The Small-Scale Food Farming Sector in the Caribbean: Food Production and the Caribbean Peasantry

Abstract

The responsibility of producing food crops in the Caribbean falls mainly on the shoulders of thousands of small-scale farmers who cultivate small holdings on mostly marginal lands in the interior hilly areas, certain river valleys and flood plains, and the dry southern coastal plains. Most farmers still use the same cultivation methods that were used hundreds of years ago. Most food products are sold, processed, resold, and consumed locally, thus providing the foundation for people’s nutrition, incomes, and livelihoods and contributing to rural and national development (Beckford and Bailey, 2009). The small-scale food producers have been able to grow food crops despite enormous challenges facing them(these challenges have been documented by McGregor et al., 2009; Campbell and Beckford, 2009; Beckford and Bailey, 2009; Beckford, 2009; Barker and Beckford, 2008; Beckford et al., 2007). The significance of agriculture in the Caribbean is historical and extends beyond just satisfying household needs. Agriculture’s contribution is indispensable to national, community, and household food security. In the 1970s, agricultural policy shifted its focus on food self-sufficiency, as a result of which domestic food production and consumption of locally grown foods were prioritized. Thus, agriculture—which had historically been the backbone of the economy—and the small-scale domestic food sector—which had always been the driver of food security—became even more important.