agricultural innovation in jamaica: the yallahs valley land authority

Clark University

Agricultural Innovation in Jamaica: The Yallahs Valley Land AuthorityAuthor(s): Barry FloydSource: Economic Geography, Vol. 46, No. 1 (Jan., 1970), pp. 63-77Published by: Clark UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/142684 .

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AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION IN JAMAICA: THE YALLAHS VALLEY LAND AUTHORITY

Barry Floyd

Dr. Floyd is head of the Department of Geography at the University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica.

AMAICA is a small Common- wealth nation of 4411 square miles in the Caribbean, a tropical

island with a population of almost two million and a remarkable diversity of physical and cultural environments. It is a scenically attractive country, with rugged mountain ranges and dissected limestone plateaus, inhabited by a people of African, Afro-European, and Asian origins, with considerable initia- tive and resourcefulness. Jamaica has nevertheless a formidable accumulation of social and physical constraints against her emergence into the ranks of developed states.

These constraints are particularly powerful in the realm of agriculture. Among the spatially-identifiable problems of rural land use in Jamaica are steep, easily eroded hill slopes, shallow and often infertile soils, unreliable rainfall, a maldistribution of agricultural land, anomalous patterns of tenure, marked poverty in the rural areas, and a "runaway" population in terms of annual numerical growth.

Agriculture in Jamaica, as in many other former colonial possessions, is characterized by a plantation or cor- poration sector, and also a large body of small-scale agricultural producers comprising the peasant or small-farming sector. At the root of many problems

that beset Jamaican agriculture is the division of land that results from this two-tier economy.

Some 60 per cent of Jamaica's present population is dependent largely upon the soil for their livelihood; of this number, perhaps half (or 600,000 people) are eking out an existence on scattered diminutive hill plots scarcely a quarter or half an acre in size. These patches of crop land are the result of fragmenta- tion and fractioning of individually- owned holdings over many years; others stem from uncontrolled tenant cultivation. An average holding of 1.8 acres of land for small farms is hardly a basis for creating a viable and prosperous agricultural community. All told, 71 per cent of the farming population controls a mere 12 per cent of the land. At the other end of the spectrum, some 56 per cent of Jamaica's agricultural land is controlled by 0.7 per cent of the landowners in the form of extensive plantations or estates, often thousands of acres in size-much of it in the choicest lowland locations. Many of these estates are still foreign-owned.

There are in Jamaica, therefore, twin problems of rural underemployment and widespread agricultural inefficiency on the part of small farmers. There is urgent need for rational development programs for the present rural popula-



64 ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

tion; alternative forms of employment Mountains of eastern Jamaica. The should be created, and farm productivity Y.V.L.A. has been selected for examina-

policies aimed at a more intensive and tion in this paper as a model or case commercial approach to farming should study of one type of innovation that be vigorously pursued. agricultural planners have initiated in

In the agricultural sector, attention an effort to grasp the nettle of land needs to be focused particularly on con- degradation and rural impoverishment solidation of holdings, the utilization of in Jamaica. "idle" lands, crop specialization through land classification and ecological zoning THE YALLAHS VALLEY schemes, and the establishment of pro- ducer and consumer cooperatives. The The 70-square-mile, 44,000-acre area farmer himself requires instruction inof the Yallahs drainage basin (Fig. 1) modern techniques such as the mechan-has sufered over the centuries from ical conservation of slopes, fertilization marked misuse of its natural resources. of soils, use of improved seed and live- Reckless deforestation of steep slopes

stock, and control of pests and diseases;for coffee production at the end of the economic incentives in the form of eighteenth century, leading to severe

agricultural credit, guaranteed remuner- soil erosion, was followed by shifting ative prices and markets are also essen- cultivtion or land rotation systems tial for rural benefit. of subsistence farming, practiced by

The Jamaican government is well freed slaves from lowland sugar estates aware of the country's agricultural following emancipation in the mid-

problems and has adopted over the years nineteenth century (1838). a number of programs to combat them, Primitive hillside farming in the some rather more successful than others. Yallahs Valley-as elsewhere in Ja- Among these programs-aimed essen- maica-was dominated by three de- tially at improving the lot of the peasant plorable tendencies on the part of its farmer-is the Yallahs Valley Land practitioners: to scatter, to scramble, Authority, a rural rehabilitation scheme and to squander.' These three tenden- established 17 years ago in a severely Sir Hugh Foot (former Governor of Ja- impoverished river basin in the Blue maica), speech in 1951.

FIG. 1. Location of the Yallahs Valley in Jamaica.



AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION IN JAMAICA: THE YALLAHS VALLEY LAND AUTHORITY 65

cies: to scatter in small uneconomic

holdings, to scramble every man for

himself, and to squander like a gambler the fertility of the soil, took a terrible toll on the human support capability of the area. Indeed, the unfortunate idea that an individual had the right to ruin his own land in his own way wrought havoc in the Yallahs Basin, as it did in

many other parts of the island. A rising awareness of the seriousness

of the situation, particularly during the

years of the Second World War, led to a variety of responses by Government. There was a proliferation of largely ad hoc technical and social agencies, which strove to introduce improvements in man/land relationships largely through persuasion and by voluntary adoption of recommended land use practices; however, there was considerable overlapping of functions, poor coordination of endeavors, inadequate funding, and, in consequence, little positive response from the rural population.

In 1945 the Land Authority approach was recommended by an Agricultural Policy Committee, which drew its in-

spiration for the proposal in part from a study of the Tennessee Valley Au-

thority in the United States. It was

urged that Land Authorities should be established across the island to unite and coordinate the work of rehabilitat- ing distressed rural areas, using "natural" planning units such as watersheds and drainage basins as a spatial basis for their operations. Furthermore, improvements were to be achieved through legislation, greater coercion, even by compulsion rather than by persuasion: the so-called "command" approach of T. W. Schultz.2

The Yallahs Valley was chosen as 2 T. W. Schultz: Transforming Traditional

Agriculture (New Haven, 1964), p. 102.

the pilot project for the Land Authority approach for several reasons:

1. It was a compact, easily delineated catchment area

2. It contained a variety of terrain features, including youthful, rugged mountainous topography, dissected hill lands and deltaic lowlands (Fig. 2)

FIG. 2. Slope Map of the Valley.



66 ECONOMIC

3. It possessed a climatic spectrum, reflected in rainfall regimes varying from over 200" to less than 50" a year (Fig. 3), which produces numerous ecosystems that in turn would prove suited to a wide range of agricultural products and livestock

4. It was a heavily populated area, in a chronically depressed socio- economic condition

In 1951 the Yallahs Valley moved from being a depressed area to a disaster area, following the ravages of Hurricane Hazel. As a result, the Land Authority Law was passed which included a provision for accelerated implementation as an emergency or relief-scheme measure for the derelict valley. Law 25 of 1951 stated, in terse legal terms, that it was designed "to make provision for the improvement and rehabilitation, and to prevent the erosion and deterioration, of land in special areas...."

Y. V.L.A. Stage I: Scientific Survey

Several fact-finding surveys were initiated in 1952. A soil survey by T. Finch4 identified 22 different soil types, the majority of them thin and with "beheaded" profiles. Indeed, gully and sheet erosion had led to the loss of 75 per cent or more of the topsoil over considerably more than half the valley (Fig. 4), thus exposing the subsoil and even parent material at the surface.

Slopes were also measured on plots under cultivation for "ground provision" crops or in "food forest." Over 90 per cent of the land being used for subsistence farming had slopes in excess

3The Land Authorities Law 1951 (Law 25 of 1951): Section 3, The Improvement Area (Yallahs Valley) Order, 1951. Section 22, The Land Authority (Yallahs Valley) Order, 1951.

4 T. Finch: Soil Survey of the Area Admin- istered by the Yallahs Valley Land Authority, Jamaica (Imperial College of Tropical Agricul- ture, Trinidad, B.W.I., 1952), mimeographed.

GEOGRAPHY

of 10°. Seventy-three per cent of the land had slopes of 30° and over. Only 4.4 per cent of the farm land had a gradient of less than 5° (Table I).

The Finch report was severe in its evaluation of the situation and in its recommendations. Thus it criticized not only man's indiscriminate destruc- tion of original forest and cultivation

FIG. 3. Rainfall over the Yallahs Valley.




of oversteep slopes, but also his careless demonstration of human fertility at the expense of the fertility of the soil. Finch urged that "most of the valley should immediately be stripped of its ever-growing population and planted with trees, so that it can be left peace- fully to produce good timber under a

Aro EROSION v NO EROSION :I::

<25% TOPSOIL "/"

25-75% TOPSOIL

>75% TOPSOIL <25% SUBSOIL B.

ALL TOPSOIL wJAOAT0rV 25-75% SUBSOIL I

FIG. 4. The Extent of Soil Erosion, 1952.

TABLE I

SLOPES

Slope class Percentage

Less than 2 ....................... 0.5 2° to 5° ........................... 3.9 5° to 10° ........... .............. 2.8 10° to 20° ......................... 11.7 20° to 30° ......................... 8.1 Greater than 30° ................... 73.0

sensible forestry plan,"5 an idealistic but hardly feasible solution to the problem.

Agricultural and socio-economic surveys of the Yallahs Valley were also carried out in 1952 by D. Edwards and other social scientists.6 These studies revealed a population of some 3000 farmers or 12,000 men, women, and children inhabiting the region in a highly dispersed pattern, producing a crude population density of 173 persons per square mile. However, only about 7000 acres, 16 per cent, of the total Yallahs Basin were under cultivation in 1952, the remaining areas being in "ruinate" (old crop lands now neglected or in "bush" fallow), 47 per cent, and unimproved i.e., rough pasture and woodland, 37 per cent. A truer measure of population density was thus 1090 persons per cultivated square mile. Land above 5000 feet was largely in natural forest cover; the cultivated land was all below 5000 feet.

