The Politics of Ruralisation, 1930–1950

This chapter examines the migration of Girmitiya peasants to the city and their orientation towards entrepreneurship and white-collar occupations. The government tried in vain to reverse the urbanisation by pursuing a ruralisation policy. The analysis is outlined as follows. Section 7.2 addresses the prevailing agricultural issues at the time. These consisted mainly of poor ethnic cohesion, which Governor Kielstra sought to solve by pursuing a ruralisation policy. Section 7.3 discusses production factors and the problems that were involved, specifically their productivity. Section 7.4 highlights that agricultural development was regionally uneven and rice productionRice-production became concentrated in certain districts, among which Nickerie retained its advantageous position. Section 7.5 raises the issues of processing and marketing, problems that inhibited the growth of rice productionRice-production. These represent a major concern for the colonial administration as it hoped that small-scale agriculture, specifically rice, would become an alternative to plantation agriculture. Section 7.6 looks at peasant poverty, a little-discussed social issue that has taken different forms geographically.