Financialization and the restructuring of agriculture in Tanzania: global finance and the takeover of farmland

Abstract

This study examines the movement by global financial institutions (such as private equity and sovereign wealth funds) to make significant investments in farmland and food, instead of traditional assets of shares, or bonds, or real estate – using the case of Tanzania as the area for study. This movement was reinforced by the failure of these assets during the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, and the increase in prices for food and farmland. Utilizing Marxian concepts of political economy, this study analyses the place of Tanzania farmland in the global links to financialization.In Tanzania agricultural land use is dominated by small-scale farming, a sector of the economy which is linked with poverty and malnutrition. After the GFC there was an upsurge of interest in Tanzania farmland by foreign investors, as seen in quantitative data and from qualitative information provided by key informants of this research project. The quantitative data showed a high level of foreign investor interest, but only recorded low levels of realized investments. Many foreign investors were interested in growing crops for biofuels, however implementation of these schemes proved unrewarding and ultimately unsuccessful.Despite the national government promoting the role of foreign investment in Tanzania agriculture, at local level there are legal and governance issues that slow implementation of new farming projects. For example, for proposed new investors, village assemblies and councils intervened to limit the size of farmland available, while potential investors might be offered smaller parcels of land scattered over a wide area (and across village council boundaries) adding to the difficulty of implementing large-scale projects.The intervention of local government and the use of the legal system to prevent or to modify foreign investors’ plans for large scale acquisition of farmland may be factors that are unique to Tanzania, in comparison with other African countries that have been subject to takeovers of farmland. Historical factors, such as the “village socialism” of Tanzania’s founding father Julius Nyerere, have provided a foundation for local action and democratic methods of dealing with change. A program for the replacement of customary property titles to “western” style private titling of land commenced in Tanzania in 2003, but lost momentum when international funding for the surveying procedure ceased. Ideals of grassroots democracy mediated by international Non-Government Organizations and local Community Service Organizations are an important factor in Tanzania when local villagers consult and decide on large scale land investments by foreigners. And there are issues of (mis)governance and corruption associated with doing business in Tanzania, inhibiting the investment process.For two large foreign farms visited in Kilombero Valley – the key research site for this thesis, there are some fifteen thousand outgrowers producing rice and sugar. Farmland lost by unsuccessful outgrowers is usually purchased by larger growers, indicative of social differentiation and capitalist modes of accumulation. Workers come from many parts of Tanzania searching for employment in the Kilombero Valley, as outgrowers, or labourers, or in the informal sector.Given the difficulties confronting foreign investors in farmland in Tanzania outlined above, this study did not find widespread examples of large-scale agricultural projects by global finance companies in the country. Some anecdotal evidence suggests involvement by foreign private equity companies in the food processing sector of Tanzania. Further research is warranted in this sector to examine the extent of financialization in this part of the agrifood industry. There may be a disconnection between financialization of farmland as opposed to financialization in the food processing sector. In Tanzania, barriers to new entrants in large scale farming (described above) could result in higher levels of investment in food processing and manufacturing.Although financialization has been a substantial force in the restructuring of farming and food production throughout the world, the findings of this study indicate that this has not been the case in Tanzania - which is important for three reasons. The findings from Tanzania imply that the factors affecting agriculture in developing countries are not the same as those for the developed world; small-scale farming is the main means of agriculture in Tanzania. Secondly, the example of Tanzania shows that local farmers can influence the course of global finance, using current government structures together with support from international NGOs and local CSOs. Thirdly, as the global population continues to grow, there is a need for more accurate information concerning the factors determining world food supply. In Tanzania, projects for the modernization of agriculture have mostly come from government aid schemes from abroad – rather than from global finance.