CYNTHIAWOODSONG
OLD FARMERS, INVISIBLE FARMERS: AGE AND AGRICULTURE IN JAMAICA
ABSTRACT. Increases in both the percentage and absolute numbers of elders, originally observed in industrialized countries, are now a concern for a growing number of developing countries. At present, most elders are found in rural areas, where many remain active in agriculture to very advanced years. There is concern that the rural concentration of elders may have negative consequences for agricultural production. This paper presents ethnographic material from Jamaica, where agriculture occupies an important place in the life course of many elders. Contrary to popular perceptions, farming is not exclusively the domain of elderly Jamaicans, but rather occurs at various stages in the life course in ways which make such activity 'invisible' to farm surveys and agricultural development policy. Such policies fail to account for the special abilities and needs of elder farmers. Key Words: economic activity, agricultural development, domestic cycle, Caribbean,
Jamaica Issues related to aging in the developing world have increasingly commanded the attention of social scientists, especially since the United Nations' 1982 World Conference on Aging. In many countries, elders are found primarily in the countryside, their children gone to the cities or overseas in the search for work (Myers 1982). It is estimated that in developing countries three-fourths of the elderly population aged 60 and over resides in rural areas (UN 1982). Evidence from many parts of the world indicates that the elderly population continues to work in agriculture to very advanced years (International Labor Organization 1982; UN 1985; Kinsella 1988). Since the 1940s, at least, the average age of full-time farmers in Jamaica has been reported to be in the early 50s (Edwards 1961; LeFranc 1986), with farmers generally not cutting back on their farming activities until they pass the age of 65 (Carloni 1984). Therefore, it is important to understand the elderly population's role in agricultural production, as this has implications for the well-being of elders as well as the national agricultural sector. This paper presents ethnographic material from Jamaica, where agriculture is a primary economic activity for older adults. Data from a farm survy conducted by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is then interpreted in light of these ethnographic materials. I argue that both agricultural development and the situation of older farmers could be improved by addressing the following three points: 1. Although young adults do not generally enter into full-time farming, many of them eventually do become farmers. Up to that time, they may be engaged in agricultural activities that are 'invisible' to general economic surveys. 2. The older farmer (as we shall see) may have a 20 year or more career of Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 9: 277-299, 1994. 9 1994 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
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CYNTHIAWOODSONG
full-time farming ahead of her/him, which is a period of time deserving appropriate consideration in agricultural policy. 3. In Jamaica, and perhaps elsewhere where economic options and formal arrangements for old age care are limited, participation in the agricultural economy substitutes for retirement. Data from a farm survey conducted by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is then interpreted in light of these ethnographic materials. AGE AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITY The impetus for addressing the social issues surrounding the role of elders in society has been provided by the increase in the absolute numbers of the elderly worldwide. Although aging populations were first observed in industrialized countries, the need to take stock of the position of elders has now become a concern in developing countries. In recognition of this need, the UN's general policy recommendations include the following statement: It is imperative that, when considering the question of aging, the situation of the elderly should not be considered separate from the over-all socio-economic conditions prevailing in society. The elderly should be viewed as an integral part of the population. They should also be considered within the framework of population groups such as women, youth, the disabled, and migrant workers. The elderly must be considered an important and necessary element in the development process at all levels within a given society. (UN 1982:56) To date, research on the elderly has centered on concern for their health and well-being (objectively and subjectively defined), on such topics as health care, kin and community support networks, and the increased costs to governments of dependent care (Maddox 1982; Mancini and Blieszner 1989). Persistent and negative stereotypes of the aged portray them as unproductive members of society, stubborn and/or a burden to their children (Estes 1980; UN 1991). As a disturbing corollary to their 'unproductive' status, elders are sometimes seen by their compatriots as contributing, through chronic and catastrophic illnesses, to the rising cost of health care (Estes 1980). The role of elders in processes of economic development has not been extensively studied (Halperin 1987). Treas and Logue (1986) identify several perspectives with regard to development policy toward the aged, among them the observations that the aged are a low priority in development efforts and the aged are viewed as constituting an impediment to development. However, they note that conventional wisdom acknowledges that older persons are a potential resource as purveyors of knowledge. This paper supports the view that the aged are a potential resource, not only for their possession of agricultural knowledge and potential usefulness in transmission of such knowledge, but also for their active role in agricultural production.
