Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Old farmers, invisible farmers: Age and agriculture in Jamaica

  • Published:
Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Increases in both the percentage and absolute numbers of elders, originally observed in industrialized countries, are now a concern for a growing number of developing countries. At present, most elders are found in rural areas where many remain active in agriculture to very advanced years. There is concern that the rural concentration of elders may have negative consequences for agricultural production. This paper presents ethnographic material from Jamaica, where agriculture occupies an important place in the life course of many elders. Contrary to popular perceptions, farming is not exclusively the domain of elderly Jamaicans, but rather occurs at various stages in the life course in ways which make such activity ‘invibible” to farm surveys and agricultural development policy. Such policies fail to account for the special abilities and needs of elder farmers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agency for International Development 1988 Country Development Strategy Statement. Washington: AID.

    Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, G., H. Bims, H. Kernan, L. Manrique, and R. Mitchell 1985 Assessment of Hillside Agriculture in Two Watersheds of Jamaica. Binghamton, N.Y.: Institute for Development Anthropology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beneria, L. 1991 The Measurement of Women's Economic Activities: Assessing the Theoretical and Practical Work of Two Decades. Paper presented at A Meeting of Experts of Social Development Indicators. Rabat, Morocco, April 1991. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development.

  • Besson, J. 1988 Agrarian Relations and Perceptions of Land in a Jamaican Peasant Village. In Small Farming and Peasant Resources in the Caribbean. J.S. Bierley and H. Rubenstein, eds. Winnipeg, Canada: Department of Geography, University of Manitoba. Pp. 39–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blaut, J., R. Blaut, N. Herman, and M. Moerman 1959 A Study of Cultural Determinants of Soil Erosion and Conservation in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. Social and Economic Studies 8:403–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blustain, H. 1985. The Political Context of Soil Conservation Programs in Jamaica. Human Organization 44:124–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blustain, H. 1982a Clientelism and Local Organizations. In Strategies for Organization of Small-Farming Agriculture in Jamaica. H. Blustain and E. LeFranc, eds. Ithaca, N.Y.: Rural Development Committee, Center for International Studies. Pp. 192–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blustain, H. 1982b Resource Management and Agricultural Development in Jamaica. Ithaca, N.Y.: Rural Development Committee, Center for International Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolles, L. 1986 Jamaican Women's Strategies and Resources: Surviving Manley and Seaga. Paper presented at the 84th Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C.

  • Brann, H. 1979 On the Efficiency of Small-scale Farming and Policy Implications: A Case Study of Jamaica. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Economics, University of the West Indies, Mona.

  • Brathwaite, F. 1989 The Elderly in the Commonwealth Caribbean: A Review of Research Findings. Aging and Society 9:297–304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brokensha, D., D.M. Warren, and O. Werner, eds. 1980 Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Development. New York: University Press of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carnegie, C. 1987 A Social Psychology of Caribbean Migration: Strategic Flexibility in the West Indies. In The Caribbean Exodus. B. Levine, ed. New York: Praeger. Pp. 32–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carloni, A. 1984 Small Hillside Farmer Project: Findings of the Socioeconomic Survey. Working paper. FAO/IFAD Cooperative Program, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Kingston, Jamaica.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chayanov, A. V. 1977 On the Theory of Non-capitalist Economic Systems. In Peasant Livelihood. R. Halperin and J. Dow, eds. New York: St. Martin's Press. Pp. 257–268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, E. 1971 Land Tenure and the Family in Four Selected Communities in Jamaica. In Peoples and Cultures of the Caribbean. M. Horowitz, ed. Garden City, N.Y.: Natural History Press. Pp. 201–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comitas, J. 1973 Occupational Multiplicity in Rural Jamaica. In Work and Family Life: A West Indian Perspective. L. Comitas and D. Lowenthal, eds. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, Pp. 157–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Critchlow, M. 1989 Agricultural Policy and the Development of a Small-holding Stratum in Jamaica, 1930–1980. Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of New York, Binghamtom.

