Quo Vadis? Research on Agricultural Commercialization in Sub‐saharan Africa and South‐east Asia

Dutch human geography

“…Results from Utrecht reveal the need for more knowledge about social stratification, as the Amsterdam projects also show (for older research see Hinderink and Sterkenburg, 1983). Agrarian commercialization is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the uplifting of the lower-income groups (Hinderink and Sterkenburg, 1987;Hinderink and Szulc, 1988;Sterkenburg, 1987). The issue in question is not the choice for a 'top-down' or a 'bottomup' approach.…”

“…The three large projects have recently had a high profile in international scientific journals, which is an encouraging sign of progress. The broad spectrum of fieldwork countries, dispersed over semi-arid as well as tropical countries and lying in three continents, offers ample opportunity for comparative studies (see Hinderink and Sterkenburg, 1987). 'Grand theories' of development with a general social-science background have received a great deal of attention in the curricula.…”

Rural land use and agricultural production in Dinokana Village, Bophuthatswana

“…One feature of the wider geographical literature which has not been represented in South African geography is the analysis of agricultural commercialisation and government policy on rural and agricultural development, which in the African context has been interrogated by Hinderink and Sterkenburg (1983a;1983b;. Despite variations in ideology, in practice there have been few differences between African countries with respect to the general characteristics of agricultural policy (Hinderink and Sterkenburg 1987).…”

“…The present study is located within the broad field of research on African agricultural policy and production which has been reviewed in depth by Hinderink and Sterkenburg (1983a;1983b;. A major concern of geographers, as well as other social scientists, in recent years has been the analysis of the problems of Africa's rural areas and its so-called agricultural crisis.…”