Dr Rita Pemberton

From the start of the 19th century, it was clear that the imperial enthusiasm that had been manifested in and for, its Tobago possession during the second half of the 18th century had waned significantly. As evidence of the declining profitability of the sugar industry increased, so too did the level of imperial interest in the island, and during the post-emancipation years, imperial policy focused on eliminating the colonial administrative structures, which were considered cumbersome and expensive irritants.

Hence its policies were directed at the dismantling the colonial structure, leaving a minimal presence, and devising a means of shifting the burden of administering the impoverished colony away from the imperial treasury. Tobago was relegated as a backwater colony considered inconsequential to the imperial imperative.

In that prevailing atmosphere, provisions for the welfare and social development of the population, although visibly needed, were not even considered.

This void was filled by the interventions of the women of Tobago.

Since the era of enslavement, the population of Tobago had been female-dominated. Women constituted the largest segment of workers on the sugar estates. During the years after emancipation, when male movement occurred, the male/female ratio became more marked in the windward districts.

During this period, women continued to contribute to agriculture as labourers on the surviving sugar estates, as well as on cocoa and coconut estates. The low wages that were paid to labourers were inadequate for family support, making it essential for them to find additional means of survival. In this regard, as demonstrated by their activities as processors or humanitarians, the contributions of women are noteworthy.

Women became some of the first local food processors, converting primary products into items that were marketable both locally and for export. This was a major departure from the established tradition, which emphasised primary production of the export crop.

While the best-quality cocoa beans were sold to agents for export, the remainder were processed into local chocolate balls for home use and sold in the markets. This led to what became the traditional Sunday breakfast special, chocolate tea.

Some of the remaining coppers from the sugar industry were repurposed to serve the needs of the former labourers in several ways. The women who worked on coconut estates produced coconut oil, which became the standard oil for cooking, skin and hair care and was also exported to Trinidad.

Cassava was not conceived as an export crop, but those women who cultivated cassava used the coppers to process the cassava into bread; flour, which was used as a substitute for or supplement to wheat flour in foods, especially bake and dumplings; and farine, which was used as a breakfast cereal, a staple item at meals, and as snacks.

The starch generated in the process was made into balls which were used as stiffening agents for clothes and for the baked deli