Wracked by poverty, famine, and drought, Africa is typically
represented as agriculturally stagnant, backward, and crisis-prone.
This text, however, highlights the changing character of
sub-Saharan agrarian systems by focusing on contract farming. A
relatively new and increasingly widespread way of organising
peasant agriculture, contract farming promotes production of a wide
variety of crops - from flowers to cocoa, from fresh vegetables to
rice - under contract to agribusinesses, exporters, and processers.
The proliferation of African growers producing under contract is in
fact part of broader changes in the global agro-food system. In
this examination of agricultural restructuring and its effect upon
various African societies. The editors bring together
anthropologists, economists, geographers, political scientists, and
sociologists to explore the origins, forms, and consequences of
contract production in several African countries, particularly
Kenya, the Gambia, Zimbabwe, and the Ivory Coast. Documenting how
contract production links farmers, agribusiness, and the state, the
contributors examine problematic aspects of this method of agrarian
reform. Their case studies, based on long-term field work and
analysis at the village and household level, chart the complex
effects of contract production on the organisation of work and the
labour process, rural inequality, gender relations, labour markets,
local accumulation strategies, and regional development. ""Living
under Contract"" reveals that contract farming represents a
distinctive form in which African growers are incorporated into
national and world markets. Contract production, which has been a
central feature of the agricultural landscape in the advanced
capitalist states, is an emerging strategy for ""capturing
peasants"" and for confronting the agrarian question in the late
20th century.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
