Capital penetration and the peasantry in Southern and Eastern Africa : neoliberal restructuring

This book examines the impact of neoliberalism on peasant agriculture as a key livelihood strategy in Southern and Eastern Africa, against the background of the current development crisis and the crossroads that Southern and Eastern Africa faces. It systematically analyses how the neoliberal architecture has deepened extroverted production for capitalist accumulation and how this has been to the detriment of the rural labour force and small scale and communal landowners. Apart from examining how neoliberalism has triggered land alienations, the book further argues that such policies have also impacted negatively on food security in a number of ways. The book presents empirical evidence through twelve case studies, emerging from in-depth original fieldwork carried out in seven countries in the Southern and Eastern African region. This book is a must-read for scholars of economics,sociology, anthropology, history, agrarian studies and political science, as well as practitioners and policy-makers, interested in a better understanding of the impact of the agrarian neoliberal restructuring on the peasantry in Southern Africa. Acknowledgement Contents Acronyms Part I: Concepts and Debates Capital Penetration and the Subordination of the Peasantry Under Neoliberalism in Africa 1 Introduction 2 Neoliberalism: Brief Notes 3 Neoliberalism: Land and Agriculture 3.1 Agricultural Restructuring Under Neoliberalism 3.2 Neoliberalism and Land Reforms 4 Volume Outline References Neoliberalisation and Regulatory Restructuring in South Africa ́s Commercial Agriculture 1 Introduction 2 Variegated Neoliberalisation: Mongrel Logics, Hybrid Modalities, and Striated Geographies 3 Neoliberalisation in Sub-Saharan Africa 4 Regulatory Restructuring in South African Agriculture 4.1 Restructuring Agricultural Product Markets 4.2 Restructuring Agricultural Labour Markets 5 Conclusion References Part II: Land Reform Struggles in a Neoliberal Era Land for Development? Neoliberal Restructuring and the Dynamics of Land Reforms in Uganda 1 Introduction 2 Land Reforms, Land Grabbing, and the Law: A Review of Literature 2.1 Land Grabbing and Land Reforms 3 `Compulsory Land Acquisition ́ and the Politics of Naming 4 Background to Uganda ́s Compulsory Land Acquisition Programme 5 The Case for Compulsory Land Acquisition in Uganda 5.1 Critical Responses to Uganda ́s Compulsory Land Acquisition Programme 6 Beyond the Official Narrative 7 Previous Cases of Compulsory Land Acquisition in Uganda 8 Learning from Past Experience 9 Conclusion References The Struggle Continues: Namibia ́s Enduring Land Question 1 Introduction 2 The Long Shadows of Colonialism 3 Whose Land? 4 Land Policy as Policy Without Land 5 Land Policy as Elite Land Grab 5.1 Commercial Farming 5.2 Communal Land 6 Land Policy: From Failure to Failure? 7 Conclusion: Land and Class References Land Reform or Continued Social Exclusion? Land Occupations, State Responses and Neoliberal Policies in Southern Malawi 1 Introduction 2 Malawian Agricultural Sector and the Land Question in Neoliberal Context 3 Malawi Land Policies from Colonial Era to Present (1963-2020) 4 Tea Estates: Idle Land and Social Exclusion 5 Theoretical and Methodological Considerations 6 State Responses to Land Occupations in Thyolo 6.1 Contradictory State Policies 6.2 Community Based Rural Land Development Programme (CBRLDP) 6.3 Land Resettlement Schemes in Thyolo 6.4 Repressions, Policising and Fines 7 Land Occupations, Land Alliances and Electoral Politics 8 Conclusion References Part III: Agricultural Policies Under Neoliberalism Gender, Household Food Security and Neoliberal Decimation of the Grain-Producing Peasantry in Zimbabwe 1 Introduction 2 Statement of the Problem 3 Adverse Global Incorporation of Peasants 3.1 Gender, Household Food Security and Neoliberalism 4 Dirigiste Policies in the First Decade of Zimbabwe ́s Independence (1980-1990) 4.1 Peasant Participation in Agricultural Markets 4.2 Public Grain Procurement, Storage and Distribution Infrastructure 4.3 Peasant Supply Response, National Food Security and Peasant Households ́ Dual Role 5 Post-1990 Neoliberal Turn in Zimbabwe: From Dirigisme to Liberalisation 5.1 Liberalisation of Agricultural Credit Markets Post-1990 5.2 Integration, Efficiency and Competitiveness in Maize Grain Markets 5.3 Gender, Liberalisation and the Food Crisis 6 Land Reforms, Gender and