    Google Scholar 

  • Durant-Gonzales, V. 1976 Role and Status of Rural Jamaican Women: Higglering and Mothering. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, D. 1961 A Report on Economic Study of Small Farming in Jamaica. Mona, Jamaica: Institute for Social and Economic Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, C. 1980 The Aging Enterprise. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 1989 Integrated Development of Small-Scale Farms in the Upper Rio-Minho Watershed District, Jamaica. Report prepared for the Government of Jamaica. AGS/TCP/JAM, 8851. Kingston, Jamaica.

  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 1982 Aging Population and Rural Development. Background report for the World Assembly on Aging. Item 5 of the provisional agenda for Aging and Development: The Developmental Issues. Vienna, Austria.

  • Fox, B. 1980 Hidden in the Household: Women and Domestic Labor Under Capitalism. Toronto: Women's Educational Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, K. and D. Ashley 1985 Report of Survey of Health Status of Children Less than Ten Years in Jamaica. Kingston, Jamaica: Ministry of Health.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fry, C. 1990 The Life Course in Context: Implications of Comparative Research In Anthropology and the Aging. R.L. Rubinstein, ed. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Pp. 129–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldsmith, A. and H. Blustain 1980 Local Organization and Participation in Integrated Rural Development in Jamaica. Ithaca, N.Y.: Rural Development Committee, Cornell University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffith, D. 1985 Women, Remittances, and Reproduction. American Ethnologist 12:676–690.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffith, D. 1985 Social Organizational Obstacles to Capital Accumulation among Returning Migrants. Human Organization 45:34–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffith, D. 1988 Labor Migration and Changing Peasant Agriculture in Jamaica. In Small Farming and Peasant Resources in the Caribbean. J.S. Bierley and H. Rubenstein, eds. Winnipeg, Canada: Department of Geography, University of Manitoba. Pp. 101–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halperin, R. 1987 Age in Cross-Cultural Perspective: An Evolutionary Approach. In The Elderly as Modern Pioneers. P. Silverman, ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Pp. 283–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hefferman, P. and S. Pollard 1983 Agricultural Production and Credit Use of Small-farmers in Jamaica. Social and Economic Studies 32:42–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heisel, M. 1984 Aging in the Context of Population Policies in Developing Countries. Population Bulletin of the United Nations 17:49–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henry, L. 1980 Traditional Systems in Hillside Farming, Upper Trelawny, Jamaica. Kingston, Jamaica: International Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hills, T. 1988 The Caribbean Peasant Food Forest: Ecological Artistry or Random Chaos? In Small Farming and Peasant Resources in the Caribbean. J.S. Bierley and H. Rubenstein, eds. Winnipeg, Canada: Department of Geography, University of Manitoba. Pp. 1–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labor Organization 1982 Problems of Employment and Occupation for Older Workers. Background document prepared for the World Assembly on Aging. Item 6 of the provisional agenda for Aging and Development: The Humanitarian Issues. Vienna, Austria.

  • Institute for Social and Economic Research 1980 Farm Household Credit Behavior: A Case Study of the Jamaican Experience. Report by a team from Ohio State University. Mona, Jamaica: ISER.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinsella, K.G. 1988 Aging in the Third World. Paper presented at the Population Association of America annual meeting, New Orleans.

  • LeFranc, E. 1985 Study of the Informal Distribution Network in the Kingston Metropolitan Area. Mona, Jamaica: Institute for Social and Economic Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • LeFranc, E. 1974 Peasant and Community in Jamaica. Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University.

  • LeFranc, E. 1982 The Utilization and Organization of Rural Farm Labor in Jamaica. In Strategies for Organization of Small Farming Agriculture in Jamaica. H. Blustain and E. LeFranc, eds. Mona, Jamaica: Institute for Social and Economic Research. Pp. 66–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • LeFranc, E. 1986 Small Hillside Farmers in Jamaica. Report prepared for USAID. Kingston, Jamaica.

  • LeFranc, E. 1989 Economic Adjustment and Health Care Financing in the Caribbean. Report prepared for PAHO. Kingston, Jamaica.

