From Subsistence to Commercial Producers : Processes of State-led Agrarian Change, Land Tenure Dynamics and Social Differentiation among Smallholders in Ghana.
(2022)- Abstract
- Agricultural commercialization is concerned with improving market-oriented production in expectation of maximizing profit. While previous state policies in Ghana favoured commercialization by medium and large scale cultivators, there exists a new national commitment dubbed the Planting for Food and Jobs Policy that seeks to leverage on the cumulative productive potential of small farmers for sustained economic growth. This requires structural shifts away from subsistence towards entrepreneurial modes of production. While exogenous factors such as demographic, infrastructural and technological changes are central to eliciting optimal gains from commercialization processes, the thesis concerns the endogenous aspects relating to... (More)
- Agricultural commercialization is concerned with improving market-oriented production in expectation of maximizing profit. While previous state policies in Ghana favoured commercialization by medium and large scale cultivators, there exists a new national commitment dubbed the Planting for Food and Jobs Policy that seeks to leverage on the cumulative productive potential of small farmers for sustained economic growth. This requires structural shifts away from subsistence towards entrepreneurial modes of production. While exogenous factors such as demographic, infrastructural and technological changes are central to eliciting optimal gains from commercialization processes, the thesis concerns the endogenous aspects relating to intra-household and intra-community land asset distribution, production capacities among different smallholder groups and institutional synergies between land tenure actors. The linkages between commercialization and land tenure outcomes are neither always direct nor tangible on the ground. They are determined by varied factors that may improve the commercialization and land tenure conditions of one group as a result or constrain another. Can we therefore posit that the process of smallholder commercialization relates largely to inevitable processes of social differentiation and related loss of land? This thesis calls into question these issues within an analytical framework of theories of access, property rights, smallholder differentiation, gender dynamics and de/repeasantization and de/reagrarianization.
The empirical basis of the thesis is qualitative, utilizing key informant and household interviews, focus group discussions, participatory rural appraisal exercises and document analysis. Findings show how tense interactions between state and customary actors fuelled by narratives of traditionalization, non-interference and replacement reduce the opportunities for synergies in implementing agricultural policies. The thesis further shows how migrant farmers’ tenurial rights are weakened by processes of commercialization leading to the development of relational forms of land access depicted by in-kind food crop gifts to land owners. They are further engaged in taungya agreements in which they exchange their labour for “free” land access. These agreements are indicative of labour exploitation and the creation of transactional rather than the theorised landlessness and waged labour in the context of commercialization.
The thesis also shows how women’s possibilities for commercialization are limited by structural factors and with it their ability to hold cultivation claims over communal land. Men however do not face these constraints and tend to consolidate their hold on customary land. Nonetheless, women are incentivized by the unique nature of cashew cultivation in circumventing structural barriers as well as its proprietary attributes under customary law, to seek land for cultivation. With these outcomes, it is imperative that stakeholders give consideration to the synergies between land tenure actors and the potential polarizing effects of commercialization on the production possibilities of different groups and on land tenure. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Kommersialisering av jordbruket handlar om att förbättra den marknadsorienterade produktionen i syfte att maximera vinsten. Medan tidigare statlig politik i Ghana gynnade kommersialisering av medelstora och stora odlare, finns det ett nytt nationellt åtagande kallat "Planting for Food and Jobs Policy" som syftar till att utnyttja småbrukares samlade produktionspotential för hållbar ekonomisk tillväxt. Detta kräver strukturella förändringar från självhushållning till entreprenörskap i produktionen. Medan exogena faktorer som demografiska, infrastrukturella och tekniska förändringar är centrala för att få fram optimala vinster från kommersialiseringsprocesser, handlar avhandlingen om de endogena aspekterna som rör fördelningen av... (More)
- Kommersialisering av jordbruket handlar om att förbättra den marknadsorienterade produktionen i syfte att maximera vinsten. Medan tidigare statlig politik i Ghana gynnade kommersialisering av medelstora och stora odlare, finns det ett nytt nationellt åtagande kallat "Planting for Food and Jobs Policy" som syftar till att utnyttja småbrukares samlade produktionspotential för hållbar ekonomisk tillväxt. Detta kräver strukturella förändringar från självhushållning till entreprenörskap i produktionen. Medan exogena faktorer som demografiska, infrastrukturella och tekniska förändringar är centrala för att få fram optimala vinster från kommersialiseringsprocesser, handlar avhandlingen om de endogena aspekterna som rör fördelningen av marktillgångar inom hushållen och inom samhället, produktionskapaciteten hos olika grupper av småbrukare och institutionella synergier mellan aktörerna inom markägande. Kopplingarna mellan kommersialisering och resultaten av markinnehav är varken alltid direkta eller påtagliga på marken. De bestäms av olika faktorer som kan förbättra kommersialiseringen och villkoren för markinnehav för en grupp som ett resultat eller begränsa en annan grupp. Kan vi därför hävda att kommersialiseringsprocessen för småbrukare till stor del hänger samman med oundvikliga processer av social differentiering och därmed sammanhängande förlust av mark? I denna avhandling ifrågasätts dessa frågor inom en analytisk ram av teorier om tillträde, äganderätt, differentiering av småbrukare, könsdynamik och de/repeasantization och de/reagrarianization.
