Above: St Lucia

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The government of Morocco is providing what St Lucia is describing as “much needed inputs” for the country’s farmers.

Morocco has committed to supplying St Lucia with 200 tonnes of fertilizer each year to help with the island’s banana production, according to External Affairs Minister Alva Baptiste.

The Minister secured the funding during a December visit to Morocco.

“Inputs come at a great cost to our farmers and so we are going to get two hundred tons of fertilizer every year to assist our farmers to reduce the unit cost of producing bananas,” Baptiste said this week. “So as a government we are doing all in our power to make new friends for St Lucia so that we are able to survive in this hostile environment.”

St Lucia is also exploring the potential for scholarships for St Lucians to study in Morocco.

“Japan owes its phenomenal growth as an Industrial power to education and Russia mounted from the status of a poor underdeveloped country to developed country and superpower mainly on the wings of education,” Baptiste said. “So certainly this aspect of mobilizing scholarships for the country is of tremendous significance.”