Abstract:
1. PROBLEMS Programmes for the Economic Development of the Cook Islands have had set backs due to a series of economic, social, political and administrative problems which all hinge on an objective of economic policy - the attempt to revive an arrested growth of agricultural production of the Cook Islands. Available trade statistics clearly reveal four separate stages in the development of agricultural production: first, a period of steady increase in production commencing from the early period until about 1910; secondly, a period of twenty years, 1910-1930, where production was at its height; the third period is from 1930 until 1945 when there was a very rapid decline in production; finally, there is the post War II period where improvements have been slow and erratic. Table I shows the volume of citrus, bananas and copra exported since 1900 and at the same time distinguishes the four stages in the development of agricultural production.