In 1952 the average size of a farm was around 2 acres, and the average farm supported 4.4 persons; the median size was 3.3 acres. Seventy per cent of all farms were less than 5 acres in ex- tenlt. The farms invariably comprised more than one plot or parcel of land:

5 Ibid, p. 29. 6 D. T. Edwards: An Economic Study of

Agriculture in the Yallahs Valley Area of Ja- maica, Social and Economic Studies (Journal of the Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of the West Indies), Vols. 3, 4 (De- cember, 1954), pp. 316-341.



ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

the average measure of this fragmenta- tion amounted to 1.7 plots per farmer. Only one-third of the farm families dwelt in the immediate vicinity of their principal plot. A quarter of them lived up to two miles distant from their farms; a fifth from two to five miles away; and the remaining one-sixth over five miles from their main parcel of crop land (Table II).

TABLE II

DISTANCE BETWEEN FARMERS' HOMES AND MAIN PLOTS OF CROPLAND (1952)

Distance class

Immediate vicinity................. Less than 1 mile................... 2 to 4 m iles....................... 5 to 8 miles .......................

Percentage

34 26 22 18

Two-thirds of the farmers were con- sidered to own the land they were cultivating, although only one out of ten farmers was covered by registered title. The remaining one-third were tenant farmers renting land from the owners of extensive, privately owned properties, often several hundred acres in extent, with sizable portions of under- utilized or idle land.

Rough estimates of the gross value of production per farm in 1952 indicated an annual income of £ 86 (U.S. $240) or £7 (U.S. $20) a month. Casual off-the-farm jobs were, therefore, essen- tial for many Yallahs Valley inhabitants, and adult male absenteeism was correspondingly high. Seasonal short- ages of cash made shop-credit all important at the many dispersed, single- store service centers. The traditional marketing system, whereby the women journey to Kingston each weekend to sell surplus produce, was inefficient and costly in terms of time, energy, and economic returns. Communications, educational and medical facilities, as well

as other infrastructural features, were poorly developed or nonexistent. In sum, the several surveys revealed that the Yallahs Valley was indeed in a parlous condition.

Y.V.L.A. Stage II: Action

With a relatively generous operat- ing budget of about £100,000 (U.S. $280,000) a year, a vigorous rehabilitation and development program was launched in 1952. The Yallahs Valley was divided into eight administrative areas; staff recruitment and training occurred on a large scale so that eventually a field force of one extension worker to 130 farmers was mounted (compared to a ratio of 1:900 for Ja- maica as a whole).

Specifically, an eight-point program emerged from the exercise, in illustra- tion of the "package" approach to agricultural reform and rural rehabilitation.7

Soil Conservation. An all-out attack on soil erosion was initiated, with the promotion of a wide range of mechanical and cultural techniques for stemming sheet and gully erosion, while at the same time preserving and enhancing soil fertility. No fewer than 33 different methods of soil conservation were en- dorsed, used either singly or in combination. These included the principal procedures of contour planting, strip cropping, and mulching; vegetative barriers (grasses and trees) and stone barriers; bunding and bench terracing; drains and trenches. This work was given high priority, and monetary in- ducements to accomplish the work were offered. Substantial conservation net- works were necessary, if the catastrophic effects of extreme conditions such as 60 inches of rain in three days (at Silver

7 Yallahs Valley Land Authority, 1951-1966. 15 Years of Land and Human Rehabilitation in the Yallahs Valley Land Authority (Kings- ton, 1966), p. 25, et seq.

68




Htill Gap in 1963) were to be withstood. Successive annual reports faithfully recorded the lengths of contour barriers constructed in the course of a year; by 1960 there were supposedly 1900 miles of "permanent waving" over the Yallahs Valley landscape.

Improved Cropping. Trials, experi- ments, and demonstrations of improved farming practices, also new and traditional crops, were undertakeln, supported by subsidies and other fiinancial induce- ment schemes. On the steepest slopes and at high elevations tree crops were encouraged, largely species of softwood timber such as Caribbean Pines (Pinus caribae), Cupressus spp. (" Christmas" trees), and, to a lesser extent, Mahoe (Hibiscus elatus) and eucalypts (blue gums). Yallahs Valley "Christmas" trees have in particular provided a useful source of income to farmers at the festive season, and imports of foreign trees to Greater Kingston are fortunately no longer necessary.

Traditional and new "food forest" crops have also been promoted through the agency of special Authority nurseries established in the Improvement Area. The long-famous Blue Mountain coffee is now being grown under proper management conditions and three coffee factories are located in the Valley. Improved cultural practices, use of fertilizers, conservation techniques, and rehabilitation of old orchards have led to a seven-fold increase in output (1800 boxes in 1951; 12,400 boxes in 1966). Limes, oranges, mangoes, bananas, coco- nuts, pimento, avocado pears, and cocoa have also shown encouraging increases in production.

