International Food Marketing Strategies

 for Island Economies:

 A Case of the Eastern Caribbean

 Solomon T. Sentongo-Kabuka, Jr.
 Ass't Professor of Business Administration
 and Management
 College of the Virgin Islands


 Against the background of the islands' major marketing
structures, notably intra-island, inter-island, and island-to-
mainland, the paper discusses opportunities and constraints
underlying food trade in the Eastern Caribbean. The discus-
sion serves to provide a rationale for the existing food trade


structures in the Eastern Caribbean. Finally, from the analysis,
the paper suggests strategies for enhancing international
marketing of food produce from the Eastern Caribbean. The
strategies focus on production, pricing, distribution, and pro-
motion of the food produce.


 The vitality of an island's economy largely depends on the na-
tion's ability to effectively market its food and other crops. For
just about all islands, food and other crop products represent a
significant portion of their GNP, as well as a substantial segment
of their imports and exports. Agriculture accounts for about 10%
of the gross national product for just about all the island-nations
in the Eastern Caribbean region. In some islands, agriculture
plays an even more prominent role in the economic life of the na-
tion. In Dominica, for instance, it accounted for about 80% of
total exports and about 20% of GNP in 1978. On the other
hand, for islands such as the U.S. Virgin Islands which import the
majority of their food items, allocation of resources to provide for
domestic consumption takes on greater significance.
 Of course, the significant role food and other crops play in the
island economies has major implications for the islands' employ-
ment, government revenues, balance of payments, general
economic activity and people's livelihood. For instance, in spite of
the advent of tourism in the region, agriculture still supports an
estimated 30% of the labor force among members of the Carib-
bean Common Market (CARICOM). Thus, it is imperative to
understand and influence the ability of island economies to effec-
tively market their food and crop products. This paper, therefore,
attempts to examine the basic market structures of island
economies, opportunities for and constraints on food trade, and
suggests marketing strategies deemed suited to contributing to a
positive impact of food and crop produce on the islands'
economies.
 Ten islands of the Eastern Caribbean were selected for analysis.
 The islands are: Antigua, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands,
 Dominica, Jamaica, St. Kitts/Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent,
 Trinidad-Tobago, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. All these islands,
 with the exception of U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin
 Islands, are nation-states.

 MARKET STRUCTURES OF ISLAND ECONOMIES
 Island economies generally share a unique characteristic in that
 their markets have three basic structures: intra-island, inter-
 island, and island-to-mainland trade.
 The intra-island trade encompasses all internal marketing ac-
 tivities directed at meeting consumption needs of the domestic
 population. Given the often cosmopolitan nature of island
 populations, these activities tend to assume multi-dimensions in
 order to be able to cater to the multiple consumption needs.
 VOL. XX-PROCEEDINGS of the CARIBBEAN FOOD CROPS SOCIETY


 The inter-island trade involves all the marketing activities of an
island directed at meeting consumption needs of its neighboring
islands. In the case of the Eastern Caribbean, an economy's
neighboring islands will generally include all the islands in the
region. This market structure is unique in that in many ways it
parallels the intra-island trade, yet it is different largely due to
political factors and marketing distribution factors. The
similarities may range from market consumption patterns to types
of food and other agricultural crops produced. On the other
hand, the differences between the two market structures include
the political sovereignty of each island-nation and the ease and
cost of moving food and other crop produce from producer to
consumer.
 Island-to-mainland trade is a feature all island economies ap-
pear to share. This trade involves an island marketing its food and
other crop products to a principal economy which is many times
larger than the island economy and which has played a dominant
role in the political and economic evolution of the island. For the
Eastern Caribbean, the mainland economies would include Great
Britain, the United States of America, Canada and France. It may
also include marketing the island's produce to neighboring coun-
tries such as those in Latin America.


 Market Structures of Island Economies



 "I Intra-Island Trade .
 .ln~-rlnTde.~


Inter-Island Trade


Island-to-Mainland Trade


FACTORS INFLUENCING ISLAND MARKET
STRUCTURES
 In order to determine the kind of marketing strategies which
would provide for effective and efficient marketing of an island's
food and agricultural produce in the Eastern Caribbean, one


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