POTENTIAL OF AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT TO INCREASE RURAL EMPLOYMENT

The paper examined whether increasing agricultural output would lead to an expansion of employment in rural areas in the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The paper found that the agricultural development problems in the Caribbean and SSA are very similar, especially, declining export demand for products, adverse trade policies and the actions of nature, causing damage to agricultural production. The simulations performed showed that in both regions, even a 4% annual increase in agricultural output has the potential for annually increasing agricultural employment by over 6%, even with an annual technical progress of 1.5% in the case of SSA and 2% in the case of the Caribbean. Expanding rural employment through expansion of agricultural output is therefore a definite opportunity in the two regions.Increasing rural employment, Rural Development, Agricultural Development in Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Financial Economics, Labor and Human Capital, Marketing, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

An Estimation of the Efficient Size of Sugarcane Enterprises for Farmers in Trinidad

This research paper provides an estimation of the efficient size of operation for sugarcane farmers in Trinidad. The estimates were based on a sample of two hundred and twenty-seven farmers selected from a cost of sugarcane production survey. To identify the efficient size of operation the ordinary least square estimation technique was used. The identification of the efficient size of operation allowed a test of the hypothesis that the minimum point on the long run average cost curve was significantly greater than the average enterprise size of six acres. The long run total cost curve was estimated and the cubic functional form provided the best fit based on both the adjusted R2 and the result from the Wald test. The results of the estimation process indicated that the optimal size was 32 acres of sugarcane and that 98% of the farmers operated at less than this size.Cost function, cost elasticity, efficient size, sugar-cane, Trinidad, Agribusiness, Farm Management, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Copper Mining and Environmental Costs in Dominica

A proposal from an international mining company to establish a copper mining operation in the Caribbean island of Dominica could be highly favourable, given the potential for financial benefits associated with such a project. On the downside, such projects are often associated with environmental damage. The area targeted for this copper mine was a rainforest in the north-eastern portion of Dominica occupying around 12 percent of the island’s total land area. A critical question is therefore whether copper mining could be a viable alternative to agrarian uses of the targeted area, if both financial and environmental costs are taken into consideration. A Contingent Valuation Survey of Dominicans and Visitors allowed for inclusion of non-market costs in the analysis. Cost-Benefit and sensitivity analyses were carried out to assess project feasibility. The results indicated that NPV was negative under conservative assumptions. NPV was sensitive to changes in the price of copper and the inclusion of environmental costs did affect the level of price increase required to make NPV positive.Copper mining, Dominica, environmental costs, sensitivity analysis, cost-benefit, Agribusiness, Environmental Economics and Policy, Financial Economics,

Fishing Versus Farming in a Fresh Water Swamp in Trinidad in the Caribbean

This paper compares the status of fishing to farming in the Nariva Swamp, on the eastern coast of the island of Trinidad, in the country of Trinidad and Tobago. This swamp is one of international significance, since it is a home to the endangered animal, the manatee (Trichecus manatee). Also the swamp has a large population of two aquatic species of economic importance in Trinidad and Tobago - the armored cat-fish or cascadura (Hoplosternum littorale) and the ampulariid snail or black conch (Pomacea urceus). Residents of the area include in their diet the consumption of these species, as well as exploit them commercially. The paper is based on two surveys in the swamp, one was of 99 occupiers of plots, to determine their economic activities and the other survey was of 33 households, to determine the importance of fish from the swamp in their diets. The analysis in the paper showed that farming was now the dominant economic activity in the swamp, both in terms of income received as well as the amount of labor utilized. The residents did consume fish from the swamp, but this fish was not the major source of protein. Poultry and poultry products, especially chicken were the preferred protein sources. Farming was seen as a threat not only to fishing, but also to the native flora and fauna of the swamp and the paper called for urgent studies of the impact of such extensive farming on the ecology of the swamp.Keywords. Nariva swamp, fishing versus farming, wetland