The greatest emphasis has, however, been placed on short-term cash crops for the nearby Kingston market, espe- cially vegetables, root crops, and cut flowers. Sizable quantities of "iceberg" lettuce, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, es-

callion, Irish potatoes, and celery, among other truck-farminlg crops, now move to the capital's wholesale and retail food outlets. Special or "fancy" products such as strawberries, raspberries, cher- ries, peaches, apricots, plums, and mush- rooms are also being grown experi- mentally, in some cases in commercial quantities, within the cool, upper reaches of the Valley.

Traditional "ground provision" crops such as red peas, Congo peas, sweet potatoes, yams, cassava, and cocoa, have also shown impressive increases in production under the stimulus of improved farming and conservation techniques, efficient use of fertilizers, and plant protection against diseases and pests. In 1965, over 3700 tons of vegetables and root crops were sold from the Valley, at an estimated sales value of £283,640 (U.S. $794,190). Orna- mental flowers such as lilies, asters, gladioli, carnations, and marigolds have also proved very successful, and commercial flower growing has added a new and colorful dimension tp the Yallahs Valley landscape. In the 1965/66 season, over 130,000 dozen flowers were sold.

A quantitative measure of the Au- thority's drive to promote increased yields of new and established crops, and to encourage sounder land use practices, is provided by statistics of land use in 1961, ten years after the Y.V.L.A. was established (Table III). These figures

TABLE III

LAND USE BY BROAD TYPES, 1952 AND 1961

Per cent Per cent 1952 1961

Crops and food forest ......... 16 26 Rough pasture and woodland... 37 31 "Ruinate" bush.............. 47 43

Source: Data obtained from Government of Jamaica, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Division of Economics and Statistics: Report on an Evaluation Survey of the Y.V.L.A., 1951-1961 (Kingston, 1961) mimeographed.




indicate an appreciable increase in the The construction of all-weather driv- acreage under food crop cultivation, and ing roads for cars and trucks in moun- a corresponding decrease in areas under tainous country of unstable slopes and "ruinate," woodland, and unimproved high rainfall, has been a formidable pasture. undertaking. Yet the vital importance

Mixed Farming. The Authority also of a communications system was recog- set out to encourage mixed farming and nized early by the Y.V.L.A. Eight and to upgrade the quality of livestock in one-half miles of road were thrust into the Valley, as well as to promote numer- the well-populated, upper reaches of ical increases in farm animals. Dairying the Valley. A further five and one-half has been established as an important miles of roads negotiable by Land Rover

income-earning enterprise in the Lower or Jeep have established a crude linkage Valley, which lies within the milkshed net and opened up still further areas for area of Kingston, while in the Upper commercial penetration and the outflow Valley, due to difficult terrain, dairying of agricultural commodities. The sig- is being encouraged only on a small nificance of the circulation of goods and scale for local supply, to provide a services resulting from this road-build- beneficial supplement to the children's ing program cannot be overestimated. diet, and farmyard manure for the fields. The mechanism for marketing has

Purebred Holstein-Friesian heifers and also been improved by the creation of an a bull were imported from Canada in island-wide Agricultural Marketing Cor- 1965 for the Y.V.L.A. dairy farm at poration. Under this organization, pur- Cocoa Walk in the Lower Valley. This chases of prescribed products are made foundation herd has increased, and sur- by the A.M.C. at buying stations set rounding farmers have gained from the up within the Valley. Guaranteed mii- demonstration. Jamaica Hope cattle demonstration. amaia ope ale um prices are offered for a wide range are also being reared. Improved pas- of staple and special agricultural items. tures of pangola grass, sustained b y To help offset the costs of transportation overhead irrigation, have been estab- overhd i n, he bn e - and administration, these prices are in lished in the delta zone. lished i the

. dfact rather lower than open-market In the realm of small stock, which r mh bet su sto ,

p h ica prices in the consuming centers. For this are much better suited to the pllysical r r .TT \r11 reason, the time-honored practice of environment of the Upper Valley, poul- I

"higgling," whereby the farmers (espe- try are flourishing, and fresh eggs and hilin the farmers (

broilers are transported to Kingston cially the women) sell their own produce

from the Yallahs Area. One of the in town, continues to be popular. It is

largest egg-producing farms in Jamaica not only an economic operation (a pur- is located at Mavis Bank in the Upperchasing as well as a selling venture);

Valley, with a laying flock of 24,000 it also provides a welcome opportunity birds in 1966. Pig rearing under modern for social contacts with relatives and standards of animal husbandry has friends from other parts of the Valley also commenced. and the world beyond Yallahs.

