Timms Caribbean agriculture – tourism linkages in a neoliberal world Problems and prospects for St Lucia

The Caribbean region has long been characterised by mono-crop agriculture for export while relying on costly imported goods to meet basic needs, a lingering legacy of plantation economies. Since World War II the trend has become increasingly evident in a regional shift away from domestic production of agricultural foodstuff s, resulting in an agricultural deficit as production decreased and food imports rose (Harker, 1989). In large part, the decline in domestic production can be attributed to a lack of linkages between domestic agricultural production and other economic sectors, including tourism, commerce, manufacturing and producer services, despite its advocacy by the Caribbean’s Economics Nobel Laureate, Sir Arthur Lewis. The all-too-common consequence has been an island economy of disconnected sectors with a high rate of foreign exchange leakages, as export earnings have been squandered on food imports (Beckford, 1972; Brohman, 1996; GSL, 1998; Renard, 2001). This article focuses on one such disconnected sector in the Caribbean, tourism, and examines its potential to rejuvenate domestic agricultural production through backward and forward linkages. Tourism’s relatively non-extractive character and possibilities for stimulating other industries has made it a popular alternative to more resource-intensive activities such as export agriculture, mining and fi shing (Pattullo, 1996). Yet the possibilities for extra-sectoral stimulation have yet to be fully realised due to the high use of imported goods in the tourism industry, with current estimates