The establishment of the Windward Islands banana industry: Commercial opportunity and colonial necessity

Clegg, Peter

Abstract

With the future of a large scale Windward Islands banana export trade now in serious doubt as a consequence of the recent rulings by the World Trade Organisation the origins of the trade in the immediate post-war period are considered. The article examines the relationship between the private sector and the British colonial government in efforts to establish a viable banana export trade in the Windward Islands. There is a consideration of why businessmen, Ernest Foley and Geoffrey Band, developed an interest in exporting bananas from the islands in the late 1940s and why the British government was reluctant to assist them. The article will then assess how the commercial involvement of John van Geest, provided the necessary impetus for the rapid expansion of the banana industry in the late 1950s. The article argues that for the government to overcome its concerns regarding the endeavour, the participation of a strong and well-capitalised company was required. Further, with a British owned company now involved in the Windward Islands, the long held dominance of the American United Fruit Company in supplying bananas to the UK market could be challenged. The consequences of this were dramatic and long-standing.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 1, 2002
• Publication Date: Jun 2, 2002
• Journal: Social and Economic Studies
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 51
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 155-174
• Keywords: Windward Islands, banana industry, commercial opportunity, colonial necessity
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1077780
• Publisher URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/27865279