Communications. The problem of ac- Flood Control. River training and cess by road to the Upper Yallahs, for gully control have exercised the atten- the necessary inputs of logistical support tion of Authority officials. The Yallahs in terms of men and materiel, and for River has a notorious history of ram- the outflow of surplus products to mar- paging floods in its lower reaches; de- kets, proved a thorny one. forestation of the upper catchment area




no doubt exacerbated an already sus- ceptible situation. The long-range programs of afforestation and soil conservation measures already described have been supplemented by a "crash" or emergency program of flood control devices in the delta. Gabion groynes of stones enmeshed in wire have been constructed at weak points along the water course. Some two miles of arti- ficial levees or bunds, also of wire- meshed stones and consolidated by the establishment of wild bamboo (Arundo donax), have been erected along the east bank of the river, from Easington Bridge in the direction of the sea. Con- tinuation of these protective works on either side of the river will eventually protect some 1800 acres of gently slop- ing alluvial land from the dangers of flooding.

A severe test of the entire Yallahs Valley defensive system was undergone in the flood rains of Hurricane "Flora" in October 1963, twelve years after the Y.V.L.A. had commenced operations. While inevitably there was much dev- astation of farm lands and conservation works, and part of the deltaic river- training works was destroyed, the overall damage was far less than might overwise have occurred if the Authority had not been created.

Land Tenure. To expect farmers to adopt new, labor-intensive methods of improved land use as tenants, or as cultivators without clear title to their land, would have been unrealistic. The Y.V.L.A., therefore, strove to regu- larize tenurial patterns by recognizing leaseholders and offering them the prospect of becoming freeholders of land, providing they adhered to the practices of improved land management being promoted by the Authority. The issuance of title deeds was an important prerequisite to the granting of agricultural credit for funding innovations on

the land and for home improvements. The Y.V.L.A. also came into posses-

sion of a number of large properties, relics of the old coffee-estate days. These Land Settlements were subdivided into small, hopefully viable holdings for tenants and others who farmed sub- economic holdings, or who were landless. By 1966, seven properties with a total area of 3877 acres had been acquired by the Government within the Yallahs Basin.

The task of achieving a more equit- able distribution of land in the Author- ity's area is, nevertheless, a Herculean one (Table IV). Short of compulsory land acquisition, under "idle lands" legislation and the agency of the Land Development and Utilization Commis- sion, the discrepancies in size between farmers' plots and estate lands in the Yallahs Valley seem likely to continue.

Education. The training and education of farmers in order that they might comprehend and appreciate the technical advice being offered them has been an important part of the Authority's program. Adult education and leader- ship training courses have utilized most of the recognized methods in the field of extension education. The erection of Community Centers at nodal locations within the eight administrative areas of the Valley has assisted this vital process of elevating peasant cultivators to the ranks of literate and enterprising farmers.

Regional Consciousness. Another significant aspect of the Authority's drive for an agricultural renaissance in the Yallahs Basin has been the development of a sense of social pride and group consciousness in the region's revival. The stimulus for this has come through the organization of inter-area competitions, community fetes, an annual Yallahs Agricultural Fair, and an effective pub- licity campaign.



ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

TABLE IV

NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF FARMS, 1961

Farms

Size group

Under 5 acres..................... 5-20 acres........................ 20-50 acres....................... Over 50 acres.....................

Totals ............................

No.

1,354 870

90 51

2,365

57.3 36.8

3.8 2.1

100.0

Acres

3,039 7,232 2,591

16,210

29,072

Source: Data obtained from Government of Jamaica, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Division of Economics and Statistics: Report on an Evaluation Survey of the Y.V.L.A., 1951-1961 (Kingston, 1961) mimeographed.

The Y. V.L.A.: Evaluation

Clearly a dramatic transformation of the landscape has resulted from implementation of this project. Im- pressive new patterns of agricultural land use have emerged in the Yallahs Valley; good will as well as the soil is being conserved, a happy combination in an age when dissatisfaction with the farmer's lot is a commonplace elsewhere in the developing world.

Two decades ago, the Yallahs Basin was among the most depressed rural areas in Jamaica. Farming methods were primitive, socio-economic conditions precarious. Today-despite the ever-present handicaps of a montane environment: steep terrain, shallow soils, limited communications-there is an air of businesslike activity and a sense of well-being in the affairs of the people. Hillsides bear the imprint of a new concern for wiser agricultural methods and sounder land use procedures. The visible evidences of conservation work, crop rotation patterns, and improved homesteads are undeniable and remark- ably impressive.

Assuredly there is still widespread poverty, many homes are humble, and most of the younger generation have an urge to leave the Valley for the uncer- tain, frequently shallow attractions of

life in Kingston. There have been failures in schemes to promote new crops or techniques, due both to lack of response from farmers and poor research and extension programs on the part of Authority staff. Considerable sums of money have been expended without measurable returns, and a bureaucratic expansion of staff and activities has undoubtedly occurred.

On balance, however, one is per- suaded that the overall exercise has been a success thus far, and that the future growth and rising prosperity of the Valley, barring natural catastrophe, is assured. A specific examination of criticisms raised against the operations of the Y.V.L.A. indicates an inevitable measure of validity; however, it also reveals an apparent inability on the part of some critics to achieve a synthetic overview of the entire venture, an inability to weigh specific shortcomings or failures against the overall picture of socio-economic advancement in the region.

