Previous Page Table of Contents Next Page

Chapter 1. Basic characteristics of rural settlement

1.1. General background
1.2. The distribution of population and land
1.3. Human settlements in rural Saint Lucia

1.1. General background

1.1.1. Population and economy
1.1.2. Inherited characteristics of the rural sector

1.1.1. Population and economy

In 1980 Saint Lucia had 118 961 inhabitants, over 12 000 more than in 1970. The population increased at an average rate of 1.59 percent annually between 1970 and 1980, representing a decline from the previous 1.91 percent average yearly growth experienced between 1960 and 1970. Table 1-1 shows population growth from 1843 to 1980.

Saint Lucia is fundamentally a village society, with farm families living in urban centres and walking to their land daily. A large part of the rural population is within daily commuting distance of Castries or Vieux Fort, the two major centers of urban employment. Rural women market their food crops in the urban centers. In turn, urban families have rural family land which provides them with part of their food requirements.

As in most small ex-colonial countries, the Saint Lucian economy has been traditionally tied to export agriculture and dependent on external supplies and markets. Sugar cane production was the predominant activity until the mid-1950's, with export bananas becoming the new monoculture from the late 1950's to the present. Recently attempts have been made to diversify the economy, with emphasis on tourism and industry. The country's independence in 1979 gave impetus to a desire for diversification of agriculture and the economy as a whole.

Despite a tourism boom during the 1970's, agriculture continues to be the major productive sector. Industrial activity is rudimentary and narrowly based. In 1978 agriculture provided 60 percent of all exports and re-exports, roughly 80 percent of which consisted of bananas. According to the 1970 population census, agriculture employed 40 percent of the labour force. While this percentage may be smaller today, many urban jobs are still directly or indirectly linked to agriculture.

1.1.2. Inherited characteristics of the rural sector

The transformation from sugar cane to banana production allowed more smallholders to produce the major crop but preserved the essential structure of dependency. The preferential access of Windward Islands bananas to the United Kingdom market and the monopolistic role of Geest Industries as a large producer and sole purchaser and distributor of the crop generates a situation of high vulnerability for Saint Lucia's major agricultural product. Stability of demand is based on preferential treatment, and distribution is dependent on one large multinational with various commercial interests.

TABLE 1-1. POPULATION GROWTH, 1843-1980

Census year

Total population (000)

Population growth (000)

Average annual growth (%)

1843

20.7

-

-

1851

24.2

3.5

1.88

1861

26.7

2.5

1.33

1871

31.6

4.9

1.83

1881

38.6

7.0

2.15

1891

42.2

3.6

0.93

1901

49.9

7.7

1.82

1911

48.6

-1.3

0.26

1921

51.5

2.9

0.60

1946

70.1

18.6

1.44

1960

86.1

16.0

1.52

1970

101.5

15.4

1.91

1980

118.9

17.4

1.59

Source: Shurcliff, Alice W., and John F. Wellemayer, Economic Development in the Eastern Caribbean Island, St. Lucia, Series No. 4 ISER University of West Indies March, 1967. Population Census 1970 and 1980.

Recent attempts at diversification of agricultural production have had little success. Bananas provide a relatively attractive monthly income that few other crops can match. Attempts to expand other sectors, such as tourism, have aggravated the negative trade balance. The lack of internal investment capital has greatly restricted government options for diversification in all sectors.

The legal system inherited from the colonial powers has greatly affected the tenure pattern of the rural sector. The succession and land laws in Saint Lucia are based on the French system. Under the existing succession laws, all heirs participate in the property rights of the deceased, and this often results in progressive fragmentation of landholdings. Deeds to land are vague and often landholders do not possess documents, inviting abuse by powerful landholders and protected litigation in the courts. Under these conditions, many farmers are unwilling to invest in the land they work.

