Markets, like this one in Antigua, were an important part of the local economies of the Caribbean islands. Planters were obliged to provide food for their enslaved labourers. To limit their costs, they allowed the slave to grow their own crops on scraps of land unsuitable for sugar production. These ‘provision grounds’ produced the commodities that were sold at market. In some islands, the revenue generated by the markets made up to 20% of the economy. The money raised was sometimes used by the enslaved to buy their freedom.