PRESS RELEASE

(For Immediate Release)

Dasheen Festival Continues To Reap Real Rewards

(UNION, CASTRIES, SAINT LUCIA – Wednesday, October 1, 2025) – The second edition of the Dasheen Festival proved that not only does the festival continue to attract more patrons, but that interest in dasheen production is also increasing. 

This year’s festival was held on Saturday, September 27, on the Fond St. Jacques R.C. Church grounds, and featured a wide array of food items prepared from dasheen, including smoothie, cake, flour, cooked meals, and wine. Other items featured at the festival included honey, fruits and vegetables, fudge, guava cheese, fruit popsicles, popcorn, cotton candy, decorative ornaments, and toys.

Throughout the day, patrons got to sample from the many booths that offered eats and drinks, engage in face painting and bouncy castle, and delighted in the live entertainment provided by local artists. The Taiwan Technical Mission’s booth featured dishes prepared using dasheen, while the Ministry of Health’s booth offered free checks for blood pressure, blood sugar, and other tests.  

Main highlights on the day included the Biggest Dasheen Competition, which was won by Mr. George Isidore (Local Dasheen Category), and Ms. Stephanie Moses (Taiwanese Dasheen Category). Stephanie’s father, now deceased, won the competition last year. Another highlight was the Dasheen Pounding Competition (Peelay), which featured both local and Taiwanese competitors putting up a fierce challenge. The eventual winner was Mr. Lance Prospere, who also won last year’s competition. There was also a Culinary Competition, which featured teams of chefs creating delicious dishes. All of the winners received monetary prizes.

During its first hosting in September last year, the festival attracted hundreds of Saint Lucians and visitors who sampled the delicious eats and drinks and enjoyed the warm and friendly community spirit. Overall, many vendors from the community were able to showcase their culinary and other talents while earning an income from sales. This year was no different.

PHOTO 2: Mr. Daniel Lee, at right, with Ms. Stephanie Moses, the winner of the Biggest Dasheen Competition (Taiwanese Dasheen Category), at this year’s Dasheen Festival. Stephanie’s father, now deceased, won the competition last year.

In her remarks at the official opening ceremony, Hon. Emma Hippolyte, Minister for Commerce, Manufacturing, Business Development, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs, and Parliamentary Representative for Soufriere/Fond St. Jacques, expressed gratitude to the Government and people of Taiwan for their unwavering support.

“Thank you to the Government and people of Taiwan for their tremendous support to you, the community of Fond St. Jacques that they’ve embraced, to the constituency of Soufriere/Fond St. Jacques, and generally, to Saint Lucia,” she said. “I continue to say at every opportunity that I have, that we the people of Saint Lucia must be eternally grateful to our friends – the Government and people of Taiwan.”

She added: “What is important about what we’re doing is that in addition to our social and economic development, we are bonding as people. That is what is most important in what we do: building relationships, strengthening our cultures, and exchanging what is the best of all of us.”

Hon. Hippolyte said her Ministry has been working with farmers in Fond St. Jacques over the past two years to help them expand their dasheen production. Fifty-two farmers received financial assistance, and recently, efforts are being made to strengthen the grouping through the Ministry of Commerce’s cooperative department.   

Quoting information provided by Ms. Sunita Daniel, Chief Executive Officer of Export Saint Lucia, who have been working with the community in the expansion of its dasheen product, Hon. Hippolyte read that: “Between January and August 2025, Saint Lucia’s dasheen exports surged by 239% year-on-year, rising from $45,978.00 in 2024 to $155,887.00 in 2025, an increase of $109,909.00. Importantly, every month in 2025 outperformed its 2024 counterpart, showing a consistent upward trend. This indicates that the growth was systemic, rather than seasonal, highlighting dasheen as one of the country’s fastest rising agricultural exports with strong market momentum.”

Hon. Hippolyte urged farmers to strengthen their organization and marketing capacities: “We must improve our intelligence, and that requires some deeper collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture. We have a good thing going, but all of us must do what we have to do.”

With dasheen already boasting increased demand on the export market, Hon. Hippolyte said local consumption also needs to become a priority, including creating different dasheen products, and getting them into the schools. 

“When our young people start eating and using the dasheen, we will expand our market,” she stated. “When they make the products, they will market them, and push the local consumption. Everything that we produce now in Saint Lucia, we must simultaneously push for local consumption of what we grow. That is the strategy of the Government: that we eat what we grow and we grow what we eat.”

PHOTO 3: A vendor displaying her spices in her booth at this year’s Dasheen Festival.

Hon. Alfred Prospere, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development, recalled being invited to Fond St. Jacques in the past, where funding was provided to farmers to assist them in planting dasheen to be able to meet market demand. He said there is an available market for farmers in Canada, especially for dasheen. However, he noted that inconsistent supply remains a challenge which will be remedied by his Ministry.

“We will work together with you to ensure that we maintain this market, and our farmers will continue to produce dasheen in large quantities so that we can continue to provide dasheen to countries like Canada, the U.S., etc.”

Hon. Prospere encouraged farmers to continue generating interest in agriculture, noting the sector’s importance for the island’s food security. He said the Ministry of Agriculture is putting together a five-year plan for food production, targeting crops like cassava, ginger, plantains, and dasheen. The aim, he said, is to increase the production of those commodities so that farmers can generate an income.

“This festival is a true reflection of the hard work of the farmers of Soufriere/Fond St. Jacques,” Hon. Prospere stated. “As Minister for Agriculture, I want to tell you that my Ministry will continue to provide the support in whatever way possible – whether it’s site preparation, planting materials, inputs, or farm labour. But we want to continue to ensure that Saint Lucia is food secure and make every effort to reduce our food import bill.”

PHOTO 4: Competitors in this year’s Dasheen Pounding Competition (Peelay) definitely brought their A-game. However, Lance Prospere, at far left, eventually won the competition. Mr. Columbus Philippe, member of the Fond St. Jacques Development Committee, at far right, presents competitors with special key rings following the competition. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Daniel Lee, Chief of the Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM) in Saint Lucia, encouraged patrons to explore the various ways dasheen can be used by supporting the various booths.

“As you would know by now, Fond St. Jacques is referred to as the ‘Dasheen Capital of Saint Lucia’,” he said. “By blending the community’s rich agricultural and tourism potential, we hope that Fond St. Jacques continues to evolve as a leading destination for community tourism in Saint Lucia. (The) Dasheen Festival is one of the key ways we hope to achieve this.”

He added: “Remember, when we support our local communities in initiatives like (the) Dasheen Festival, we are demonstrating that we not only appreciate our entrepreneurs, but also our communities. Therefore, I urge you all to help make this year’s festival an overwhelming success.” 

Lee extended commended Hon. Minister Emma Hippolyte’s great leadership and the officials from the Ministry of Commerce, and Hon. Minister Alfred Prospere for his guidance and support.

He also thanked Mrs. Sandra Prospere, President of the Fond St. Jacques Development Committee, and her team, and colleagues from the Taiwan Technical Mission, for implementing the Community Business Revitalization Project in the community, under which the Dasheen Festival is held.

Over the past two years, the Community Business Revitalization Project has achieved many significant milestones in the community, including the refurbishment of the Fond St. Jacques Interpretation Centre, periodic publishing of the Fond St. Jacques Community Newsletter, organizing and sponsoring the Fond St. Jacques Youth Entrepreneur Summer Camp, and establishing community package tours.

PHOTO 5: Sumptuous meals were on the menu at this year’s Dasheen Festival.

(ENDS)

SOURCE: Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM) in Saint Lucia