the Caribbean Community and Common Market.
 Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the
Grenadines collectively called the Windward Islands, have rug-
ged land relief, abundant precipitation (approximately 60"-80"
per annum), and lush, tropical vegetation. In the Leeward Islands
(Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat and St. Kitts-Nevis) the
topography is less rugged and the precipitation lower (approx-
imately 40"-60" per annum).
 The natural resources of the areas are very limited--except for
an abundance of lovely beaches and pleasant climatic conditions.
All of the islands, Antigua to a lesser extent, have volcanic soils
suitable for a number of crops. However, water shortages in the
Leewards, and rugged and hilly regions of the Windwards limit
extensive agricultural production and restrict the areas of arable
land.
 Until recent times the economies of the countries have been
dominated by plantation agriculture with sugar cane as the major
crop. In some islands, sugar gave way to other crops but the plan-
tation system remained. Since 1946, this system has been radical-
ly modified and most governments have been trying to establish
new patterns of land holding and development.
 At the present time, banana production constitutes the major
agricultural economic activity in the Windward Islands. Sugar
continues to dominate the economy of St. Kitts-Nevis, while in
Antigua efforts are still being made to generate and stabilize new
agricultural activity following the virtual breakdown of the plan-
tation system.
 Other significant agricultural exports from the area include
tropical fruits, cocoa, nutmeg and other spices from Grenada; ar-
rowroot and some root crops from St. Vincent and the
Grenadines; copra from St. Lucia and citrus from Dominica.
 In the early 1950's tourism emerged as a new important
 economic opportunity in the region and now dominates the An-
 tiguan economy. Agriculture, however, continues to be the
 mainstay of the economies of the other countries.

 The Small Farmer in the Project Area
 The primary long-range objective of the project is to assist par-
 ticipating countries in the implementation of agricultural diversi-
 fication programs designed to increase domestic food production
 by small farmers who, in the sub-region, are the principal domestic
 food producers. This identification of the small farmers as the
 primary target group of the CARDATS Project was given further
 emphasis in the particularization of the "immediate" objectives.
 Small farmers in the project area traditionally have been part-
 time producers. Their main farming activities (usually for export)
 were either as estate labour or on small self-run units. The grow-
 ing of food was usually supplementary and at least partially for
 subsistence. With the decline of plantation systems, non-farming
 jobs have replaced estate work in many instances causing further
 alienation from the land and making it more difficult to maintain
 traiditonal levels of local food production.
 The concept of a "cash" crop which returns cash to the pro-
 ducer within some acceptable and well-defined time frame, is
 absolute in the mind of the West Indian small farmer. Moreover,
 he has traditionally seen this cash earned principally through
 overseas sales and therefore conceives of significant agricultural
 production only in relation to obviously readily accessible export
 markets.
 The crops grown for local consumption by small farmers have
 mainly been the so-called ground provisions. These are primarily
 "root" crops like yams, cassava, sweet potatoes and aroids, but
 sometimes the term is extended to include non-roots like plan-
 tains and other cookable bananas. These provisions have long
 been regarded as low value commodities, prone to seasonal gluts
 and having little export potential. By themselves, they are not
 thought to bring returns to the farmers commensurate with his


expectations. This view is changing somewhat in the light of in-
creasing demands for this kind of commodity in some regional
markets like Trinidad, Barbados, and extra-regional outlets in the
United States and the United Kingdom. Still, access to many of
these markets continues to be difficult because of inadequate
transportation facilities, and farmers generally have remained
reluctant to expand their acreages under these crops.
 Some vegetable have always been grown in the countries which
constitute the CARDATS project area. But for the most part this
kind of production has been handled by a relatively small
ntimber of specialist vegetable growers and/or by backyard
gardeners. Generally, local vegetable production has remained
small and inadequate even in terms of local demand. Within re-
cent times, the large-scale production of single vegetable com-
modities has been attempted in some countries (notably in St.
Vincent) with variable success. Also, there has been obvious
growth in the number of specialist vegetable growers throughout
the sub-region.
 From the beginning it was recognized that development of the
small farmer himself was critical to the success of the entire pro-
gram. It was necessary therefore to bring into direct focus all of
the farmer's existing activities, his attitudes, and his expectations.
One needed to approach the farming business from the vantage
point of the small farmer himself and to devise systems of pro-
duction which could, with appropriate effort, be rewarding in his
terms.
 The strategy adopted emphasized the timely provision and
 overall coordination of an unbroken chain of services, skills,
 materials and markets as required for special production. And so,
 farmers must be trained, production inputs supplied, and
 markets found. Some one or other of the elements essential for
 successful production is to be found, of course, in each of the
 countries participating in the project. What is vital, however, is
 the timely delivery to the producers of all of the services and
 materials involved in the process.

 The CARDATS Program--Phase I & 2
 In its program for upgrading the production skills and
 capabilities of small farmers, CARDATS worked in the first in-
 stance with relatively small groups of farmers located in target
 areas selected in the main by the governments of the respective
 countries.
 The numbers of farmers in target areas receiving services direct-
 ly from CARDATS are shown in Tables 1 and 2. These are
 categorized as follows:
 1. Primary-farmers receiving direct assistance from
 CARDATS beginning with the preparation of farm plans
 through production to marketing; and
 2. Secondary-farmers receiving direct assistance from
 CARDATS through production to marketing, but not in
 the preparation of farm plans.
 The numbers of farmers coming directly under the influence of
 the CARDATS program were smaller than was envisaged when
 the project was planned. Furthermore, although the majority of
 the farmers were consistently associated with the project
 throughout its first phase, there were some whose involvement
 was of shorter duration. Some of these new farmers came as a
 replacement for dropouts (notably in Grenada), while others
 were recruited as part of expansion processes in certain target
 areas.
 The CARDATS project was designed to demonstrate that small
 farmers can be efficient food producers if the inputs, techniques
 and services normally afforded other growers are available to
 them. In order to do this it was necessary to work with relatively
 small, manageable groups of farmers. By opting for this ap-
 proach, it was possible to give each farmer the attention required
 for the successful adoption of new skills in farm planning, pro-


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