There are a number of other differences between the territories in the elasticities as-
sumed for different foods, all of which have again been arrived at mainly in the light of the
differences in average 1958 consumption levels. Thus fresh vegetables and pulses are gi-
ven a considerably lower elasticity in Trinidad and Tobago than elsewhere while fruit and
butter were for a similar reason assumed to have relatively high elasticities in British
Guiana. In both these territories the elasticities for fresh milk, cheese and vegetable oils
were reduced below the Jamaica figures, as also were the Trinidad and Tobago values for
butter and condensed milk. In the smaller islands a large part of the total consumption of
meat appears to consist of salt pork, for which the elasticity seems likely to be small; this
has the consequence of reducing the average elasticity for all meat in terms of calories be-
low the comparable average for the other territories.

 The approximate average elasticities for the different territories in terms of calories,
 weighted in accordance with the estimated calorie values of 1958 consumption per capital,
 are shown for the major food groups in Table 3.4. ii. Overall average income elasticities
 in terms of calories have been calculated by F.A.O. for a large number of other areas and
 published in the report already referred to. 3/ These calculations give, for example, av-
 erages of 0.30 for Mexico, 0.40 for Africa and the Near East (excluding South Africa) and
 0.62 for Asia and the Far East (excluding Japan). As shown by the table, the averages for
 the West Inpies work out at about 0.45 for Jamaica and the smaller islands and 0.3 for Tri-
 nidad and Tobago and British Guiana. If all the West Indian territories are grouped toge-
 ther the combined average comes to about 0.4.




























 3/ Cited in footnote 2, chapter 3, part three.