AGE AND AGRICULTUREIN JAMAICA
279
JAMAICAN CASE STUDY Persons aged 55 and over constitute 12% of Jamaica's 1982 population of approximately two million. This rate is similar to other Commonwealth Caribbean countries (Brathwaite 1989). However, as Figure 1 illustrates, the Caribbean is one of the world's 'oldest' regions. This agedness becomes most apparent in the rural areas, a characteristic commonly observed in developing regions (UN 1985). In Jamaica, almost two-thirds of persons aged 60 and over reside in rural areas. Figure 2 illustrates the urban and rural population structure, with rural areas less populated by the 25 to 50 age group. This population has most likely migrated to Jamaica's urban areas, or overseas (Planning Institute of Jamaica [PIOJ] 1988).
20-
Caribbean Asia
o) 03
Latin America
15
r ~10 0 9
Africa
5
1988
i
!
2005
2020
Year Fig. 1. Percentage of total population Age 55+: 1988 to 2020. Like many Third World countries, the primary economic endeavor of the rural population is agriculture. The agricultural sector I is the largest employment sector, accounting for 39% of Jamaica's labor force. There are 2.7 million acres of land in Jamaica, of which 1.2 million are suitable for crops and pasture lands (Ventkataswamy 1987:6), and much of this is on hillsides which require careful cultivation if soil degradation is not to occur (USAID 1988). The great majority of Jamaica's farms are small (less than 5 acres) and located in the island's hilly interior (Armstrong, Bims, Kernan, Manrique, and Mitchell 1985). Farms of 100 acres and over have, for most of this century, occupied from 48% to 57% of Jamaica's farmland, while the farms of less than five acres have occupied a
280
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14
12
10
8
6
4
2
males
0
2
4
6
percent
8
10
12
14
16
10
12
14
16
females
Rural
Im
16 "
14
12
10
8
males
6
4
2
0
percent Urban
2
4
6
8
females
Fig. 2. Rural and urban population of Jamaica by age and sex, 1982.
AGE AND AGRICULTUREIN JAMAICA
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meager 13% to 16%. Another way to look at this inequality is to consider that for the period 1954 to 1978, 3% of Jamaica's farmers have controlled from 60% to 75% of the total farmland (Pollard and Graham 1985). Despite their size, however, the small farms produce 80 to 90% of the country's domestic food crops. They also produce a substantial amount of export crops, including 68% of Jamaica's sugar, 59% of the citrus, 88% of the coffee, and 62% of the cocoa (LeFranc 1986:22). Compared to other Caribbean and Latin American countries, productivity levels in Jamaica are low. Both the traditional farming practices and the advanced age of traditional farmers have long been and still are considered by the government and development community to result in poor yields and destruction to the environment (USAID 1988). Since the 1950s, a steady stream of programs for agricultural development has been designed with the dual goal of increasing productivity while introducing new technologies to halt erosion and improve the sustainability of production. 2 However, analyses of agricultural projects and programs conclude that for the most part development efforts have had little positive impact (Armstrong et al. 1985; Blustain 1985; LeFranc 1986); furthermore, the programs have not met even their stated goals. Agricultural production has not been increased, erosion control has not been effective, and standards of living in rural areas have not been appreciably improved. As LeFranc aptly states, "In postwar Jamaica, the extraordinary large sums expended on the agricultural sector have brought forth relatively little fruit" (1982:9). There is evidence that living conditions in Jamaica have actually deteriorated, for malnutrition and maternal mortality rates have increased, and health and education services have been drastically cut (AID 1988; Fox and Ashley 1985; LeFranc 1989). Social conditions are also reflected in income disparities, which in Jamaica are especially pronounced. The United Nations Development Program 1990 Human Development Report shows Jamaica having the highest levels of income inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient3) of the 28 countries for which the figure was available (UNDP 1990:54). Over the past 15 years, agricultural performance in Jamaica has been, for the most part, stagnant or declining. Elders in Agriculture Jamaica's small scale farmers have, for most of this century, been mostly older adults, and it has long been acknowledged that young adults do not enter into independent farming. Given this persistent element in the social organization of agricultural production in Jamaica, it is perhaps not surprising that government and foreign-assisted efforts at improving agricultural performance identify the age of the Jamaican farmer as a limiting factor. It is interesting that such reports do not as a rule consider age in relation to reduced work capacity or health concerns, but rather focus on the farmer's attitudes and cultivation practices. Age is perceived as an obstacle which results in resistance to innovation,
282
CYNTHIAWOODSONG
tradition-bound attitudes and techniques, and reluctance to invest or seek credit (Edwards 1961; Institute for Social and Economic Research [ISER] 1980; Robotham 1969). Consider the following quotes from two recent project papers. In line with the national trend, the farmers within the project area were relatively advanced in age ... The age of the farmers had important implications for development, since it could be expected that there would be greater resistance to change among older farmers (FAO 1989:6) The challenge, then, is how to move the hillside farmer, in a non-coercive manner, from a risk-averse, subsistence, tradition-bound agriculturalist to one who is adaptive, innovative, and economically motivated (USAID 1988:H14). This view is frequently expressed in the agricultural development literature, beginning with agricultural extension in the 1950s (Henry 1980) and continuing through early efforts of Jamaica's Ministry of Agriculture (MOA 1963) to the present (FAO 1989; USAID 1988), although some recent research has begun to question this position (Armstrong et al. 1985; Carloni 1984; LeFranc 1986).
