Abstract
Lost in the debates about the appropriate scale of production to promote agricultural growth in Africa is the rapid expansion of medium-scale farmers. Using Zambia as a case study, this article explores the causes and consequences of this middle-tier transformation on the future of small-scale agriculture. Combining political economic analysis with household survey data, this article examines the relationships between the growth in medium-scale farmers and changing conditions of land access, inequality, and alienation for small-scale farmers. Growth of medium-scale farmers is associated with high land inequality and rapid land alienation in high potential agricultural areas. This growth is shown to be partially driven by wage earner investment in land acquisition and is leading to substantial under-utilization of agricultural land. These processes are both limiting agricultural growth potential and foreclosing future options for an inclusive agricultural development strategy.
Highlights
Land in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) occupies an increasingly prominent and contested place in debates over food security, the future of the global food system, and “appropriate” economicLand 2015, 4 development strategies
When we calculate the number of households excluded from enumeration in the Crop Forecast Surveys (CFS) due to land cultivation size, we find that only 0.02 percent of listed households exceeded the 20 hectare cultivation limit for enumeration
Recognizing the causes and consequences of this middle-tier landholding transformation is critical if African agriculture growth is to achieve outcomes that are consistent with the stated poverty reduction, food security, and economic growth objectives of policy-makers
Summary
Land in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) occupies an increasingly prominent and contested place in debates over food security, the future of the global food system, and “appropriate” economic. There is a growing minority who argue that the combined challenges of rapid urban food demand growth, climate change, and persistent stagnation in African small-scale production systems require new approaches, including the expansion of commercial agricultural production on the continent [11] Unrecognized in these stylized debates over commercial versus small-scale production is the growing population of medium-scale farmers in SSA. This article analyzes the spatial and socio-economic implications of medium-scale land acquisitions on land access, land ownership inequality, and land use in Zambia By exploring these underappreciated dimensions of the African land rush, we hope to provide insights into the role of domestic land policies and land investors in shaping the future of Africa’s food system.
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