Dr Girjanauth Boodraj, senior lecturer in economics in the Faculty of Business and Management, recently completed doctoral studies in economic development policy at the University of the West Indies, Mona. His dissertation, titled 'Globalisation and sustainable agricultural development in small-island developing states: A study of Jamaican small-scale banana exporters', provides an assessment of the impact of an increasingly globalising environment on small states' sustainable agricultural development through a focus on the sustainability of the Jamaican small-scale banana export subsector.

A significant contribution of the work is to provide current and relevant analyses and information pertinent to Caribbean small states such as Jamaica as they grapple with the realities of neoliberalism and the reduction of preferences that were hitherto granted to them by previous preferential arrangements with former colonisers.

inherent vulnerabilities

While the thesis argues that sustainability in these states has to be continuously and systematically managed, it recognises their inherent vulnerabilities, coupled with significant limitations, militating against agricultural competitiveness in a neoliberal international trading environment. A two-pronged strategy, targeting both domestic and export markets, is suggested.

The study ends by offering relevant policy guidelines to promote the sustainability not only of the banana subsector but also the small-scale agricultural sector in general in small-island developing states having similar policy and other environments as Jamaica.