MAIN CONSTRAINTS TO SMALL FARMERS OPERATIONS IN THE CARIBBEAN

9. Discuss the main constraints under which small-scale farming operate in the Caribbean. The main constraints under the small-scale farming operations in the Caribbean are: Unavailability of land- Farmers who operate on small farms will have little access to fertile land, thereby in operating on marginalized lands for the production of crops. In terms of the cost of lands and the amount of capital available in the farms, the small-scale farmers will receive small hectares of land to operate their farms, hence in producing a low amount of goods to be sold to customers. Lack of credit Small-scale farmers have problems in getting credit loans from banks because they have lack of collateral or security in order to expand their operations and the quantity and quality of their products. Competitiveness Small-scale farmers faced a lot of competition from large-scale farms in determining the level and the quality of outputs. This may lead in the high cost of holding stocks of goods (insurance, storage, obsoletes, etc.). They cannot compete to the economies of scale and the high cost of production, where their objectives are to maximize profit and to expand their operations. Marketing difficulties Small-scale farmers faced problems in the marketing of their goods due to the poor infrastructures, in which they cannot distribute their goods to consumers. This also leads to difficulty in meeting the export needs, due to its low yield of outputs. Natural disasters Severe weather conditions such as hurricanes, thunderstorms, droughts, etc., contributes environmental hazards in damaging the crops to farmers, hence in contributing costs in losses of these crops, property damage and insurance. Farmers will have difficulties in covering costs since they lack in collateral and insurance needs. Lack of support in the competent of research and extension institutions Most agricultural activities operated in the rural areas, in which research is mostly focused on the large-scale farms, mostly located in the urban areas. Extension officers choose in not visiting to small farms in the rural areas because of the poor infrastructure, hence in being incompetent. This will prevent farmers from improving in their activities to a higher level.

Labour idle and growth of absents Many people may not be interested in the cultivation of crops in tropical climates, hence the trend will increase in the number of absents of workers on the farms. Also the idleness of workers may result in the low level of productivity.