Agrarian modernization through "ideal agricultural subjects": A lost cause for smallholders in Rwanda?
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Agrarian modernization through "ideal agricultural subjects" : A lost cause for smallholders in Rwanda? / Pasgaard, Maya; Kim, Sung Kyu; Dawson, Neil; Fold, Niels.
In: Journal of Political Ecology, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2022, p. 100-123.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Agrarian modernization through "ideal agricultural subjects"
T2 - A lost cause for smallholders in Rwanda?
AU - Pasgaard, Maya
AU - Kim, Sung Kyu
AU - Dawson, Neil
AU - Fold, Niels
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have recently gone through agricultural transformations towards increased production of commercial crops, primarily for export, to promote national economic growth. Rural populations are often at the center of such transformations as intended targets of State policies, though their roles in strategies for rural development and poverty alleviation are contested. We approach these changes not as a simple opportunity for accumulation, but rather as an instance of ‘rupture’, through which opportunities, risks and impacts are experienced differentially by the targeted farmers. With an example from Rwanda, we ask how the State’s policy strategy and attempts to construct "ideal agricultural subjects" resonate with the actual changes experienced by farmers themselves. We present three different empirical examples to show that a) when opportunities from agricultural transformation initially arise, only the wealthiest can capture them, and even then the government is seen as the main beneficiary; b) some priority crop growers experience an increase in income and savings due to higher productivity and better prices, while those who do not grow priority crops face land scarcity and lack of employment opportunities; c) requirements to upscale livestock production do not align with the strategies or capacities of many smallholders. We show that only endowed farmers with sufficient land and ability to engage in priority crops or livestock production can take advantage of the opportunities presented by agricultural transformation, while smallholders with constraints to their adoption of promoted changes face vulnerability to dispossession and poverty. We relate these findings to our broader conceptual frame, and encourage further research to explore the integration, modification, resistance to and impacts of idealized policies in Rwanda and across sub-Saharan Africa.
AB - Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have recently gone through agricultural transformations towards increased production of commercial crops, primarily for export, to promote national economic growth. Rural populations are often at the center of such transformations as intended targets of State policies, though their roles in strategies for rural development and poverty alleviation are contested. We approach these changes not as a simple opportunity for accumulation, but rather as an instance of ‘rupture’, through which opportunities, risks and impacts are experienced differentially by the targeted farmers. With an example from Rwanda, we ask how the State’s policy strategy and attempts to construct "ideal agricultural subjects" resonate with the actual changes experienced by farmers themselves. We present three different empirical examples to show that a) when opportunities from agricultural transformation initially arise, only the wealthiest can capture them, and even then the government is seen as the main beneficiary; b) some priority crop growers experience an increase in income and savings due to higher productivity and better prices, while those who do not grow priority crops face land scarcity and lack of employment opportunities; c) requirements to upscale livestock production do not align with the strategies or capacities of many smallholders. We show that only endowed farmers with sufficient land and ability to engage in priority crops or livestock production can take advantage of the opportunities presented by agricultural transformation, while smallholders with constraints to their adoption of promoted changes face vulnerability to dispossession and poverty. We relate these findings to our broader conceptual frame, and encourage further research to explore the integration, modification, resistance to and impacts of idealized policies in Rwanda and across sub-Saharan Africa.
KW - agricultural policy
KW - communautés rurales
KW - comunidades rurales
KW - crop specialization
KW - especialización de cultivos
KW - Ideal subjects
KW - land tenure
KW - livestock production
KW - politique agricole
KW - política agraria
KW - producción ganadera
KW - production animale
KW - rural communities
KW - régime foncier
KW - spécialisation des cultures
KW - sujetos ideales
KW - sujets idéaux
KW - tenencia de la tierra
U2 - 10.2458/JPE.5012
DO - 10.2458/JPE.5012
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85129650218
VL - 29
SP - 100
EP - 123
JO - Journal of Political Ecology
JF - Journal of Political Ecology
SN - 1073-0451
IS - 1
ER -
ID: 325372883