Premium
Small farm production in dominica, West Indies: A strategy for survival
Author(s) -
Reading A. J.,
Soussan J.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
land degradation and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1099-145X
pISSN - 1085-3278
DOI - 10.1002/ldr.3400010207
Subject(s) - commercialization , sophistication , business , diversity (politics) , agriculture , production (economics) , diversification (marketing strategy) , poverty , consumption (sociology) , economic growth , agricultural productivity , rural area , natural resource economics , environmental planning , economics , geography , marketing , political science , sociology , social science , archaeology , law , macroeconomics
Calls for sustainable development have emerged largely because of the failure of technology‐focused, production‐orientated development policies to address the acute rural poverty and deteriorating environments of much of the Third World. Increased agricultural production through greater commercialization has a mirror image of decreasing incomes for the rural poor as market penetration undermines the viability of traditional production systems. These production systems are geared to minimizing risk through the harnessing of the full range of local resources, both private and communal, to produce goods for both the market and home consumption. The need for policies which strengthen traditional production systems is argued through a detailed case study of Dominica, in the Caribbean. The complexity and diversity of what is often considered a single‐crop (bananas) agricultural system is demonstrated by looking at a number of localities in different parts of the Island. The example of Dominica is used to argue for policies which, in the words of Robert Chambers, (1983), … ‘put the last first’. Such policies should strengthen existing diversity in the agricultural system through initiatives which give local farmers greater control over the planning and implementation of interventions. The sophistication of local technical knowledge is stressed, as is the need to integrate this knowledge with the technical expertise of outside professionals.