Life Cycle and the Formation of the Small Farm As others have noted (Fry 1990; UN 1991), there is no set age at which one becomes 'old' or 'aged', but rather this status varies physiologically, crossculturally, and, within cultural groups, among individuals. For this reason, no uniform definition of old, elder, or aged will be used here. To understand the roles elderly individuals can potentially play in economic life, they should be viewed in a social context, within household groups. It then becomes possible to follow the domestic cycle of households and observe the process of aging and its implications for economic activity. For many, participation in agriculture takes place at different stages in the life cycle and with varying degrees of intensity. An understanding of the formation of a farm in conjunction with the developmental cycle of the household can aid in interpreting the types of data gathered in more general farm surveys. Various government and foreign aid agencies conduct surveys, but these data are seldom analyzed at the household level. In this section of the paper I will use two data sources: (1) ethnographic material which I collected in central Jamaica during fieldwork from 1988-1989 and (2) farm survey data collected by FAO. These two sources will show how the formation of a Jamaican small farm follows a developmental course loosely related to the domestic cycle of the household. The general trends outlined below should not be taken to represent the only avenues to household and farm formation in concert with economic activities. One hallmark of the Caribbean household is its flexibility (Solein 1960). Nevertheless, others have outlined this general course of events for Caribbean farming households (Comitas 1973; Edwards 1961; Smith 1973). Young adult males in rural areas begin to establish their independence from their parental household 4 around age 15, as they contribute less to the labor
AGE AND AGRICULTUREIN JAMAICA
283
needs of their household's farm, preferring to work for pay on the farm of a nonhousehold member (unless more desirable non-agricultural work is available). Young adult females explore their options for additional education and training while continuing to reside at home, assisting with domestic activities of the household, including some agricultural work. This is also the period when labor migration begins, with both young men and women moving to urban areas as well as overseas. A woman's first child is often born while she still resides at her parental home. Grandparental support provides a substantial economic resource for children born to teenaged mothers, and the labor of these grandchildren substitutes for the declining labor contributions of the farmer's teenaged children as they age out of the household. As individuals reach their 30s and 40s, a wide range of economic options is explored. Land is acquired, a house is built in gradual stages, and a household is most often first established when a procreative relationship becomes coresidential. During this stage farming is likely to be combined with off-farm economic activity. Investment in the purchase of land usually precipitates the formation of a new household, and subsequent purchases can establish a viable farming venture. As a result of the gradual build-up of a small farm, the majority of Jamaican farmers cultivate more than one parcel of land. The multiple plots are usually held under multiple tenurial arrangements which may change over time. The presence of various land tenure types - ownership, rent/lease, 'captured land', family land 5 - can allow a farming household to expand or contract farm size in accordance with the availability of household resources. Full-time own-account agricultural production is essentially the domain of more mature adults who have established families and common-law unions. As mentioned earlier, the average age of full-time farmers is in the 50s. By this time the farmer's household may well include three generations, or at least some grandchildren of the farmer and his/her spouse. One final point concerning the domestic cycle of households should be mentioned here. As discussed above, many individuals spend their first few decades of adulthood in a variety of jobs, some of them agriculturally based, before returning to farming. Comitas uses the term "occupational multiplicity" in describing rural Jamaican society: Characteristic of this population is occupational multiplicity, or plurality, wherein the modal adult is systematically engaged in a number of gainful activities, which for him form an integrated economic complex ... Affected by the insecurities of own-account cultivation on minuscule, sub-standard fields, the labor demands of plantations and large farms, and the irregularity of other wage employment, these people developed a way of life based on a system of occupational multiplicity which maximizes as well as protects their limited economic opportunities and which in turn influences the nature of their social alignments and organization (1973:157, 164). Comitas further notes a positive correlation between age and occupational multiplicity. He perceives young men to postpone, to the extent possible, labor-
