Development theory and domestic agriculture in the Caribbean: recurring crises and missed opportunities

The application of development theory in the Caribbean has legitimised export agriculture at the expense of agricultural production for the domestic market. This paper highlights how recurring economic crises in the Caribbean have provided opportunities to challenge the structural legacy of agricultural export-oriented economies. <br />The paper reveals that while crises provided opportunities to achieve this goal, the attempts to do so were largely unsuccessful. Among others, reasons for the failure include internal and external resistance to the shifting of resources from plantation to domestic production, and the neoliberal policies. The author points that the neglect of domestic agriculture has resulted in the Caribbean becoming a net food importer with a growing food import bill and increased food insecurity. <br />The document draws the following conclusions:&nbsp; the revitalisation of domestic agriculture can help address food insecurity problems and contribute to diversification of Caribbean economies with 26% of the Caribbean labour force engaged in agriculture, the contributions domestic agriculture can have for rural livelihoods are significant however, to challenge the legacies of resilient plantation economies in the Caribbean, there is a need for investment in the productive capacity of domestic agriculture such investment would spread development from sector to sector and combat the leakage of capital through adverse terms of trade <br />The paper recommends to take advantage of the current global food crisis and become proactive instead of reactive, making domestic agricultural a central component of balanced development in the Caribbean. <br />