Large landholders have traditionally been the favoured producer group, deriving their power from the original distribution of land in large tracts. The productive alluvial valleys and surrounding lands are owned by this group, forcing small farmers to locate on the more remote hillsides. The estate owner is typically a part-time farmer, dividing his energies between rural and urban businesses. Their nonfarm activities range from commerce and industry to tourism and trade. They may include investments outside of Saint Lucia so as to reduce the risks of unexpected political decisions. These entrepreneurs obviously do not limit their instruments to the rural sector, and will transfer resources to other activities, depending upon the prospects of each of them. The observed tendency today of subdividing the large estate so as to free capital for other activities reflects a rationale of diversification on the part of the entrepreneur. This colonial legacy and its more recent manifestations have resulted in a backward rural sector in Saint Lucia, still at the cutlass stage on small holdings and well below the theoretical potential on the large valley estates.

1.2. The distribution of population and land

1.2.1. Population distribution
1.2.2. The distribution of agricultural land
1.2.3. Spatial differentiation of population and land distribution

1.2.1. Population distribution

Despite major drops in mortality and sustained high birth rates, population growth has been slow because of emigration. Population increase has differential effects on rural and urban areas; even between villages differences in demographic dynamics can be found.

The tradition of population clustering in coastal villages has changed. The 1980 Population Census reveals that the coastal towns and villages of Vieux Fort, Laborie, Canaries, Choiseul, Arise la Raye, and Dennery all experienced population decline during the past decade.1 This is most likely a response to an improved road network throughout the island, the availability of regular inland transportation and the existence of opportunities in other parts of the island.

1 Government of Saint Lucia, "Population Census, 1980," Preliminary Counts, Castries 1981, (mimeo).

As Table 1-2 indicates, the island's 10 quarters show variable population increase, with six growing at a rate below the national average and four above that rate. This contrasts with the period 1960 to 1970, when, with a higher growth rate for the country as a whole, only the Quarters of Anse la Raye and Canaries recorded overall declines in population. The percentage of the population living in the Quarter of Castries declined between 1970 and 1980. This Quarter grew at an annual rate of only 0.57 percent, an increase significantly below the national average. Gros Islet (overspill of Castries) and Vieux Fort both experienced a growth rate that indicates that new construction, tourism, and industrial expansion have attracted people to these areas. The Quarters of Gros Islet, Vieux Fort, and Micoud are all gaining in population relative to the rest of the island but only in Micoud this growth is agriculturally based. The rural sections of Laborie, Dennery, Anse La Raye and Canaries show modest increase in population which, in the absence of further corroborative data, suggest some measure of stability or limited growth in the agricultural economy of these areas. Map 1-1 shows population distribution by quarter and Map 1-2 the increase or decrease in rural population, by quarter.

1.2.2. The distribution of agricultural land

The land distribution pattern revealed in the 1973/74 Agricultural Census is characterized by the concentration of land resources in few holdings and by the existence of a large number of extremely small holdings.2 Nine holdings of 500 acres and over (0.2 percent of total holdings) control 26 902 acres (37.4 percent of total land in holdings). At the other extreme, 4730 holdings of less than 1 acre each (45.3 percent of the total) control only 1 733 acres (2.4 percent of the land in holdings). In broad terms, large holdings (50 acres and over), representing 1.2 percent of the total number of holdings, control 42 034 acres, or 58.5 percent of the total land in holdings. Medium-size holdings (between 10 to 50 acres) are not important either in terms of their number (674 holdings, only 6.5 percent of the total number of holdings) or in terms of the land they control (12 695 acres, 17.6 percent of the total land in holdings).3 Small holdings (0.1 acre to 10 acres) are the most important group in terms of numbers, as there were 9 640 holdings or 92.4 percent of the total number of holdings in 1973/74 (10 436), but they control only 17 272 acres or 24.0 percent of the total land in holdings (72 001 acres). (See Annex E, Tables E-1 and E-2.)

2 Government of Saint Lucia, "Agricultural Census 1973/74," Ministry of Agriculture, Castries 1975.

3 As of 1982 the contribution of large holdings to the concentration of ownership has changed significantly due to subdivision through sales to individuals and transfer to Government of some large estates (Chapter 4). An accurate presentation can only be provided through a new agricultural census.