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intensive income-generating activities until they begin to assume responsibility for a family. At this point, multiple economic options are pursued, either simultaneously or serially, thoughout the adult life course as part of a flexible strategy for survival (Carnegie 1987). As these options diminish with age, fulltime farming assumes greater importance. Farming in Jamaica is known for low levels of remuneration and low social prestige. However, when economic ventures of the younger years prove insufficient to sustain a person later in life, farming constitutes a default option for economic activity. To provide a better understanding of the social processes involved in the developmental cycle of a Jamaican small farm and to provide a contextual backdrop for the quantitative data that follow, ethnographic case study material is presented below. In the following cases the formation of a small farm follows a pattern typical in Jamaica and is correlated with the farmer's life course. Mr. Stewart, 6, age 54, farms three plots. A one-acre plot is located adjacent to the family land belonging to descendants of his stepfather. Mr. Stewart began farming this small plot when he first began to establish himself as an independent young man, for this plot was next to the land he had helped his stepfather cultivate during his childhood and teen years. Since he continued to live at home and assist with his stepfather's farm, the neighboring plot was a convenient place for him to test his wings. He eventually bought this section. Mr. Stewart's second plot, 2.5 acres extending up a hillside almost to the border of the first plot, was the site of a house (no longer standing) he constructed for his first cohabiting relationship when he was in his late 20s. He leased and then later bought this land. House construction and the farm's initial start up was financed by earnings from migrant agricultural labor. During his migrant experience he continued to participate in agriculture in Jamaica until he began his full-time farming career in his late 30s. The next case features a common tenurial combination of bought, captured, and family lands in a household which includes two generations of full-time farmers. Mr. Hawkins, age 65, owns one large plot of land, approximately seven acres, that borders the homesite. During the Hawkins's stewardship the plot has gone through several tenurial transformations. One section of the land is family land, on which ancestors are buried and the Hawkins's two adult sons have built a small house where they sleep (they eat and work out of the main house). The remaining section of land was once two pieces, one purchased and one captured. The boundaries of the Hawkins farm are loose, for the sons continue to capture some additional sections, dependent on the market for certain crops and their labor-time constraints. Mr. Hawkins as a young adult had first rented and then purchased land adjacent to his parents' farm, and by staying nearby was able to exercise the major claim to use family land upon his parents' death. 7
Farm Survey Data An understanding of the social processes involved in the formation of a farm can aid in interpreting the types of data gathered in more general farm surveys. I shall now turn to survey data collected by FAO in 1988 for its "Integrated
AGE AND AGRICULTUREIN JAMAICA
285
Development of Small Scale Farms" project and will supplement this information with ethnographic material. The purpose of the F A t study was "to establish a basis for bottom-up planning and create opportunities for a more realistic extension delivery system" to small hillside farmers ( F A t 1989:1). Research efforts concentrated on the nature of the farming system, particularly the profitability of the major crops and livestock in the area. Data were collected at the same time and in the same district where I conducted fieldwork, and an agreement was reached to share information. 8 Only households that reported farming to be their major source of income were included in the F A t sample of 90 households. As we shall see, this introduces a bias against some of the types of farming activities which are 'invisible'. Nevertheless, this bias is commonly found in farm surveys, and the F A t data do provide a rich source of information on elderly farmers. Median farm size was 5 acres, and the average age of farmers was 52. I analyzed data on the 90 households with regard to three topics - farm data, household composition, and cash income composition - to determine correlations that might point to discernible strategies employed by the different households. Analysis of the relationships between age and (1) farm size, (2) percentage of farm under cultivation, and (3) income composition revealed that age had little to do with the farming regimes covered in the survey. Each of these relationships will be discussed in turn.
Age and farm size. It might be expected that elderly farmers would have larger farms (MOA 1963; Robotham 1969; USAID 1988) as a result of the gradual process by which a farm is established, especially since it is not customary for land to be allocated to future heirs until after the farmer's death (Cartoni 1984). However, age was not found to be significantly related to farm size (Pearson's r = 0.01969, p < 0.8539). I conclude that smaller farms axe not observed for the younger farmers in part because farming as a major economic activity does not usually occur early in an individual's life course, as described in the above section. Farm surveys generally focus on persons who identify themselves as farmers, and this was true for the F A t study. Those farmers just beginning to establish their farms and who are engaged in other economic pursuits would not have been included, and would therefore be 'invisible' to the survey. Only 22% of the sample was under 40 years of age, and only 4% under age 30. Given that the average age of F A t farmers is 52, it is likely that the farms surveyed already approximated their maximum size. Farm size alone can not provide a good indication of the level of farming activity in which elderly farmers are engaged. F A t collected data on not only total farm size but also the amount of land under cultivation. It was thus possible to test the hypothesis that age would influence the percentage of the total farm under cultivation. No clear empirical relationship was observed, although there is some evidence that the percentage of land cultivated drops off after age 65. The average percentage of farm land in cultivation by three age groups is 52% for those under 40, 71% for farmers aged 40 to 65, and 37% for those 65 and
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CYNTHIAWOODSONG
over.