Criticism of the work of the Yallahs Authority usually falls under one or more of the following headings: administrative functions, technical and extension work, or economic and social considerations.

Compulsory Reform versus Persuasion.

Acreage

Average size of farm

2.24 8.31

28.79 317.85

12.29

10.5 24.9

8.9 55.7

100.0

72




Under the Land Authority Law, the Board of Directors for the Y.V.L.A. was granted comprehensive powers for the regulation and control of land use in the Yallahs Valley. A strong measure of authority was legally feasible, with expedient compulsory reforms to accomplish a swift reversal of the physical and human degradation which existed in 1951. One section of the Law ex- plicitly states that it is the duty of a Land Authority to ''prepare provisional compulsory improvement schemes in relation to lands within the relevant improvement area ... and to im- plement or to secure the implementing of any confirmed compulsory improvement scheme."8

From the outset, however, Yallahs Authority officials deliberately chose to rely on a paternalistic, persuasive approach to accomplish their objectives and not to resort to compulsion other than in exceptional circumstances. Their policy was, therefore, one of winning the people over to the basic reforms in man/land relationships so patently necessary if a revitalization of Yallahs society was to be achieved. In short, the inhabitants of the Valley were to be made to "want what they need."

In order to fulfill the objectives of the legal policy it was of utmost importance to attempt, through agricultural extension methods and techniques, to change the attitudes of the people themselves both in respect of the use of the land and of the achievement of a better life; in short, solving the problem was to entail first and foremost the rehabilitation and education of the people. Thus the creed of the Authority has been: "helping the man to improve himself."9

Only in one instance has the Y.V.L.A. resorted thus far to compulsion in its program of man/land rehabilitation. A by-law was proclaimed in 1952 which

8 Yallahs Valley Land Authority, op. cit., p. 22.

9 Ibid.

prohibited "the setting of fire to any trash at any place within the Yallahs Valley Area." In order to burn land, farmers had henceforth to apply for a special permit (this by-law is still in force).

The incidence of fire-burning in the Authority Area is negligible today. The Authority records the control of bush fires as a positive achievement resulting from its educational works and aided in part by the by-law against bush burning.10

Opponents of the Y.V.L.A. have strongly criticized this "kid-glove" approach to handling the critical situation that existed in the Yallahs Basin in 1951. They have drawn attention to the many fruitless years of attempted extension work by persuasion prior to the enactment of the Land Authority Law, and have observed that the fundamental reason for the introduction of legislation was to give land planners a stronger hand in coming to grips with so obdurate an issue. Their views are best summarized in an evaluation report on the Y.V.L.A. produced by Ministry of Agriculture officials:

Given the extreme urgency of the situation in the Yallahs Valley a judicious and wise use of compulsion as implied by the law was a virtual necessity. It appears certain that more basic and more lasting achievements would have resulted if a strong policy had been adopted at the outset, which could have gradually been relaxed as conditions warranted.1l

One is not convinced that "more basic and lasting achievements" would have been achieved through compulsion and coercion in the early years of the program. A disgruntled, despairing, un- educated, and poverty-ridden peasantry makes poor material upon which force- ably to impose new and radical concepts

10 Ibid, p. 26. 11 Government of Jamaica, Ministry of Agri-

culture and Lands, Division of Economics and Statistics: Report on an Evaluation Survey of the Y.V.L.A., 1951-1961 (Kingston, 1961), p. 497, mimeographed.



ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

of land management, involving sustained hard work with little prospect of immediate beneficial returns.

It bears reiterating that the need to conserve good will and the morale of a rural community is every bit as important as conserving the soil. One may recall an aphorism of Napoleon: "Mo- rale is to materiel as two to one." If the morale of the troops (farm families) is high, this is worth twice the amount of material equipment (conservation terraces, new and improved seeds and plants, fertilizers, livestock, tractors, trucks, etc.) mounted in action. "Hu- man husbandry" is just as significant as land husbandry.

Ultimately all the problems of land use in the Yallahs center around the small farmer and his family. If their attitudes and views are not taken sufficiently into account, their ways of farming will never be improved. Experi- ence in land reform programs elsewhere in the developing world, particularly in the African tropics, has illustrated the truth of this fundamental observa- tion. Jamaican planners must never forget that ''it is the people who matter, not the soil, the crops or the livestock, except in their relation to the prosperity and happiness of the people."12

In many ways the Yallahs Valley farmers were already a long-suffering people in 1951; it might have proved fatal to regard their concern for the future of their homeland as amenable to dictatorial direction, with punitive punishment for the uncooperative.

