Structural change in Malawi since independence: Consequences of a development strategy based on large-scale agriculture

Kydd, Jonathan; Christiansen, Robert E.

doi:10.1016/0305-750x(82)90083-3

Cited by 175 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…At the same time, because of the scale of land required for accumulation of capital in such farming systems, plantations/estates frequently displace local people. There are important variations, including whether or not there is on-farm processing, and production for domestic or export markets (Kydd and Christiansen 1982;Loewenson 1992). Plantations/estates may involve outright takeover of land and related resources, displacing other land users and uses, and there is some evidence that they are typically poorly integrated into their surrounding society and economy.…”

Section: Three 'Models' Of Commercial Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Plantations, outgrowers and commercial farming in Africa: agricultural commercialisation and implications for agrarian change

Hall¹,

Scoones

Tsikata

2017

The Journal of Peasant Studies

179

108

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Whether or not investments in African agriculture can generate quality employment at scale, avoid dispossessing local people of their land, promote diversified and sustainable livelihoods, and catalyse more vibrant local economies depends on what farming model is pursued. In this Forum, we build on recent scholarship by discussing the key findings of our recent studies in Ghana, Kenya and Zambia. We examined cases of three models of agricultural commercialisation, characterised by different sets of institutional arrangements that link land, labour and capital. The three models are: plantations or estates with on-farm processing; contract farming and outgrower schemes; and medium-scale commercial farming areas. Building on core debates in the critical agrarian studies literature, we identify commercial farming areas and contract farming as producing the most local economic linkages, and plantations/estates as producing more jobs, although these are of low quality and mostly casual. We point to the gender and generational dynamics emerging in the three models, which reflect the changing demand for family and wage labour. Models of agricultural commercialisation do not always deliver what is expected of them in part because local conditions play a critical role in the unfolding outcomes for land relations, labour regimes, livelihoods and local economies.

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Section: Three 'Models' Of Commercial Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Plantations, outgrowers and commercial farming in Africa: agricultural commercialisation and implications for agrarian change

Hall¹,

Scoones

Tsikata

2017

The Journal of Peasant Studies

179

108

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“…First is an extraction model which involves the simple stripping of resources, a model that, like mining, is unsustainable in the long-term (Mackenzie 2006(Mackenzie , 2009. Second is an enclave model involving outright takeover of land and related resources (perhaps displacing others) and the construction of related infrastructure, partly to provide inputs to and process output of a commercial enterprise, but also to provide the social and physical infrastructure required for commercial operations (Kydd andChristiansen 1982, Loewenson 1992). Such 'enclave economies' (Ferguson 2006) are poorly integrated into their surrounding society and economy, 15 but such isolation may act to focus investment and support in particular 'special' areas or zones with the idea being that in such areas growth will take off.…”

Section: Terms Of Inclusion: Impacts On Agrarian Societiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The new enclosures: critical perspectives on corporate land deals

White

Borras²,

Hall³

et al. 2012

The Journal of Peasant Studies

709

316

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The contributions to this collection use the tools of agrarian political economy to explore the rapid growth and complex dynamics of large-scale land deals in recent years, with a special focus on the implications of big land deals for property and labour regimes, labour processes and structures of accumulation. The first part of this introductory essay examines the implications of this agrarian political economy perspective. First we explore the continuities and contrasts between historical and contemporary land grabs, before examining the core underlying debate around large-versus small-scale farming futures. Next, we unpack the diverse contexts and causes of land grabbing today, highlighting six overlapping mechanisms. The following section turns to assessing the crisis narratives that frame the justifications for land deals, and the flaws in the argument around there being excess, empty or idle land available. Next the paper turns to an examination of the impacts of land deals, and the processes of inclusion and exclusion at play, before looking at patterns of resistance and constructions of alternatives. The final section introduces the papers in the collection.

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“…The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) era between 1964 and 1994 started by promoting smallholder production of dark tobacco but quickly switched to emphasing estate production of burley and flue-cured (see Kydd and Christiansen, 1982). This period saw the creation of new large-scale tobacco estates and redistribution of communal and estate land from old European families to the Party, the youth league, and the political elite (ibid.).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%