Age and income. A critical issue for the status of elderly farmers is their income status. In the FAO study, total household income was positively correlated with farm size (Pearson's r=0.40045, p
OLD FARMERS, INVISIBLE FARMERS: AGE AND AGRICULTURE IN JAMAICA
ABSTRACT. Increases in both the percentage and absolute numbers of elders, originally observed in industrialized countries, are now a concern for a growing number of developing countries. At present, most elders are found in rural areas, where many remain active in agriculture to very advanced years. There is concern that the rural concentration of elders may have negative consequences for agricultural production. This paper presents ethnographic material from Jamaica, where agriculture occupies an important place in the life course of many elders. Contrary to popular perceptions, farming is not exclusively the domain of elderly Jamaicans, but rather occurs at various stages in the life course in ways which make such activity 'invisible' to farm surveys and agricultural development policy. Such policies fail to account for the special abilities and needs of elder farmers. Key Words: economic activity, agricultural development, domestic cycle, Caribbean,
Jamaica Issues related to aging in the developing world have increasingly commanded the attention of social scientists, especially since the United Nations' 1982 World Conference on Aging. In many countries, elders are found primarily in the countryside, their children gone to the cities or overseas in the search for work (Myers 1982). It is estimated that in developing countries three-fourths of the elderly population aged 60 and over resides in rural areas (UN 1982). Evidence from many parts of the world indicates that the elderly population continues to work in agriculture to very advanced years (International Labor Organization 1982; UN 1985; Kinsella 1988). Since the 1940s, at least, the average age of full-time farmers in Jamaica has been reported to be in the early 50s (Edwards 1961; LeFranc 1986), with farmers generally not cutting back on their farming activities until they pass the age of 65 (Carloni 1984). Therefore, it is important to understand the elderly population's role in agricultural production, as this has implications for the well-being of elders as well as the national agricultural sector. This paper presents ethnographic material from Jamaica, where agriculture is a primary economic activity for older adults. Data from a farm survy conducted by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is then interpreted in light of these ethnographic materials. I argue that both agricultural development and the situation of older farmers could be improved by addressing the following three points: 1. Although young adults do not generally enter into full-time farming, many of them eventually do become farmers. Up to that time, they may be engaged in agricultural activities that are 'invisible' to general economic surveys. 2. The older farmer (as we shall see) may have a 20 year or more career of Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 9: 277-299, 1994. 9 1994 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
278
CYNTHIAWOODSONG
full-time farming ahead of her/him, which is a period of time deserving appropriate consideration in agricultural policy. 3. In Jamaica, and perhaps elsewhere where economic options and formal arrangements for old age care are limited, participation in the agricultural economy substitutes for retirement. Data from a farm survey conducted by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is then interpreted in light of these ethnographic materials. AGE AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITY The impetus for addressing the social issues surrounding the role of elders in society has been provided by the increase in the absolute numbers of the elderly worldwide. Although aging populations were first observed in industrialized countries, the need to take stock of the position of elders has now become a concern in developing countries. In recognition of this need, the UN's general policy recommendations include the following statement: It is imperative that, when considering the question of aging, the situation of the elderly should not be considered separate from the over-all socio-economic conditions prevailing in society. The elderly should be viewed as an integral part of the population. They should also be considered within the framework of population groups such as women, youth, the disabled, and migrant workers. The elderly must be considered an important and necessary element in the development process at all levels within a given society. (UN 1982:56) To date, research on the elderly has centered on concern for their health and well-being (objectively and subjectively defined), on such topics as health care, kin and community support networks, and the increased costs to governments of dependent care (Maddox 1982; Mancini and Blieszner 1989). Persistent and negative stereotypes of the aged portray them as unproductive members of society, stubborn and/or a burden to their children (Estes 1980; UN 1991). As a disturbing corollary to their 'unproductive' status, elders are sometimes seen by their compatriots as contributing, through chronic and catastrophic illnesses, to the rising cost of health care (Estes 1980). The role of elders in processes of economic development has not been extensively studied (Halperin 1987). Treas and Logue (1986) identify several perspectives with regard to development policy toward the aged, among them the observations that the aged are a low priority in development efforts and the aged are viewed as constituting an impediment to development. However, they note that conventional wisdom acknowledges that older persons are a potential resource as purveyors of knowledge. This paper supports the view that the aged are a potential resource, not only for their possession of agricultural knowledge and potential usefulness in transmission of such knowledge, but also for their active role in agricultural production.
