After two consecutive nights of thunderstorms the Banana Growers Association, BGA, has suffered an estimated 40% in crop loss which they estimate will amount to US$15-20 million in financial losses. Between Monday, September 5, and Tuesday, September 6, there were two storms with winds of just about 40 mph in the Stann Creek District, as recorded by BGA’s weather equipment.
The BGA’s 6,700 acres of farmland sit between the South Creek River and the Bladen River in the Stann Creek District.
The BGA stakeholders/farmers were all onsite with us today talking about the severity of the freak storms and their effects on the industry, and furthermore, what efforts would have to be taken for them to fully recover. We note that the BGA had only just been recovering from a bad drought season.
The BGA — which exports solely to FYFFES, in the United Kingdom, which is one of the largest importers and exporters of tropical produce worldwide — has a yearly export quota of bananas of around 4 and a half million boxes.
Stakeholders told us that it would take about another three months to fully estimate the extent of their loss, because some damage will only be apparent in the weeks and months to come.
We spoke with the CEO of BGA, Sam Mathias, and two stakeholders/farm owners, Eugene Zabaneh, Sr., and Phil Castaneda, who gave us their feedback on this sudden natural disaster.
Mathias told us today that compared to Hurricane Iris in 2001, which resulted in a 100 % loss for the industry, this duo of storms is, “very dramatic, because they were unexpected, and because they were two storms back-to-back.”
None of the farmers had crop insurance. Prior to Hurricane Iris, just a few farmers, Mathias told us, had crop insurance. After the hurricane, however, the rates for insuring crops went up significantly.
According to the members of BGA, they will seek financial assistance in the form of a loan, not a handout. Mathias told us that they will definitely appeal to the Government for assistance to the industry after this setback.
Mathias says that the rehabilitation of the damaged crops needs to start now, and that that alone will take a considerable amount of funds: “Well really, there is only one way of coming back from this, and that is to replant the plants that have been uprooted and to reap what is left of the remainder of the plants,” he explained.
There are a total of eight stakeholders/farm owners in the BGA who are responsible for around 2,500 to 3,000 employees total; the wages of these employees account for about 50% of total revenue.
Phil Castaneda told us that they will have less need for some of the employees, because of the damage to so many plants, and this should last for close to six months, which is the estimated length of recovery.
Mathias told us that with the unavailability of the BGA to meet FYFFES’ quota, they are uncertain which other banana-producing country will fill in.
Castaneda also estimated that the amount of money it would take to recover the crops, per acre, would be around 5 to 7 thousand dollars.
Zabaneh, who has been a member of the BGA for the past 35 years and owns 1,150 acres of the total of 6,700 acres farmed by the BGA, told us that the recovery process “is going to be difficult; we just got out of a heavy drought which cost us a considerable amount as far as irrigation, and even with good fruit quality.
“We don’t know really, because the industry at this time finds itself financially strapped, and the farmers are totally financially exhausted. We don’t know; it’s difficult to say where we go.”
Zabaneh also reiterated that they will seek a loan or some form of financial assistance, not a handout: “We are in a commercial business and so we have to make sure we can fend for ourselves.
“It’s difficult, but as far as probably getting extensions on our facilities to take us through the next six months, I think that’s going to be our challenge, and we would have to see how we could make the proper arrangements, because for the next three months, we won’t be having any revenues coming in,” he said.
We asked Zabaneh to tell us exactly why he has remained in an industry which is so susceptible to natural disasters such as this. He replied, “Well, quite honestly, it’s like our kids, you know. We have our kids and they are ours, and what to do, we have to live with them; it’s just like that with our business and it’s our livelihood, and that’s how we make our living.”
When we visited the site of the destruction today, we saw that only the banana trees with bananas on them had been blown down, because of their weight. The BGA told us that FYFFES sets a high standard in buying bananas, and bananas beaten by the strong winds would not meet their standard.