TABLE 1-2. DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLD POPULATION IN URBAN AND RURAL AREAS, 1960, 1970, 1980

Source: Technical Supplement to the Draft Advisory Nation Physical Development Plan for Saint Lucia, UNDP: 1975

Map 1-1. Saint Lucia - Distribution of Household Population by Quarter, 1980

Source: Table 1-2. Distribution of Population in Urban and Rural Areas, 1960, 1970, 1980

Map 1-2. Saint Lucia - Distribution in Household Population by Quarter, 1970/80

Source: Table 1-2, Distribution of Household Population in Urban and Rural Areas, 1960, 1970, 1980

Concentration of ownership is only significant within the group of large holdings, particularly in the category of 500 acres and over, where nine holders had more than one estate in 1974. The largest amount of land held by one owner is 2760 acres in eight holdings, owned by one company. The smallest is 500 acres in two holdings. Holders of more than one property controlled 12 378 acres or 17.2 percent of total land in holdings in 1973/74. In 1974, foreign ownership of land in Saint Lucia affected 30 estates, a total of 23 889 acres (26.9 percent of the total land in holdings).4 Of this total, 83.7 percent was in holdings of over 500 acres (36.4 percent of total holdings in this category in the hands of foreigners) whereas the larger number of holdings was in the 100 to 500 acres size group, controlling only 15.1 percent of the land in the hands of foreigners.

4 United Nations Pood and Agriculture Organization, Land Tenure in Saint Lucia; Findings and Recommendations, Rome, 1975.

1.2.3. Spatial differentiation of population and land distribution

By analysing available information, it is possible to identify subnational differences in population structure and their relationship to the distribution of land resources which are important in characterizing the structure of human settlement on the island.5

5 Any attempt to analyse the structure of the Saint Lucian population in spatial terms on the basis of existing information is beset by difficulties. The spatial units for which data have been compiled by different departments of Government, and for particular purposes, do not always correspond with each other.

Census data for 1970 are available by groups of enumeration districts in each quarter of the island, though the quarters themselves are defined differently for the Census than they are for purposes of administration.

Data for the Agricultural Census of 1973/74, on the other hand, are available only by quarters. It is therefore not possible to show variations in patterns between subregions below the level of the quarter for the data.

The ratio of land to farm population for each quarter suggests that pressure on farmland is relatively more acute in the Quarters of Choiseul, Castries and Canaries than in Micoud and Gros Islet (Table 1-3). The arid conditions of the Choiseul area and its overworked and eroded soils further compound man/land pressure in that region. The distribution of farm population is shown in Map 1-3.

It is useful to compare the gross ratios presented in Table 1-3 with the percentage of farm holdings of less than one acre for each quarter of the island (Table 1-4). For the island as a whole 43.2 percent of holdings are below one acre (Map 1-4 shows the percentage of such holdings by quarter). The quarters which have an even greater percentage than the national average of holdings of this minimal size are Castries, Anse La Raye, Canaries, Choiseul and Gros Islet. Tables 1-3 and 1-4 suggest the same conclusions about quarters that have acute pressure on available land resources. Both Anse La Raye and Gros Islet have a high percentage of holdings below one acre and higher than average ratio of land per person. This suggests a more inequitable distribution of farmland in these two quarters than elsewhere, although these quarters combined have only 16.5 percent of the holdings of less than one acre nationally and 14.2 percent of the total farm population. A further indication of differences in resource limitations between one subregion of the island and the next may be gleaned by looking at the age structure of the population within each quarter (see Annex D, Table D-1).6 The percentage of the population in the 15-44 age group is higher in the villages and towns than in the more rural areas. In some districts, notably Choiseul, the contrast is striking. The presence of lower-than-average percentages in the critical segment of the working population suggests a depletion due to emigration. The areas most affected by out-migration of the productive labour force include the villages of Anse La Raye and Dennery. The rural areas of Canaries, Vieux Fort and Gros Islet, on the other hand, attract people from other parts of the island hopeful of finding jobs in tourism, industry and commerce. The working population (15-44) of Micoud shows a pattern very close to the national average in both the rural and urban sectors. This indicates the relative lack of population pressure on the available resources in this region relative to other parts of the island.