AGE AND AGRICULTUREIN JAMAICA
279
JAMAICAN CASE STUDY Persons aged 55 and over constitute 12% of Jamaica's 1982 population of approximately two million. This rate is similar to other Commonwealth Caribbean countries (Brathwaite 1989). However, as Figure 1 illustrates, the Caribbean is one of the world's 'oldest' regions. This agedness becomes most apparent in the rural areas, a characteristic commonly observed in developing regions (UN 1985). In Jamaica, almost two-thirds of persons aged 60 and over reside in rural areas. Figure 2 illustrates the urban and rural population structure, with rural areas less populated by the 25 to 50 age group. This population has most likely migrated to Jamaica's urban areas, or overseas (Planning Institute of Jamaica [PIOJ] 1988).
20-
Caribbean Asia
o) 03
Latin America
15
r ~10 0 9
Africa
5
1988
i
!
2005
2020
Year Fig. 1. Percentage of total population Age 55+: 1988 to 2020. Like many Third World countries, the primary economic endeavor of the rural population is agriculture. The agricultural sector I is the largest employment sector, accounting for 39% of Jamaica's labor force. There are 2.7 million acres of land in Jamaica, of which 1.2 million are suitable for crops and pasture lands (Ventkataswamy 1987:6), and much of this is on hillsides which require careful cultivation if soil degradation is not to occur (USAID 1988). The great majority of Jamaica's farms are small (less than 5 acres) and located in the island's hilly interior (Armstrong, Bims, Kernan, Manrique, and Mitchell 1985). Farms of 100 acres and over have, for most of this century, occupied from 48% to 57% of Jamaica's farmland, while the farms of less than five acres have occupied a
280
16
CYNTHIAWOODSONG
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
males
0
2
4
6
percent
8
10
12
14
16
10
12
14
16
females
Rural
Im
16 "
14
12
10
8
males
6
4
2
0
percent Urban
2
4
6
8
females
Fig. 2. Rural and urban population of Jamaica by age and sex, 1982.
AGE AND AGRICULTUREIN JAMAICA
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meager 13% to 16%. Another way to look at this inequality is to consider that for the period 1954 to 1978, 3% of Jamaica's farmers have controlled from 60% to 75% of the total farmland (Pollard and Graham 1985). Despite their size, however, the small farms produce 80 to 90% of the country's domestic food crops. They also produce a substantial amount of export crops, including 68% of Jamaica's sugar, 59% of the citrus, 88% of the coffee, and 62% of the cocoa (LeFranc 1986:22). Compared to other Caribbean and Latin American countries, productivity levels in Jamaica are low. Both the traditional farming practices and the advanced age of traditional farmers have long been and still are considered by the government and development community to result in poor yields and destruction to the environment (USAID 1988). Since the 1950s, a steady stream of programs for agricultural development has been designed with the dual goal of increasing productivity while introducing new technologies to halt erosion and improve the sustainability of production. 2 However, analyses of agricultural projects and programs conclude that for the most part development efforts have had little positive impact (Armstrong et al. 1985; Blustain 1985; LeFranc 1986); furthermore, the programs have not met even their stated goals. Agricultural production has not been increased, erosion control has not been effective, and standards of living in rural areas have not been appreciably improved. As LeFranc aptly states, "In postwar Jamaica, the extraordinary large sums expended on the agricultural sector have brought forth relatively little fruit" (1982:9). There is evidence that living conditions in Jamaica have actually deteriorated, for malnutrition and maternal mortality rates have increased, and health and education services have been drastically cut (AID 1988; Fox and Ashley 1985; LeFranc 1989). Social conditions are also reflected in income disparities, which in Jamaica are especially pronounced. The United Nations Development Program 1990 Human Development Report shows Jamaica having the highest levels of income inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient3) of the 28 countries for which the figure was available (UNDP 1990:54). Over the past 15 years, agricultural performance in Jamaica has been, for the most part, stagnant or declining. Elders in Agriculture Jamaica's small scale farmers have, for most of this century, been mostly older adults, and it has long been acknowledged that young adults do not enter into independent farming. Given this persistent element in the social organization of agricultural production in Jamaica, it is perhaps not surprising that government and foreign-assisted efforts at improving agricultural performance identify the age of the Jamaican farmer as a limiting factor. It is interesting that such reports do not as a rule consider age in relation to reduced work capacity or health concerns, but rather focus on the farmer's attitudes and cultivation practices. Age is perceived as an obstacle which results in resistance to innovation,
282
CYNTHIAWOODSONG
tradition-bound attitudes and techniques, and reluctance to invest or seek credit (Edwards 1961; Institute for Social and Economic Research [ISER] 1980; Robotham 1969). Consider the following quotes from two recent project papers. In line with the national trend, the farmers within the project area were relatively advanced in age ... The age of the farmers had important implications for development, since it could be expected that there would be greater resistance to change among older farmers (FAO 1989:6) The challenge, then, is how to move the hillside farmer, in a non-coercive manner, from a risk-averse, subsistence, tradition-bound agriculturalist to one who is adaptive, innovative, and economically motivated (USAID 1988:H14). This view is frequently expressed in the agricultural development literature, beginning with agricultural extension in the 1950s (Henry 1980) and continuing through early efforts of Jamaica's Ministry of Agriculture (MOA 1963) to the present (FAO 1989; USAID 1988), although some recent research has begun to question this position (Armstrong et al. 1985; Carloni 1984; LeFranc 1986).
