It is not the first time that such an initiative has been announced, but in the past, it has been merely that - an announcement.

We hope that, this time, there is serious and significant follow-on from the campaign, formally launched at the Denbigh Agricultural Show at the weekend by Governor General Sir Kenneth Hall, to encourage greater domestic consumption of bananas.

There are good reasons not only to persuade Jamaicans to eat more of the bananas at home, but to find alternative markets for, and new ways to use, the fruit. The bottom line is that the banana-export business, as things now are, is in an extremely precarious situation, as is the case with most traditional agricultural exports.

Latest challenge

The latest challenge to the industry was the recent ruling by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) disputes panel that a tariff/quota system imposed by the European Union (EU) on bananas entering the EU market from Latin American producers was inconsistent with the findings of a 1994 finding of a dispute panel against the preferential arrangements Europe provided to the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries, including Jamaica.

That ruling could hardly have come at a worse time for Jamaica. The island's banana industry has had trouble recovering from hurricane damage, which severely compromised production. Indeed, exports, which are already low, dropped to a mere 32,000 tonnes in 2007.

And the fact is, even at the best of times, Jamaica and other banana producers in the Caribbean are less competitive than the Latin Americans, who have mounted consistent challenges to the EU's preferential regimes.

In the Caribbean, wages are higher, there is a greater attempt at abiding by core labour standards and farms which, because of geography and size, yield less than their Latin American counterparts.

Yet, in countries like St Vincent and Dominica, exported bananas accounted for up to a third of the gross domestic product, while in Jamaica, as Sir Kenneth said in his Denbigh speech, banana farming affects up to 40,000 people directly and indirectly. Moreover, the US$50 million a year that Jamaica earned from the export of the fruit up to earlier in this decade was not to be sneezed at.

In the circumstance, it is difficult for Jamaica to let go of the export industry, even as it has become increasingly difficult to hold back the assault against protection.

Making serious effort

Among the latest rearguard efforts was the warning by CARICOM leaders that attitudes by the Latin Americans to the EU's banana regime would be used by the region as a marker in helping to determine what kind of agriculture Caricom would back at the WTO talks.

There was a bit of breathing space for the region when the talks collapsed and the EU took an offer of lower tariffs to non-ACP bananas off the table.

This situation, however, will not last notwith-standing the call by the Jamaican Opposition for CARICOM to seek a compromise with the Latin Americans. History suggests that Ecuador, Honduras and the rest are not open to such arrangements.

Using bananas as an alternative for some of the grains and starches imported into Jamaica makes sense if it can be done. But it can't be done by one or two exhortations to consumers.

This has to be a serious effort, involving market research on the ways people might eat more bananas, and investment in research and development to bring new and interesting products to market.