6 In the tabulations in Annex D, the main village and its environs in each quarter is indicated by the number 1 in each case except for Castries where the respective numbers are 1-4. The other numbers listed for each quarter indicate rural areas.

TABLE 1-3. RATIO OF LAND TO FARM POPULATION BY QUARTER, 1973/74

Quarter

Farm Population

Percentage
of total farm population

Total acreage in farms

Percentage of total acreage in farms

Ratio
(acres per person)

Castries

12 548

24.0

10 659

14.8

0.85

Anse La Raye

2 566

4.9

5 796

8.0

2.26

Canaries

2 374

4.5

2 248

3.1

0.94

Soufriere

4 522

8.6

6 953

9.7

1.54

Choiseul

4 584

8.8

2 016

2.8

0.45

Laborie

3 886

7.4

5 832

8.1

1.50

Vieux Fort

4 324

8.3

4 692

6.5

1.08

Micoud

3 670

7.0

11 301

15.7

3.08

Dennery

8 935

17.2

10 552

14.7

1.18

Gros Islet

4 874

9.3

11 952

16.6

2.45

TOTAL

52 283

100.0

72 001

100.0


Source: Government of Saint Lucia, Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Census 1973/74.

Map 1-3. Saint Lucia - Distribution of Farm Population by Quarter, 1973/74

Source: Table 1-3. Ratio of Land to Farm Population by Quarter, 1973/74

TABLE 1-4. HOLDINGS UNDER ONE ACRE BY QUARTER, 1973/74

Quarter

Holdings below 1 acre (No.)

Total holdings (No.)

% holdings
below 1 acre

Holdings below
1 acre as % of
national total

Castries

1 318

2 399

54.9

21.9

Anse La Raye

288

618

46.6

5.7

Canaries

189

363

52.0

3.3

Soufriere

416

999

41.6

9.1

Choiseul

469

1 004

46.7

9.2

Laborie

323

787

41.0

7.2

Vieux Fort

346

915

37.8

8.4

Micoud

222

1 086

20.4

9.9

Dennery

610

1 586

38.4

14.5

Gros Islet

549

1 181

46.4

10.8

Total

4 730

10 938 *

43.2 *

100.0

* Includes 502 "holdings without land." Consequently percentage changes from 45.3 to 43.2. See Annex E, Table E-1, for comparison.

Source: Government of Saint Lucia, Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Census 1973/74.

Map 1-4. Saint Lucia - Holdings Under One Acre by Quarter, 1973/74

Source: Table 1-4, Holdings Under One Acre by Quarter, 1973/74

An additional indicator of significant subregional differences is the proportion of the population engaged in farming, forestry and fishing in each quarter (see Table D.2). In every case except Anse La Raye, the population of the main village is less involved in agriculture than is the population of the hinterland. The variation in the degree of dependency on agriculture of different parts of the island is significant. In Micoud, the hinterlands of Laborie and Dennery, and parts of Choiseul and Canaries more than 70 percent of the population is engaged in either farming, forestry and/or fishing.

1.3. Human settlements in rural Saint Lucia

1.3.1. Criteria for the typification of human settlements
1.3.2. Types of settlements

1.3.1. Criteria for the typification of human settlements

A typification that distinguishes plantation and peasant settlements has been found useful in many parts of the Caribbean region. The quality of lands in farm holdings, differences in the crops produced and differences in methods of organization of production serve as the basis for the distinction between plantation and small-scale farming. Plantations rely on a large landless labour force which settles near, or comes seasonally to, the estates. Smallholders hold and cultivate land on their own account. These differences lead to significant variations in community organization and social structure between these main settlement types. This distinction, while useful in suggesting a broad framework for observation, must be carefully examined and modified when trying to specify precise differences between settlements in St. Lucia.