Life Cycle and the Formation of the Small Farm As others have noted (Fry 1990; UN 1991), there is no set age at which one becomes 'old' or 'aged', but rather this status varies physiologically, crossculturally, and, within cultural groups, among individuals. For this reason, no uniform definition of old, elder, or aged will be used here. To understand the roles elderly individuals can potentially play in economic life, they should be viewed in a social context, within household groups. It then becomes possible to follow the domestic cycle of households and observe the process of aging and its implications for economic activity. For many, participation in agriculture takes place at different stages in the life cycle and with varying degrees of intensity. An understanding of the formation of a farm in conjunction with the developmental cycle of the household can aid in interpreting the types of data gathered in more general farm surveys. Various government and foreign aid agencies conduct surveys, but these data are seldom analyzed at the household level. In this section of the paper I will use two data sources: (1) ethnographic material which I collected in central Jamaica during fieldwork from 1988-1989 and (2) farm survey data collected by FAO. These two sources will show how the formation of a Jamaican small farm follows a developmental course loosely related to the domestic cycle of the household. The general trends outlined below should not be taken to represent the only avenues to household and farm formation in concert with economic activities. One hallmark of the Caribbean household is its flexibility (Solein 1960). Nevertheless, others have outlined this general course of events for Caribbean farming households (Comitas 1973; Edwards 1961; Smith 1973). Young adult males in rural areas begin to establish their independence from their parental household 4 around age 15, as they contribute less to the labor
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needs of their household's farm, preferring to work for pay on the farm of a nonhousehold member (unless more desirable non-agricultural work is available). Young adult females explore their options for additional education and training while continuing to reside at home, assisting with domestic activities of the household, including some agricultural work. This is also the period when labor migration begins, with both young men and women moving to urban areas as well as overseas. A woman's first child is often born while she still resides at her parental home. Grandparental support provides a substantial economic resource for children born to teenaged mothers, and the labor of these grandchildren substitutes for the declining labor contributions of the farmer's teenaged children as they age out of the household. As individuals reach their 30s and 40s, a wide range of economic options is explored. Land is acquired, a house is built in gradual stages, and a household is most often first established when a procreative relationship becomes coresidential. During this stage farming is likely to be combined with off-farm economic activity. Investment in the purchase of land usually precipitates the formation of a new household, and subsequent purchases can establish a viable farming venture. As a result of the gradual build-up of a small farm, the majority of Jamaican farmers cultivate more than one parcel of land. The multiple plots are usually held under multiple tenurial arrangements which may change over time. The presence of various land tenure types - ownership, rent/lease, 'captured land', family land 5 - can allow a farming household to expand or contract farm size in accordance with the availability of household resources. Full-time own-account agricultural production is essentially the domain of more mature adults who have established families and common-law unions. As mentioned earlier, the average age of full-time farmers is in the 50s. By this time the farmer's household may well include three generations, or at least some grandchildren of the farmer and his/her spouse. One final point concerning the domestic cycle of households should be mentioned here. As discussed above, many individuals spend their first few decades of adulthood in a variety of jobs, some of them agriculturally based, before returning to farming. Comitas uses the term "occupational multiplicity" in describing rural Jamaican society: Characteristic of this population is occupational multiplicity, or plurality, wherein the modal adult is systematically engaged in a number of gainful activities, which for him form an integrated economic complex ... Affected by the insecurities of own-account cultivation on minuscule, sub-standard fields, the labor demands of plantations and large farms, and the irregularity of other wage employment, these people developed a way of life based on a system of occupational multiplicity which maximizes as well as protects their limited economic opportunities and which in turn influences the nature of their social alignments and organization (1973:157, 164). Comitas further notes a positive correlation between age and occupational multiplicity. He perceives young men to postpone, to the extent possible, labor-
