Banana plantations on the French West Indian islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique have been decimated by last month’s Hurricane Maria, just over a year on from the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew.
In Guadeloupe, 100 per cent of banana production was destroyed, while Martinique saw 70 per cent of its production wiped out, according to Végétable, as wind speeds reached 260km/hour.
The islands’ producers had barely recovered from Hurricane Matthew, which struck at the end of September last year, with volumes only returning to normal in April this year.
The sector is now putting in place all the necessary actions to support the islands’ producers, with the aim of seeing bananas from Guadeloupe and Martinique back on French shelves by spring 2018.