Some of the factors which allow identification of the plantation and smallholder distinction in Saint Lucia are as follows:

a) Many Saint Lucian plantations adopted forms of crop sharing - metayage - in the decades immediately following emancipation in 1838, in order to maintain their productivity at minimal cost in the face of serious economic difficulties.7 Many large estates still allocate plots, free of charge or at a minimal rent, to their workers for cultivation on their own account. The distinction between landless plantation workers and own-account farmers is not clear cut. Even those villages on which estates depend for their work force have much the same structure as other small farming communities.

b) Although Saint Lucian estates are predominantly located in the fertile alluvial valleys, they are not separated by great distance from the hillside regions occupied by the peasantry. There is enough regular commerce between villages to preclude the development of marked differences in social structure between villages close to the plantations and other rural communities.

c) Bananas for export are grown by both large estates and the peasantry, so that during the last two decades the interests of the two sectors have converged to a limited extent.

7 Woodville, Marshall, "Metayage in the Sugar Industry of the British Windward Islands 1838-1965", Jamaica Historical Review 5 (1), 1965, pp. 28-55.

Other characteristics of saint Lucian society prevent rigid definition of a spatial classification of human settlements. The island has had an extremely unstable economic history which has forced people to become accustomed to seeking out opportunities in other parts of the island or overseas. Rural people moved from the countryside to work on construction of the United States bases at Vieux Fort and Gros Islet during World War II, on the reconstruction of Castries after the fire of 1948, and for spurts of employment offered at the port (refuelling ships with bunker coal, in earlier decades). Thousands of saint Lucians have migrated for varying periods of time to work overseas. The "opportunity structure" of most people, whether rural or urban, involves the continuous creation of multiple options for training and jobs, and there is a tendency for people to have several occupations simultaneously. A recent report on small farming points out that in order to reduce their risks farmers have adopted "a system of resource allocation, cropping patterns and cropping technologies that emphasize heterogeneity."8 Farmers in all parts of the island tend to grow a combination of cash crops and crops for domestic use.

8 Vasantha Narendran, "Farming Systems in St. Lucia: An Anthropological Perspective," CARDI, Saint Lucia, 1981.

1.3.2. Types of settlements

It must be emphasized that the typification presented in Table 1-5 is not comprehensive; certain important distinguishing features have been omitted because they do not seem to be central to the specific study.9 It will be noted that most rural communities are characteristic of either type B or C. Types B and C are within the same continuum, and it is often difficult to determine whether a particular settlements conforms more closely to one type or the other.

9 A new classification of settlements was made in 1983. The methodology used and results of this work will appear in a settlement report on recent Project activities.

TABLE 1-5. TYPES OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

Type

Characteristics

Settlements

A-1: Urban, or urban function related, as defined by functional and economic relationships.

Less than 50% of population engaged in agriculture, forestry and fishing, and/or concentration of tourism, industry, commerce, and construction, and/or served with greatest frequency by independently owned transport vehicles allowing residents to commute to work in urban areas.

Castries, Vieux Fort, Marisule, Augier, Reduit, Black Bay, Bois D'Orange, Gros Islet, Dennery (village), Soufriere (town), Choiseul (village), Laborie (village). Settlements which show signs of increasing dependency on urban jobs, e.g., Bexon area, Babonneau area,1 Ti Rocher (Castries).1

A-2: Related to urban area by location but have no urban functions.

Heavy reliance on non-agricultural sources of income (e.g.: craftwork in the Choiseul Quarter, remittances in Anse La Raye and Canaries Quarters).

Reunion, Cafetere, Monchy, Desrameaux, La Borne, Theordorine, Anse La Verdure.

B: Rural, agricultural functions supported by good natural resource base.

Concentration of small farmers producing crops that enjoy the most reliable market system (bananas, coconuts, fresh vegetables) and/or good rainfall, soils not seriously eroded and/or high percentages of 1-5 and 5-10 acre holdings.

