Underdeveloped Food Distribution Systems
 Whereas the size of land masses of most islands might imply
short distances from food producers to their domestic market, it is
indeed another matter when it comes to getting the food produce
from producer to consumers in the inter-island and island-to-
mainland segments of the market since one is dealing with
market segments which have no common border. Therefore, ef-
fective food marketing has to be based on efficient and reliable
sea and air transportation systems.
 For the islands of the Eastern Caribbean, as is indeed the case
for so many other islands, transportation systems are not suffi-
ciently developed to contribute to effective food marketing. This
is reflected in the high post-harvest losses which, in a majority of
the Eastern Caribbean islands, is as high as 30% of total produc-
tion. Much of the loss is incurred as a result of inadequate
refrigerated shipping and insufficient transportation which calls
for trans-shipment, necessitating additional storage and/or pro-
cessing, activities which increase the opportunities for incurring
losses. Losses often result from inadequate food processing and
storage facilities as well as from poor handling of the commodities.
 Table 6 provides a glimpse of characteristics of some of the
principle components of an island transportation system. For
many islands, arable land can not be reached due to lack of roads.
Where roads exist, many are of such poor quality that transporta-
tion of food produce is often hampered.
 As for the inter-island and island-to-mainland distribution
channels and facilities, every island has some kind of airport and
water port (Table 5). However, with the exception of a few
islands such as Antigua, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad-
Tobago, the airports are too small to handle large aircraft. This
factor often forces islands to trans-ship their food commodities via
an airport that can handle larger planes. Such arrangements
would, of course, have a tendency to increase marketing costs and
commodity losses, depressing the net income derived from food
trade. In addition to inadequate landing facilities, air service is
generally not as frequent nor as reliable as would be desired for
effective marketing of island food commodities.
 What is said of the air service can fittingly be used to describe
the water service. Although the maritime transportation service
WISCO has more than doubled its cargo carriage since its
establishment in 1975, its effectiveness is hampered by its
facilities. The small motor vessels and schooners, by far the main
carriers of agricultural produce, are reportedly facing severe dif-
ficulties.

Legal Restrictions on Trade
 Although the islands of the Eastern Caribbean have made
great strides in mitigating political barriers to international trade
through inter-regional and inter-national arrangements such as
CARICOM, ECC, the Caribbean Basin Initiative, and the Lome
Agreement, marketing food produce is still subject to some legal
restrictions. Largely due to trade deficits and exchange rate in-
stability, some islands do put restrictions on inter-island trade.

Impact of External Economic Forces
 Due to the predominant dependence on international
markets, the island economies usually find their food com-
modities exposed to economic constraints in world markets. For
instance, commodity prices received by banana growers of the
Eastern Caribbean islands are largely determined by market
forces in faraway places such as Great Britain. Prices vary based on
the demand for bananas, and the prevailing economic situation
in the island-to-mainland sector of the market dictates the price
for bananas. Other external forces that constrain the effectiveness
of the food marketing efforts of the islands include inflation,
commodity substitution (as in the case of sugar and sweeteners),
and changes in consumption habits in the foreign markets.


 These external forces often cause wide fluctuations in trade
volumes and in commodity prices. According to the St. Lucia
Economic Review (1984), banana prices fluctuated between 355
and 454 pounds sterling per ton in 1983. Such wide fluctuations
can have far reaching implications to food marketing efforts.

Inadequate Market Information Base
 Among the top constraints to effective food marketing in
island economies is the great void of market information. Like
just about all islands, those in the Eastern Caribbean suffer from
a lack of information pertaining to production, distribution, and
consumption of food and other crops.
 While universities, colleges, and government agencies in the
 region have made attempts at gathering market information, the
 results are far outstripped by the need for pertinent information
Necessary to undertake effective food marketing.


MARKETING STRATEGIES

 Effective food marketing strategies for island economies have
 to take into account market opportunities and constraints. In
 order to optimize the effectiveness of their marketing efforts, the
 islands have to optimally exploit their market opportunities while
 minimizing the impact of the market constraints.
 For the islands of the Eastern Caribbean, given their market
 opportunities and constraints as presented in this paper, the
 following strategies appear suited to optimizing their oppor-
 tunities and minimizing their constraints.
 Agricultural production could be optimized by:
 1. Changing the perceived unfavorable attitude toward
 agriculture via public education and visible high incomes
 for farmers, ultimately to attract and keep quality person-
 nel in the food production sector;
 2. Stabilizing food and crop commodity prices;
 3. Increasing research, e.g., via institutions such as the Col-
 lege of the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean Agricultural
 Research Development Institute; this should strengthen
 the declining yields and productivity and reduce post-
 harvest losses;
 4. Increasing emphasis on fertilizer use;
 5. Increasing public contribution to services vital to food and
 crop production such as extension services, credit, proper
 land tenure systems, access on reasonable terms for inputs
 such as fertilizers, insecticides and weedicides (also recom-
 mended by the Group of Caribbean Experts); and
 6. Increasing domestic consumption of local food produce.

 Distribution of agricultural products could be optimized by:
 1. Strengthening current direct distribution channels;
 2. Cutting down on the necessity to trans-ship food and crop
 commodities, e.g., enlarge airports, waterports, and other
 transportation facilities; and
 3. Curtailing post-harvest losses in food and crop distribu-
 tion, e.g., by shortening the lead time from producer to
 consumer.

 Pricing of agricultural products could be optimized by:
 1. Minimizing production costs through better usage of land
 and other production resources;
 2. Better managing market information, such as monitoring
 world market commodity prices and using the information
 in effectively planning and negotiating for sale of the com-
 modities; and
 3. Intensifying inter-governmental efforts to cut down trade
 barriers.


VOL. XX-PROCEEDINGS of the CARIBBEAN FOOD CROPS SOCIETY


275