Household Food Security Post-2000 6.1 Policy Inconsistences and Food Production 6.2 Role of State and Household Food Security 7 Conclusion References Smallholder Farmer Empowerment and Neoliberalism: Examining the Current Institutional and Policy Arrangements in Zambia 1 Introduction 2 Agricultural Policy Trends 2.1 Neoliberal Restructuring 2.2 Smallholder-Led Strategy 2.3 Smallholder Challenges 3 Case Study 3.1 Profile of Respondents 3.2 Access to Credit and Labour Needs 3.3 Challenges and Risks 3.4 Institutional Arrangements and Support 3.5 Decision-Making in Terms of Pricing and Marketing 4 Empowerment and Neoliberalism 5 Conclusion References Putting Agriculture Ahead? Some Reflections About the Early Years of Neoliberalism in Kenya 1 Introduction 2 White Highlands Agriculture and Land Resettlement Programmes Under Colonialism 3 Rise of Structural Adjustment 4 Structural Adjustment and Its Effects 5 Full-Scale Liberalisation: Sessional Paper No 1. of 1986 6 Conclusion References Part IV: Neoliberalism, Extroverted Production and Implications for the Peasantry Neoliberal Agrarian Policies and Terms of Incorporation in Rural Mozambique 1 Introduction 2 Methodology and Research Design 3 `New Scramble ́ for Africa and Terms of Incorporation 3.1 Trajectories of Agrarian Change and Capital Penetration: Terms of Incorporation and Pre-Existing Inequalities 3.2 Segments of the Working People and Terms of Incorporation: Labour, Diversification of Livelihoods, and Gender 4 Neoliberal Agrarian Policies and Forest Plantations in Mozambique: The Case of Portucel 4.1 Brief Historical Background, Rural Settings and Rural Livelihoods 4.2 Portucel Moçambique, Land Acquisition Model and Social Development Plan 5 Implications and Reactions of the Working People 5.1 Neoliberal Authoritarianism and Marginalisation of Local Needs 5.2 Inefficient and Insufficient Compensation for the Loss of Livelihoods 6 Differentiated Reactions and Implications for Differentiated Segments of the Working People 6.1 Permanent Wage Workers: More Land, More Benefits 6.2 Poorer Peasants: Intensified Drudgery and Self-Exploitation 6.3 Women: Exclusion and Sub-Human Lives 6.4 Local Elites: Intensification of Social Differentiation by Accumulation from Below 7 Reactions and Resistance from Below 8 Conclusion References Socio-Economic Effects of Neoliberal Transformation on Irrigated Agriculture in Eswatini: A Case of Sugarcane Farmers ́ Groups ... 1 Introduction 2 Sugarcane Production in Eswatini 3 Neoliberalisation of Agriculture 4 Food Security 5 Threats to the Sugar Industry 6 The Case of the Komati Downstream Development Project 7 Conclusion References Meeting Global Capital in a Village: The Expansion of Tobacco Contract Farming in Zimbabwe 1 Introduction 2 Reconfiguration of Zimbabwe ́s Agrarian Structure 3 Evolution of the Tobacco Industry 3.1 De-racialisation of the Industry 3.2 Look East Policy: Reliberalisation of Tobacco Industry and Penetration of Capital 3.3 Contract Farming and the Players in the Industry 4 Small-Scale Tobacco Growers in Marondera District 4.1 Methodology 4.2 The Research Area 4.3 Characteristics of A1 Farmers in the Research Area 4.4 Smallholders and International Contracting Firms 4.5 Costs of Growing Tobacco: Contract vs. Independent Tobacco Producers 4.6 Farmer Incomes for Tobacco Producers 5 Conclusion References "This book examines the impact of neoliberalism on peasant agriculture as a key livelihood strategy in Southern and Eastern Africa, against the background of the current development crisis and the crossroads that Southern and Eastern Africa faces. It systematically analyses how the neoliberal architecture has deepened extroverted production for capitalist accumulation and how this has been to the detriment of the rural labour force and small scale and communal landowners. Apart from examining how neoliberalism has triggered land alienations, the book further argues that such policies have also impacted negatively on food security in a number of ways. The book presents empirical evidence through twelve case studies, emerging from in-depth original fieldwork carried out in seven countries i the Southern and Eastern African region. This book is a must read for scholars of economics, sociology, anthropology, history, agrarian studies and political science, as well as practitioners and policy-makers, interested in a better understanding of the impact of the agrarian neoliberal restructuring on the peasantry in South Africa