Small Scale Farming in Babados

This paper points out that small-scale farming inBarbados originated with the granting of land to slaves by plantation owners after emancipation in order to retain their services as labourers. Attention is then drawn to the existence of a dichotomy within the agricultural sector, namely the plantation sub-sector and the small-farm subsector. Within the small-farm sub-sector it is shown qualitatively, that numerous 'farm types' exist. The constraints facing small farmers are discussed, including size of holdings, low rainfall, low soil fertility, fragmentation, inadequate agricultural credit, marketing uncertainty, shortage of hired labour, the low social status of farming and high investment costs. Given these constraints, the author outlines the crucial problems which a separate development policy must consider for the small farm subsector. These problems are: what crops should be recommended; what should be done about noneconomic sized holdings; the role of the part-time farmer; ways of attracting young men into farming; and ways of getting unused lands back into cultivation.