| Jamaica experienced exceptionally rapid economic growth over the 1950s and 1960s, fuelled by the exploitation of bauxite reserves and the vigourous promotion of import substituting industrialization. A combination of internal and external factors however contributed to negative economic growth over the 1970s. The central question posed by this thesis is whether the largest low income group in Jamaica, the peasantry, benefited from the economic growth which did take place, and if not, why not.;Following the ideas of Arthur Lewis, Jamaican authorities envisaged reducing the incidence of poverty within the peasant sector primarily through the process of labour transfer to the expanding industrial sectors. This model proved inappropriate to Jamaican circumstances, and the bauxite boom interacted with the import substituting industrialization in a number of ways (Dutch disease effects) which proved detrimental to the peasant economy. The process of labour transfer failed badly over the 1960s.;After two decades of rapid growth the peasant population had increased, while the land base and livestock controlled by the peasantry had both declined. The purchasing power of major peasant crops declined, yields remained constant or declined, and off farm labour earnings had also declined due to mechanization on the large farms. The decline in the man/land ratio and the nature of the change in cropping patterns also imply that the extent of underutilization of labour increased on peasant farms. Real earnings per capita, on average, could only have declined substantially over this period.;The peasant sector remained largely neglected prior to 1970. Few resources were devoted to improving farming practices and methods. The failure to develop and distribute technological packages which were demonstrably superior to traditional methods ensured that agricultural policy would have no real impact on the peasant sector.;A new regime elected in 1972 changed the overall thrust of economic and social policy in a fashion which provoked a drastic curtailment of private investment. Growth was negative between 1972 and 1980, and consequently labour transfer to the modern sectors failed to alleviate rural poverty in the 1970s. The centre-piece of the new government's agricultural policy was declared to be land reform. This foundered however by 1976, due in large part to fiscal concerns. The land base of the peasantry declined by a further 17 per cent over the decade, and the government initiatives which had the most significant impact on the peasantry were the substantial increases in export taxes imposed on major peasant corps. |
