Caribbean Peasantry Revisited: Barbadian Farmers over Four Decades

Peasantries are often seen as both unchanging and disappearing. This paper traces the transformation of the Barbadian peasant farm over four decades based on three repeat surveys undertaken in 1963, 1987 and 2003. It suggests that although the peasant farm acreage has fallen significantly over the period, the remaining farms have been transformed both in terms of crops grown and the markets served. Over a period during which Barbados has changed from an archetypal colonial sugar island to one whose economy is now dominated by tourism, small scale agriculture both reflects these changes and has adapted to them.