Innovations in a Plantation Economy: A Study of the Barbadian Small Farmer

Abstract

This study examines innovations in small farm agriculture by looking at the extent of technological change in the plantation economy of Barbados. It seeks to establish that small farmer innovations in Barbados are not based on indigenous knowledge, but on imported technology and, as a result, the farming system has moved from a low external input and sustainable agriculture (LEISA) to high external input agriculture (HEIA). The authors observe a shift in small farmer entrepreneurship from the hawker system towards marketing cooperatives.