  • Maddox, G.L. 1982 Challenges for Health Policy and Planning. In Internatioanl Perspectives on Aging: Population and Policy Challenges. R.L. Binstock, R.W. Chow, and J. Schultz, eds. New York: United Nations Fund for Population Activities. Pp. 127–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mancini, J. and R. Blieszner 1989 Aging Parents and Adult Children: Research Themes in Intergenerational Relations. Journal of Marriage and the Family 51:275–290.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCoy, T. 1985 The Impact of US Temporary Worker Programs on Caribbean Development: Evidence from H-2 Workers in Florida Sugar. In Migration and Development in the Caribbean. R. Pastor, ed. Boulder: Westview Press. Pp. 178–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchel, R. 1985 Social Forces Affecting Farmers' Decisions. In Assessment of Hillside Agriculture in Two Watersheds of Jamaica. G. Armstrong, ed. Report submitted to USAID/Jamaica by the Fragile Lands Rapid Assessment Team. Binghamton, N.Y.: Institute for Development Anthropology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Agriculture 1963 Economic Organization of Small-Scale Sugarcane Farming in the Rio Minho Valley of Upper Clarendon, 1958–1960. Kingston, Jamaica: Ministry of Agriculture.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Agriculture 1986 Interim Study of Small Farmer's Development Program. IDB/IFAD. Kingston, Jamaica: Ministry of Agriculture.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Social Security 1982 National Report on Aging for the United Nations World Assembly on Aging. Kingston, Jamaica.

  • Myers, G. 1982 The Aging of Populations. In International Perspectives on Aging: Population and Policy Challenges. R. Binstock, R.W. Chow, and J. Schultz, eds New York: United Nations Fund for Population Activities. Pp. 1–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Planning Institute of Jamaica 1988 Economic and Social Survey, Jamaica 1988. Kingston: PIOJ.

  • Pollard, S. and D. Graham 1985 The Performance of the Food Producing Sector in Jamaica, 1962–1979: A Policy Analysis. Economic Development and Culture Change 33:731–754.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robotham, H. 1969 Jamaican Agricultural Society North Clarendon Rural Development Self-Help Project Survey. Kingston, Jamaica: The Herald, Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubenstein, H. 1982 The Impact of Remittences in the Rural English-Speaking Caribbean: Notes on the Literature. In Return Migration and Remittances. W. Stinner, K. de Albuquerque, and R. Bryce-Laport, eds. RIIES Occasional Papers No. 3. Washington, D.C. Smithsonian Institution. Pp. 237–265.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubenstein, H., 1988 Ganja as a peasant resource in St. Vincent: A preliminary analysis. Rubenstein, eds. Winnipeg, Canada: Department of Geography, University of Manitoba. Pp. 119–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M.G. 1973 The Matrifocal Family. In The Character of Kinship. J. Goody, ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 121–144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solein, N. 1960 Household and Family in the Caribbean. Social and Economic Studies 9:101–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Treas, J. and B. Logue 1986 Economic Development and the Older Population. Population and Development Review 12:645–673.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ventkataswamy, T. 1987 Agricultural Extension in Jamaica with Special Reference to Small and Subsistence Farmers. FAO report, Kingston.

  • United Nations 1982 Report of the World Assembly on Aging. Austria: Vienna: UN, Ageing Unit. E.82.1.16.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations 1985 The World Aging Situation: Strategies and Policies. New York: United Nations. E.85.IV.5.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations 1991 The World Aging Situation. New York: United Nations. ST/CSDHA14.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Development Program 1990 Human Development Report. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • United States Agency for International Development 1988 Hillside Agriculture Project Proposal. Kingston, Jamaica: USAID.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waring, M. 1988 If Women Counted. New York: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodsong, C. 1992 Survival Strategies of Jamaican Small Farming Households. Ph.D. dissertation, State University of New York, Binghamton.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, 27516-3997, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Cynthia Woodsong

Authors
  1. Cynthia Woodsong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Woodsong, C. Old farmers, invisible farmers: Age and agriculture in Jamaica. J Cross-Cultural Gerontol 9, 277–299 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00978215

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00978215

Key Words

Search

Navigation