Babonneau,1 La Gare, Balata, Marquis, Paix Bouche, Marc, Fond Cannie, Chassin, Forestiere, Trois Piton, Fond Petit, Ravine Poisson, Guesneau, Odsan, Boguis, Deglos, Becage, Barre de L'Isle, Ti Rocher (Castries),1 La Ressource, Mon Repos, woodlands, Au Leon, Belle Vue, Morne Panache, Banse, Canelles, Grande Ravine, Vige, Desruisseau, La Rue, La Caye, Annus, Micoud, Giraud, Saint Joseph, Ti Rocher, Saltibus, Blanchard, Millet, La Croix, Maingot, Grace, De Many, Latille, Ti Riviere, L'Eau Mineur, Moreaux, Degard, Durocher, Mahaut, La Cour Vine, Galba, Lumbard, Seleau,2 Raillon, Choco Mel,2 Londonderry, Praslin, Patience, Mamiku, Derniere Riviere.

C-1: Predominantly small holdings (under 1 acre).

Holdings generally smaller than type B with a greater percentage under 1 acre and/or greater land constraint than type B because of mountainous terrain which restricts settlement expansion or because nearby lands are controlled by well-cultivated medium and large estates.

Roseau, Soucis, Saint Philip, Crown Lands, Migni, Garrand, Colombette, Debbarrah, Sarot, Fond Assau, Durandeau, Dupui, Hill 20,2 Pois Dous,2 La Haut, Talvern, Eating, Dauphin, Belle Fond, La Pointe, Malgretoute, Jac Mel, Grand Riviere, Fond Saint Jacques.

C-2: Predominantly small holdings (under 1 acre)

Lower rainfall, than in type C-1 or poorer soils and/or heavier rate of emigration (especially the 15-44 age group) than occurs in areas characterized in type C-1.

Morne Sion, Delcer, Ravenau, Fiette, Victoria, La Fargue, Industry, Debreul, Esperance, La Pointe (Choiseul), La Riche.

D: Former sugarcane growing areas.

Areas that did not go into intensive cultivation of replacement cash staples.

Morne Jacques, Mal Mason, Masacre, Sarot, Au Tabor, Robot, Belvedere, Gertrine, Ravine Duval, Savanne, Bouton Chateau Belair, Esperance (Canaries).

1 Settlements that have characteristics of more than one type.

2 Not traceable on the 1: 25 000 scale. Directorate of Overseas Survey Map.

Source: Carnegie, C., "The Rural Population of Saint Lucia: A Preliminary Analysis," OAS Technical Report, Castries, Saint Lucia, September 1981 (mimeo). Directorate of Overseas Survey: 1: 25 000 scale map and Government of Saint Lucia, Ministry of Agriculture: 1980 Farmer Survey.

Table 1-6 helps to clarify the distinction between types B and C. For example, in comparison with Ti Rocher (Micoud), Fond Saint Jacques has a high concentration of holdings below one acre and a low percentage of holdings between one and ten acres.

TABLE 1-6. SIZE OF HOLDINGS: TI ROCHER (MICOUD) AND FOND SAINT JACQUES, 1980

Acres

0-1

1-5

5-10

10-50

50+

Total No. of holdings

Ti Rocher

9.3%

53.1%

26%

11.7%

0.7%

128

Fond St. Jac.

58.3%

31.0%

6.4%

3.7%

0.4%

216

Source: Government of Saint Lucia, Ministry of Agriculture, 1980 Farmer Survey.

Finally, squatting on private estates or on Crown Lands has been a persistent problem since emancipation, and it is likely that several communities that are now well established were originally formed in this way. Their ownership and other patterns gradually came to conform to those of other rural communities. Villages on the periphery of or within large estates may have been formed originally by squatters but are now indistinguishable from other rural communities. It also appears that squatting is haphazard, involving isolated cases or very small groups of people rather than clear zones of settlement. Even among these groups there might be a great deal of shifting from one season to the next or involvement into and out of agriculture as personal circumstances determine.

Previous Page Top of Page Next Page