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intensive income-generating activities until they begin to assume responsibility for a family. At this point, multiple economic options are pursued, either simultaneously or serially, thoughout the adult life course as part of a flexible strategy for survival (Carnegie 1987). As these options diminish with age, fulltime farming assumes greater importance. Farming in Jamaica is known for low levels of remuneration and low social prestige. However, when economic ventures of the younger years prove insufficient to sustain a person later in life, farming constitutes a default option for economic activity. To provide a better understanding of the social processes involved in the developmental cycle of a Jamaican small farm and to provide a contextual backdrop for the quantitative data that follow, ethnographic case study material is presented below. In the following cases the formation of a small farm follows a pattern typical in Jamaica and is correlated with the farmer's life course. Mr. Stewart, 6, age 54, farms three plots. A one-acre plot is located adjacent to the family land belonging to descendants of his stepfather. Mr. Stewart began farming this small plot when he first began to establish himself as an independent young man, for this plot was next to the land he had helped his stepfather cultivate during his childhood and teen years. Since he continued to live at home and assist with his stepfather's farm, the neighboring plot was a convenient place for him to test his wings. He eventually bought this section. Mr. Stewart's second plot, 2.5 acres extending up a hillside almost to the border of the first plot, was the site of a house (no longer standing) he constructed for his first cohabiting relationship when he was in his late 20s. He leased and then later bought this land. House construction and the farm's initial start up was financed by earnings from migrant agricultural labor. During his migrant experience he continued to participate in agriculture in Jamaica until he began his full-time farming career in his late 30s. The next case features a common tenurial combination of bought, captured, and family lands in a household which includes two generations of full-time farmers. Mr. Hawkins, age 65, owns one large plot of land, approximately seven acres, that borders the homesite. During the Hawkins's stewardship the plot has gone through several tenurial transformations. One section of the land is family land, on which ancestors are buried and the Hawkins's two adult sons have built a small house where they sleep (they eat and work out of the main house). The remaining section of land was once two pieces, one purchased and one captured. The boundaries of the Hawkins farm are loose, for the sons continue to capture some additional sections, dependent on the market for certain crops and their labor-time constraints. Mr. Hawkins as a young adult had first rented and then purchased land adjacent to his parents' farm, and by staying nearby was able to exercise the major claim to use family land upon his parents' death. 7
Farm Survey Data An understanding of the social processes involved in the formation of a farm can aid in interpreting the types of data gathered in more general farm surveys. I shall now turn to survey data collected by FAO in 1988 for its "Integrated
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Development of Small Scale Farms" project and will supplement this information with ethnographic material. The purpose of the F A t study was "to establish a basis for bottom-up planning and create opportunities for a more realistic extension delivery system" to small hillside farmers ( F A t 1989:1). Research efforts concentrated on the nature of the farming system, particularly the profitability of the major crops and livestock in the area. Data were collected at the same time and in the same district where I conducted fieldwork, and an agreement was reached to share information. 8 Only households that reported farming to be their major source of income were included in the F A t sample of 90 households. As we shall see, this introduces a bias against some of the types of farming activities which are 'invisible'. Nevertheless, this bias is commonly found in farm surveys, and the F A t data do provide a rich source of information on elderly farmers. Median farm size was 5 acres, and the average age of farmers was 52. I analyzed data on the 90 households with regard to three topics - farm data, household composition, and cash income composition - to determine correlations that might point to discernible strategies employed by the different households. Analysis of the relationships between age and (1) farm size, (2) percentage of farm under cultivation, and (3) income composition revealed that age had little to do with the farming regimes covered in the survey. Each of these relationships will be discussed in turn.
Age and farm size. It might be expected that elderly farmers would have larger farms (MOA 1963; Robotham 1969; USAID 1988) as a result of the gradual process by which a farm is established, especially since it is not customary for land to be allocated to future heirs until after the farmer's death (Cartoni 1984). However, age was not found to be significantly related to farm size (Pearson's r = 0.01969, p < 0.8539). I conclude that smaller farms axe not observed for the younger farmers in part because farming as a major economic activity does not usually occur early in an individual's life course, as described in the above section. Farm surveys generally focus on persons who identify themselves as farmers, and this was true for the F A t study. Those farmers just beginning to establish their farms and who are engaged in other economic pursuits would not have been included, and would therefore be 'invisible' to the survey. Only 22% of the sample was under 40 years of age, and only 4% under age 30. Given that the average age of F A t farmers is 52, it is likely that the farms surveyed already approximated their maximum size. Farm size alone can not provide a good indication of the level of farming activity in which elderly farmers are engaged. F A t collected data on not only total farm size but also the amount of land under cultivation. It was thus possible to test the hypothesis that age would influence the percentage of the total farm under cultivation. No clear empirical relationship was observed, although there is some evidence that the percentage of land cultivated drops off after age 65. The average percentage of farm land in cultivation by three age groups is 52% for those under 40, 71% for farmers aged 40 to 65, and 37% for those 65 and
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over.
Age and income. A critical issue for the status of elderly farmers is their income status. In the FAO study, total household income was positively correlated with farm size (Pearson's r=0.40045, p