Indeed, one can reverse the logic of the Ministry of Agriculture evaluation survey. After a period of nearly 20 years of social and economic uplift- with a better educated agricultural community and domestic resources in terms of equipment, agronomic "know-

12 C. W. Lynn: Agricultural Extension and Advisory Work, with Special Reference to the Colonies (London, 1949), p. 104.

how," and even a little surplus cash- now might be the time to adopt firmer measures for insuring that soil protection works are maintained, rotations pursued, compost and fertilizer applied, and controls against plant diseases and in- sect pests enforced. With a literate and appreciative farming community, now largely won over to the values of the present land use systems, there is far less excuse for the recalcitrant or back- sliding individual who fails to adopt improved land husbandry techniques.

It would appear, therefore, that, in the circumstances that faced the Boards of Directors in the formative years, the decision to proceed with tact and hu- manistic forethought was a rational and sensible one. The dividends from this wise approach are now being realized.

A further criticism leveled at those responsible for implementing the Land Authority Law within the Yallahs Im- provement Area was that they exceeded the terms of reference of the Law. There is, to be sure, emphasis throughout the Law on land reclamation and rehabilitation; it was designed, as already indicated: "to make provision for the improvement and rehabilitation, and to prevent the erosion and deterioration, of land in special areas... ." Land Authorities were to" secure the economic and efficient utilization of all land within the relevant improvement area." They were also to "prepare and submit for consideration . . .plans for the afforestation, rehabilitation and development of the relevant improvement areas on a regional basis and for the treatment of land necessary for the preserving of natural amenities for any purpose, whether connected with agriculture or not."13 (Author's italics.)

The strict interpretation given to these and other clauses in the Law by Y.V.L.A. critics has led them to accuse

13 Y.V.L.A., op. cit., p. 22.

74




the Board of stepping far beyond its legal bounds by concerning itself with the economic and social welfare conditions of the people of the Valley, rather than devoting all its efforts to land rehabilitation. Yet, in the light of the previous discussion on human as well as land husbandry, one fails to under-... stand the logic of this argument. Land rehabilitation and improvement: for what purpose? Land reclamation: to what end? Surely for the benefit of those persons residing in the area, as well as for the people of Jamaica as a whole. Land utilization clearly implies land use by man. Land improvement schemes can only be intended to provide improved living conditions for people dwelling and working on the land. To propose that, in land reform programs, considerations of man and land should be divorced is unrealistic if not absurd.

Errors in Technical Planning. A more justified set of criticisms can be directed against the technical operations of the Yallahs Authority. Undoubtedly, in the early years of the Y.V.L.A., an over- zealous attempt was made to wrestle simultaneously with all the ills of rural society in the Improvement Area. A number of remedies urged upon the people proved overambitious and could not be sustained. "Haste makes waste." A good deal of ad hoc planning and experimentation took place, reproducing the errors of groups that had worked in the Valley prior to 1951.

Lack of experienced personnel meant that faulty plans and recommendations were drawn up. There was a lack of liaison with other Government agencies and organizations concerned with rural development elsewhere in the island. Insufficient research into the ecological requirements of new crops was mounted, and inadequate thought was given to the marketing of surplus products.

Needless to say, the Yallahs Author-

ity and Jamaican planners are not alone in experiencing these difficulties. The catalogue of misdirected rural development schemes and misguided land use innovations is of staggering length throughout the developing, tropical world. Nevertheless, the mistakes in Yallahs, while not fatal, were wasteful of time, energy and resources and gave occasion for sober reflection upon the nature and enormity of the exercise being undertaken.

Fortunately, the present Authority officials claim to have learned something from the mistakes of the past and they reason that they are better positioned to tackle the remaining problems of the Valley than their predecessors. One trusts that their optimism is well- founded.

The Economics of Y.V.L.A. Reforms. Perhaps the most serious criticisms of the Land Authority approach to resur- rection of the Yallahs Valley have been leveled by a group of economists. They claim that there have been excessive expenditures by Government, with returns by no means commensurate with the outlay involved.

As indicated earlier, the annual budget of the Y.V.L.A. has been somewhat above £100,000 (U.S. $280,000) each year since its inception in 1951. In the fiscal year 1966/1967, expenditures amounted to £115,000 (U.S. $320,000). Thus, over the years 1951 to 1968, there has been an estimated outlay of some £1,935,000 (U.S. $5,418,000); assuming a population of 12,000 to 15,000 people during the period in question, this repre- sents a per capita investment of £129 (U.S. $361), or £7.6 (U.S. $21.25) per person per year. These figures do not appear excessive, in comparison with investment rates in development projects elsewhere in the developing world. Within Jamaica, however, Yallahs farmers and their families have been favored




over their rural counterparts elsewhere At the same time it is salutary to on the island. remind economists that the cost benefits

The objections of economists to these to be derived from a particular project sizable injections of scarce capital into cannot always be measured in terms of Yallahs agriculture also hold for Gov- direct cash returns alone. Here one ernment support of agriculture across faces the problem of divorcing social Jamaica. "A great deal of attention has and economic considerations in land use been lavished on the agricultural sector planning, a comparable problem to that . . . but given the performance of the described earlier of trying to divorce sector it is quite possible that never planning for land husbandry from plan- has such a large outlay been made for ning for human husbandry. An agricul- so little return, at least so far as the com- tural reform scheme that can capture munity in general is concerned .. ."14 the imagination of its participants and

