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Access to a road (or good sea access) to a market becomes of crucial importance.
Throughout the Pacific Islands rural to fural migration has been Lakinq place for many
decadis - towards the coast, towards roads, towards areas with reserves of land better suited
f or long-term comrnercial f anming, and especially to such areas in the vicinity of urban
markets. Areas which 50 or even 20 years ago were perfectly able to sustain people in a
dominantly self -production self -consumption economy are no lonqer attractive to many and
people drift away to what are seen as better located areas. Isolation, dislance from market'
or small size (and hence lack of commercial prospects) all reduce the relative attraction.
The trends which I have described have been evident in countries like Fiji and Western
Samoa fon l0 or more years. Elsewhere they are not as fully developed. lt is possible that
they could be reversed in some areas, but I doubt if they will be. I believe lhat the
incorporatio.n of the Pacific Islands into Lhe wonld's economic system has gone so far in most
island counlries that the trends wilt not be slowed or reversed - especially because it is not
in the shorter term interests of many, including the leadership, to do so. Under precontact
economic systems the short- and the long-Lerm interest.s of individuals and community - the
private and the public good - generally coincided in the mainlenance of socio-economic
sys!ems. This is no longer-the casl - short-term interest for individuals and government often
lies in moving into the dominantly commencial secLor even if Lhis is inimical to the long-term
inLerest of the community or the environment.
Can the village mixed sJbsistence-cash crop agriculture system be maintained? As a
long-term strategy [hir t"urr a desirable goal. It would provide the security derived from
g.oiuing most of oners own food and also the cash required for necessities and luxuries which
must bL purchased. Personally I doubt if this mixed system will be favoured in the larger
island states in the medium term. This is not only because of the conflicts wiLhin it, between
wages and reciprocity, but also because of lhe alternalives which many islanders have.
To be successful mixed subsistence-cash cnop agriculture must offer neturns in casht
security and welfare which are perceived as comparable to those of wage employment itt
government service, or in the urban privaLe sector. With a few exceptions, the majority of
iittage farmers do not achieve cash incomes which are seen as comparable. Even if the value
of goods produced for o,vn consumption is calculated realistically' lhe fact that cash can be
ur"i fo. I0l purchases, ngt just food, discounts the subsistence production in the minds of
many. Furthermore, export crop prices fluctuate widely. Pacific Island producers cannot
influence the world prices - they are inevitably price takers. Small producers of coprat
eoffee or eocoa are very aware of the insecurity of their markets and cash income. Urbant
and especially government jobs, are seen as more secure - and certainly involve less ttard
manual labour in the hot 2n. Labour and wage legislation tends to increase the relative
securiIy of wage employmenl. Another alternative for Cook lslanders, Samoens, Niueans and'
to a degree, Tongans, is migration to and employment in New Zealand, the United Slates andt
for a lew, Australia. The caeh earnings there (or even unemployment benef its)' the
educational opportunities for children and the other attraciions of metropolitan life mean
that the qportunity cost of village agniculture is often high. I believe village and smallholder
agriculture will become steadily rnore commercial, the slructure of society will continue to
change, and change more rapidly, and inLernal and intefnational migration to lowns increase.
Small-holder production systems
None of lhis means that plantations need become the main form of production. There
are strategies which will permit a smallholder produetion system to provide reasonable cash
incomes, plus the opportunily for some subsistence production if the farmer chooses to
engage in this as well. The Fiii zugar industry provides one model. This smallholder system
frai been remarkably successful for over 50 years even though it is geared to a demanding
market.. The key to this success lies not in the smallholder pnoducLion system' but rather in
the manner in which the provision of essential inputs, and the harvesting and merketing of
the crop, €re menaged. The millers control the cutting, transpor!, and processing of the cane.
They import fertilizer in bulk and distribute it to farmers at near cost. They undertake
nesearch to develop new high yielding cane varieties, tolerant of infertile soils' and disease
resistant. The bulking up and distribution of the new varieties is also a miller's task. The end
result is lhat many of the advantages of large scale in operations which a plantation can
internalize, are made available bo the smallholden.