 - Sunday March 16, 2003
The Banana Generation
by Thomson Fontaine

Through much of the decades of the seventies, eighties and nineties, Dominica enjoyed modest economic growth due in large part to the success of bananas as a viable export crop and foreign exchange earner.

Based largely on the preferential treatment granted by Britain to its former colonies, and a relatively cheap East Caribbean dollar vis-�-vis the British pound, the seemingly endless stream of foreign exchange allowed the economy to remain buoyant. Although never a rich country by any measure, the bananas produced were enough to keep the economy moving.

For the �Banana Generation�, those of us born in the mid-sixties and later, that is all we ever knew. Some of my most impressionable memories as a kid growing up in the resplendent hills and tumbling valleys of my village have to do with the carrying of bananas.

To me at least, cultivating bananas was not just a weekly chore to be endured, but also my ticket out of the confines of a village to a place where life was perhaps much easier, and not so mundane. Indeed, thousands of students have the banana to thank for paying their high school education with the requisite cost of board and lodge in a town far removed from the activity of planting and growing bananas.

It was hard to imagine a time when bananas would fail. The banana is a crop like no other. It could be harvested on a weekly basis, and freshly planted trees could be ready for harvest in just eight weeks. Even better, it would grow year round. Given the reputation of the banana, demand was assured. With Britain looking out for the interests of its former colonies, the good times continued to roll.

Governments came and went. Some talked of diversification, others barely acted. Why should anyone worry? Why promote industry and tourism if bananas, our very own �green gold� continued to flourish in abundance. The villages were coming alive. Young men with their newly found wealth drove gleaming new pick-up trucks through narrow village streets. New houses were built, telephones installed, and television provided useful entertainment after a day of working in the fields. Surely after thirty years, what could go wrong?

Then there was Chiquita, the banana lobby in the United States, and a frightening new phenomena, at least to many developing countries, Globalization. It took more than thirty years, but influences came together in a way that guaranteed the end of bananas, as we knew it. Not only was preferential treatment out, but many banana fields were lying dormant. From its peak of over seven thousand farmers, less than two thousand remained fighting a seeming losing battle.

Sadly for Dominica, we were unprepared. Caught in the twenty-first century embrace, but talking in the language of the twentieth. Economic ruin beckoned. Our failure to put measures in place to protect against just such an eventuality simply did not exist. The �Banana Generation�, still trying to find its place in the world was left dazed and confused.

The IMF�s dire warning that Dominica�s economy was on the brink of collapse should have come as no surprise. It was a situation waiting to happen. By failing to plan and truly diversify we inadvertently failed. Now mass poverty threatens. Social and political upheaval may yet occur. Migration to St Maarteen, Guadeloupe, the US and countries beyond will no doubt continue unabated. The young educated population and the best hope for our future sadly, will continue to leave.

Can Dominica survive this crisis? Our inexcusable efforts to plan for the demise of the banana are shameful. What were we thinking? Why was the tourism sector never exploited? Why were new investments never actively pursued? Who is to blame for this colossal failure in the development of an emerging State?

Unlike many though, I hold out hope for a prosperous Dominica. Within the country lies the many and varied resources that are key to its development. Our ability to successfully harness those will mean the difference between a country tethering on the poverty line, and one that is vibrant, growing, and successful.

Comments about this article? Email:
editor@
thedominican.net
Telephone:
1-571-236-9502
Fax:
1-202-589-7937

Volume No. 1 Issue No. 39
Economy on Brink of Collapse
The Banana Generation
The Time is Now
Is the Solution in the Politics
LCDR St.Rose:Rising Star in US Navy




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