The economists insist that a distinc- overcome "the meagerness and mean- tion between the goals of social welfare ness of mere existence" is surely worthy and economic efficiency need to be of implementation. The sociological, recognized. While social welfare pro- even psychological impact of the grams are probably necessary, it is Y.V.L.A. program is immeasurable in urged that planning for a more pro- direct monetary returns. ductive agriculture should not involve A lesson from African land use plan- expenditures of considerable sums of ning is probably appropriate for Carib- money on social betterment schemes bean rural development schemes: rather than agricultural projects, with One has to consider the degree to which little prospect of financial returns. Sta- a particular project provides a stimulus tistically measurable results from blue- to economic activity generally and then estimate the extent to which it introduces, prints for growth in the agricultural diffuses and popularizes new productive sector are therefore sought, as distinct skills and new ways of economic life. from the social overheads of Govern- One has to remember too that the critical ment outlays on welfare schemes that minimum effort required for take-off into

mappentoe st i n r l a . sustained growth may demand a boldness happen to be set n rural areasin the initiation of projects which is in- One can sympathize with the econ- compatible with meticulous balance sheet

omist's viewpoint, and his concern for calculations.15 the profit-and-loss columns of the na- In fine, one may claim that the dif- tional balance sheet. It would be helpful ficult-to-measure social dividends on if recent, accurate figures of family capital investments in agricultural in- incomes in the Yallahs Valley were novation are equally as important as available, in order to ascertain precisely the more easily recorded financial out- what financial benefits have accrued lays and returns. The scrupulous concern to farmers who have adopted new pro- of the economist for percentage profits cedures over the last 17 years, and and losses must somehow be tempered what percentage of the improved in- with recognition of the non-quantita- comes has found its way back into tive attributes of improved agro-social Government funds. relationships between husbandmen and

140. Jefferson: Comment on Agricultural their neighbors. Development and Planning in Jamaica. Third 15 A. H. Hanson: Nile and Niger: Two Agri- West Indies Agricultural Economics Confer- cultural Projects, Public Administration, Vol. ence (Kingston, 1968). 38, 1960, p. 58.




The Future of the Land Authority Ap- proach

After a methodical, thorough evaluation of the Y.V.L.A. by economists of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, the recommendation was made that the Authority should be terminated, and development work in the Valley should be cut back and handed over to other Governmental agencies such as the Forestry and Watershed Commissions, the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, and the Ministry of Works. From the geographer's standpoint such a move would represent a highly undesirable, indeed retrogressive step. Integrated regional planning, within clearly defined bounds and under a centralized authority, is recommended as the soundest way of achieving hoped-for develop- ments in both the agricultural and industrial sectors in Jamaica.

Assuredly, improvements in efficiency and soundness of operation are desirable in the case of the Yallahs Valley Author- ity. Attention must also be given to a more equable sharing of Governmental effort in terms of elevating living conditions in other planning areas around the country. Since the introduction of the Land Authorities Law, only two other Authority Areas have been created in Jamaica (Christiana Area Land Au- thority, Negril Area Land Authority).

It is time that serious attention be directed once more to the establishment of further Authority Areas across the island, and the extension of the Land Authority approach to other regions in need of economic uplift. The lessons and the experiences of the Yallahs Valley Authority can be taken into account as

additional development areas or regional planning groups are created. Now that the Yallahs Basin is on the road towards more satisfactory and harmonious man/ land relationships, national attention should be focused on other areas where problems may have been eclipsed due to the concentration of effort upon Yallahs. Parts of the parishes of St. Thomas, southern Manchester, and Han- over are in dire need of assistance.

In sum, overall results of the Y.V.L.A. experiment can be adjudged successful, and worthy of emulation elsewhere in Jamaica. Early in 1969, a newly created Ministry of Rural Land Development announced the Government's intention to establish an additional eleven Land Authorities across Jamaica, so that the Y.V.L.A. model has, in fact, provided a positive demonstration of the values of the Land Authority approach.

One confidently predicts increasing prosperity for Yallahs farmers, and those in the proposed new planning areas, and a growing sense of satisfaction in the value of rural labors and rural living. A peasantry with secure holdings and increasing opportunities for enhanced incomes will provide an invaluable sheet-anchor for Jamaica's affairs of state in the years to come.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The cooperation and courtesy of officials of the Yallahs Valley Land Authority, in the course of field work and library research undertaken for this study, are gratefully acknowl- edged. The contribution of the foundation class of undergraduate geographers at the University of the West Indies, in familiarizing the author with The Valley and its inhabitants during the department's field studies week, is also recorded with sincere appreciation.



agricultural innovation in jamaica: the yallahs valley land authority

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