Survival by Association: Supply Management Landscapes of the Eastern Caribbean 9780773565777

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Survival by Association Supply Management Landscapes of the Eastern Caribbean

The establishment of the European Economic Community in 1957 put preferential agreements with non-European trading partners in jeopardy, projecting the spectre of economic ruin for small Caribbean territories dependent on only one or two crops. Yet, surprisingly, almost forty years later certain industries, notably the banana industry, are still vital elements in Eastern Caribbean economics. How have they survived? Barbara Welch answers this question by comparing the banana industries of Dominica, St Lucia, Martinique, and Guadeloupe and the critical role of the banana growers' associations in preserving a precarious status quo. Although the four islands have similar colonial backgrounds and more-or-less parallel development of the postwar banana industry, Welch finds dramatic variations in land use from island to island. She argues that the most critical factor in differences in land use is not politico-economic affiliation, agrarian structures, or the physical environment but the growers' associations that regulate the banana industries. She provides an account of the origin and development of banana growers' associations in the Eastern Caribbean, assesses the impact and influence of their policies and activities, and examines the way in which both associations and land-use patterns have evolved since the 19605. Survival by Association addresses an issue of crucial importance not only for the banana growers of the Eastern Caribbean but for all developing countries whose economies are in jeopardy as a result of major realignments in patterns of world trade. BARBARA WELCH is research associate in geography, McGill University.

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Survival by Association Supply Management Landscapes of the Eastern Caribbean B A R B A R A M. W E L C H

McGill-Queen's University Press Montreal & Kingston • London • Buffalo

© McGill-Queen's University Press 1996 ISBN 0-7735-1370-1 (cloth) Legal deposit second quarter 1996 Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec Published simultaneously in the Caribbean by The Press University of the West Indies Mona Kingston 7 Jamaica WI Printed in the United States on acid-free paper McGill-Queen's University Press is grateful to the Canada Council for support of its publishing program.

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Welch, Barbara M. (Barbara Marian), 1940Survival by Association : supply management landscapes of the eastern Caribbean Includes bibliographical references and index. 188x0-7735-1370-1 (bnd) i. Banana trade - Caribbean Area. 2. Caribbean Area - Economic conditions - 1945- I. Title HD9259.BC45 1996 338.i'74772'o9729 095920847-X

Typeset in Baskerville 10/12 by True to Type Inc.

I dedicate this book to my parents, who in 1961 saw me embarked for the West Indies on the Ascania on a fifteenmonth odyssey to study volcanic landforms. If they did not view this enterprise with wild enthusiasm, at least they accepted it with admirable sang-froid.

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Contents

Tables

ix

Figures xiii Preface xv Acronyms xix 1 Introduction

3

2 The Economic Context of Eastern Caribbean Banana Industries 21 3 The Character of Land Occupancy 42 4 The Environmental Context of Banana Production in the Eastern Caribbean 74 5 Methods of Production and Disposal 131 6 Institutional Structures: the Origins, History and Character of Eastern Caribbean Banana Growers' Associations 144 7 Banana Cultivation: Aims, Activities and Impact of Island Growers' Associations 163 8 Banana Growers' Association Intervention in Packing, Transport and Marketing 202 9 The Fourth Dimension 238

viii Contents

10 Conclusion

296

11 Postscript, 1995: Butter Mountain, Wine Lake, Banana Reef? 323 Appendix: Questionnaire Used in Farm Survey 333 Bibliography 341 Index 355

Tables

2.1

Value of main agricultural exports, 1952 and 1962 33

3.1

Rural settlement density, 1960-61 44

3.2

Land tenure on the four islands 48

3.3 Size distribution of holdings over one acre in Dominica and St Lucia, 1946 and 1961 52 3.4 Estimates of holding distribution in Guadeloupe, 1952 and c. 1960 54 3.5 Size distribution of holdings in Martinique, 1935-36 and early 19705 55 3.6 Land prices, 1966-67 56 3.7 Percentage of area-in-holdings in crops, Dominica and St Lucia, 1961, by size group 59 3.8 Distributions of major crops in Dominica and St Lucia, 1961, by holding-size group 60 3.9 Distribution of export banana growers in St Lucia and Dominica, by holding-size group 63 3.10 Distribution of export banana growers in Martinique (Centre-Nord), by holding-size group 64 3.11 Distribution of export banana growers in Guadeloupe, by holding-size group 65

x Tables

3.12 Distribution of banana growers by holding-size group, 1966-67 Survey 66 3.13 Age distribution of farmers surveyed, 1966-67 69 3.14 Duration of tenure of land holdings 70 3.15 Working history of farmers surveyed on the four islands, 1966-67 71 3.16 Full-time and part-time farmers on the four islands, 1966-67 72 4. i

Island areas in each relief-range class 77

4.2

Areas and dimensions of the four islands and Montserrat 78

4.3 Land surface in the four islands occupied by each soil class 87 4.4 Elevation of banana-growing areas of the four islands 97 4.5

Relief range of banana-growing areas 97

4.6 Average annual rainfall in banana-growing areas, in metres 98 4.7 Banana stems cut by parish (Dominica) or quarter (St Lucia), 1961 101 4.8 Average labour force by holding-size group, 1966-67 Survey i23 4.9 Average paid labour force, by holding-size group, 1961 Census 124 5.1 Banana production of the four islands, in tons 142 7. i

Sources of farming information, St Lucia and Dominica, 1966-67 173

7.2

Fertiliser imported into Dominica, per stem of bananas exported 181

7.3 Cost of leafspot control in Martinique, in wet and dry areas at different yields per hectare 185 7.4 Average yields according to holding size, St Lucia and Dominica, 1966-67 188

xi Tables

7.5 Average yields according to area in bananas, St Lucia and Dominica, 1966 188 8. i

Distance of St Lucia banana growers from nearest road, 1966-67 207

8.2

Distance of Dominican banana growers from nearest road, 1966-67 209

8.3 Disposal of bananas in Dominica, according to grower's volume of production 213 9. i

Evolution of agrarian structure in Martinique, 1970-1985 240

9.2

Evolution of agrarian structure in St Lucia, 1961-86 241

9.3 Area of land-in-holdings in St Lucia, by size groups, 1961, 1973-4, and 1986 242 9.4 Acreage of land-in-holdings in St Lucia by administrative district, 1961, 1973-74, and 1986 243 9.5 Banana exports, Eastern Caribbean and Jamaica, !965-93 246 9.6

Breakdown of receipts, deductions and payments, SLBGA, January to September 1987 263

9.7

Distribution of banana trade receipts in EC 301' 3°7. 31*. 3'8, 319,320,325,326,327, 328, 330; functions, 154; insurance, 177, 191, 192, 193, 198, 199; marketing, 267; research, 254, 260 structure 153-4 wage levels, 114, 126, 127, WINCROP, 328 wind damage, 190 128, 129, 251 wages, 23, 27, 108, 244, 286, windstorms, 146, 147, 199, 295, 316; French islands, 232 Woodford Hill, 129, 130, 40 wagon depart price, 250, 174 269, 311. See also prices world banana trade, 21-2 weedicides, 122, 174, 260 World War II. See Second Wesley, 129 World War West Africa, 8, 23, 27, 31, 40, 306; British, 7, 8; zoned project benefit, 245, French,7 West Indian dollar, 19 3"4