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Sustainable Food Production Systems and Food Security: Economic and Environmental Imperatives in Yam Cultivation in Trelawny, Jamaica

Author

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  • Clinton Beckford

    (Faculty of Education, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada)

  • Donovan Campbell

    (Department of Geography and Geology, University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica)

  • David Barker

    (Department of Geography and Geology, University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica)

Abstract

Members of the genus Dioscorea, food yams, were introduced to Jamaica from Africa during the slave era and have remained a staple in local diets and national cuisine. Yam cultivation has also been an important economic activity providing employment for thousands of rural Jamaicans. Until the 1960s yams were grown for local use by subsistence growers for home consumption or by commercial growers for sale in local produce markets. Since then, however, yam has also grown to become an important export crop. With its value added potential virtually untouched, this crop possesses intriguing possibilities from the standpoint of food security and rural livelihoods in yam growing areas of Jamaica. At the same time there are concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of yam farming under current conditions. In this paper we will analyze the sustainability of yam cultivation and consider concrete strategies for increasing the environmental sustainability and enhancing its contribution to food security.

Suggested Citation

  • Clinton Beckford & Donovan Campbell & David Barker, 2011. "Sustainable Food Production Systems and Food Security: Economic and Environmental Imperatives in Yam Cultivation in Trelawny, Jamaica," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-21, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:3:y:2011:i:3:p:541-561:d:11796
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Clinton L. Beckford, 2009. "Sustainable Agriculture and Innovation Adoption in a Tropical Small-Scale Food Production System: The Case of Yam Minisetts in Jamaica," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-16, March.
    2. Jill L. Caviglia, 1999. "Sustainable Agriculture in Brazil," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1852.
    3. David Barker & Clinton Beckford, 2006. "Plastic Yam And Plastic Yam Sticks – Perspectives On Indigenous Technical Knowledge Among Jamaican Farmers," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 97(5), pages 535-546, December.
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    2. Clinton Beckford, 2018. "Climate change resiliency in Caribbean SIDS: building greater synergies between science and local and traditional knowledge," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 8(1), pages 42-50, March.
    3. Riccardo Testa & Anna Maria di Trapani & Filippo Sgroi & Salvatore Tudisca, 2014. "Economic Sustainability of Italian Greenhouse Cherry Tomato," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(11), pages 1-15, November.
    4. Xiaowei Wen & Zhaohui Yang & Hui Dong & Xinqiang Fan & Yong Wang, 2018. "Barriers to Sustainable Food Trade: China’s Exports Food Rejected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration 2011–2017," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-12, May.
    5. Newman, Minke E. & McLaren, Kurt P. & Wilson, Byron S., 2018. "Using the forest-transition model and a proximate cause of deforestation to explain long-term forest cover trends in a Caribbean forest," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 395-408.
    6. Pilar, Ladislav & Balcarova, Tereza & Rojik, Stanislav & Ticha, Ivana & Polakova, Jana, 2018. "Customer experience with farmers’ markets: what hashtags can reveal," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 21(6), July.

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