Small farming in Grenada: an investigation of its nature and structure

Abstract

Throughout much of the developing world peasant agriculture represents a millstone around the neck of economic development. This study considers the problem as it is represented by small farming on the Caribbean island of Grenada and indicates some of the factors which contribute to this situation. Consideration is first given to the hypothesis that different levels of social -economic development affect the level of farming practice. To this end each of the island's six parishes was considered as a distinct statistical unit having its own level of development and farming practice. From preliminary analysis it was evident that the social - economic environment was not the most important influence on small farming and that the social background of the farmer had greater significance in this study. By classifying the farms as non -commercial, semi -commercial, commercial or miniature estates, and then by studying the nature and structure of these categories of farms, it was possible to observe the human and physical characteristics associated with the growth of small farms. The findings showed that most small farmers are old and poor, have a low social status and employ traditional methods of cultivation which are inefficient of space and time. Those who emerge as the more successful had obtained a certain level of education, had often worked overseas in order to save the capital necessary for purchasing land, and are the more highly motivated members of the small farming community, partly as a result of their religious beliefs and racial association. It is by identifying some of the social factors which restrict and retard the development of small farming in Grenada that this study makes its main contribution to the understanding of peasant agriculture.