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While the Ministry of Agriculture has outlined plans to take measures to reduce the importation of chicken parts from the US from 80 to 60 percent within the next year in order to accelerate the local poultry industry and have it produce 35-40 percent of the local chicken consumption, President of the newly registered St. Lucia Poultry Industry Cooperative (SLPIC) Steve Mitchel has said that poultry farmers face a host of challenges in reaching that goal. Speaking to Saint Lucia News Online (SNO) Mitchel said that cash flow and marketing challenges are among problems facing the industry. He said that while there is a market for locally produced chicken, since more consumers are requesting it, local meat processors are often challenged in producing their required target. “...We have two processors in St. Lucia, and of course they themselves have their own finances to deal with sometimes. If they are not paid on time, that in effect will affect whether farmers are paid on time,” he said.

Additionally, Mitchel said that local importers of chicken who whenever issued a license to import are bound to purchase a certain percentage of local chicken, sometimes do exceed their importation quota and never have a need to purchase the local meat.

According to Agriculture Minister Moses Jn Baptiste, while speaking to regional media last week, the government had instituted a system whereby for local importers to get a license to import, they would need purchase at least 20 percent of their supply of chicken locally.

“There are a whole set of other issues in terms of the market share and the importers of the chicken…“There are some other issues within the industry that need addressing. For example, farmers still find themselves staying with the birds longer than their gestation period of six weeks and of course that has to do with market. So we have been working with the government to expand our local market and also through the bureau of standards trying to make our chicken certified, that is, fit enough to export,” he told SNO. “So we are working with them and they are helping us and we are still looking to get further assistance from them. Both the cooperative and government are working in together to push for the increase in local production of chicken and for less imports,” he added.

He said that government’s goal to increase the production of local chicken to 40 percent fits perfectly with his organization and “as a matter of fact, that is something that we are fully aware of. That is the discussion that we’ve been having with them. The fact is that… for the past year or so, we’ve been seeking to get to the 40 percent but there has been one issue after another that have prevented farmers or have taken farmers out of the industry.”

The SLPIC was recently registered and was assisted in coming about by government through a free consultant to help establish it. The SLPIC replaces the now defunct Broiler Producers Association St. Lucia Inc. According to Mitchel the cooperative was formed with the aim of increasing local chicken production and trying to devise ways and means of reducing the cost of production. “We’re trying our best with our local stakeholders to see how we can reduce cost to farmers. The main purpose is to protect the interest of not just the farmers but the consumer also,” he told SNO.