Den empiriska grunden för avhandlingen är kvalitativ och bygger på intervjuer med nyckelpersoner och hushåll, fokusgruppsdiskussioner, deltagande landsbygdsbedömningar och dokumentanalys. Resultaten visar hur det spända samspelet mellan statliga och sedvanliga aktörer, som drivs av berättelser om traditionalisering, icke-ingripande och ersättning, minskar möjligheterna till synergieffekter vid genomförandet av jordbrukspolitiken. Avhandlingen visar vidare hur migrerande jordbrukares äganderätt försvagas av kommersialiseringsprocesser som leder till utvecklingen av relationella former av marktillträde, som beskrivs genom gåvor till markägare i form av matgrödor in natura. De är dessutom engagerade i taungya-avtal där de byter ut sin arbetskraft mot "gratis" tillgång till mark. Dessa avtal är tecken på exploatering av arbetskraft och skapandet av transaktionella förhållanden snarare än den teoretiserade jordlösheten och lönearbetet i samband med kommersialiseringen.
Avhandlingen visar också hur kvinnors möjligheter till kommersialisering begränsas av strukturella faktorer och därmed deras förmåga att göra anspråk på odling av kommunal mark. Männen däremot möter inte dessa begränsningar och tenderar att befästa sitt grepp om sedvanlig mark. Kvinnor uppmuntras dock av cashewnötsodlingens unika karaktär att kringgå strukturella hinder och dess äganderättsliga egenskaper enligt sedvanerätten att söka mark för odling. Med dessa resultat är det absolut nödvändigt att intressenterna tar hänsyn till synergieffekterna mellan aktörerna inom markägande och de potentiella polariserande effekterna av kommersialiseringen på olika gruppers produktionsmöjligheter och på markägande. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/467020cc-f4ab-4fb8-b98e-a59363fd42d0
- author
- Kugbega, Selorm LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Professor Ubink, Janine, Leiden University
- organization
- alternative title
- Från uppehälle till kommersiella producenter : Processer av statsledd jordbruksförändring, markinnehavsdynamik och social differentiering bland småbrukare i Ghana.
- publishing date
- 2022-10-01
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Smallholder, Commercialization, Land tenure, Social differentiation, Chiefs, Gender, Migrants, Ghana
- pages
- 252 pages
- publisher
- Lund University
- defense location
- Världen, Geocentrum I, Sölvegatan 10, Lund
- defense date
- 2022-10-28 10:00:00
- ISBN
- 978-91-8039-419-2
- 978-91-8039-420-8
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 467020cc-f4ab-4fb8-b98e-a59363fd42d0
- date added to LUP
- 2022-10-12 14:12:31
- date last changed
- 2023-04-27 14:54:44
@phdthesis{467020cc-f4ab-4fb8-b98e-a59363fd42d0,
abstract = {{Agricultural commercialization is concerned with improving market-oriented production in expectation of maximizing profit. While previous state policies in Ghana favoured commercialization by medium and large scale cultivators, there exists a new national commitment dubbed the Planting for Food and Jobs Policy that seeks to leverage on the cumulative productive potential of small farmers for sustained economic growth. This requires structural shifts away from subsistence towards entrepreneurial modes of production. While exogenous factors such as demographic, infrastructural and technological changes are central to eliciting optimal gains from commercialization processes, the thesis concerns the endogenous aspects relating to intra-household and intra-community land asset distribution, production capacities among different smallholder groups and institutional synergies between land tenure actors. The linkages between commercialization and land tenure outcomes are neither always direct nor tangible on the ground. They are determined by varied factors that may improve the commercialization and land tenure conditions of one group as a result or constrain another. Can we therefore posit that the process of smallholder commercialization relates largely to inevitable processes of social differentiation and related loss of land? This thesis calls into question these issues within an analytical framework of theories of access, property rights, smallholder differentiation, gender dynamics and de/repeasantization and de/reagrarianization.<br/><br/>The empirical basis of the thesis is qualitative, utilizing key informant and household interviews, focus group discussions, participatory rural appraisal exercises and document analysis. Findings show how tense interactions between state and customary actors fuelled by narratives of traditionalization, non-interference and replacement reduce the opportunities for synergies in implementing agricultural policies. The thesis further shows how migrant farmers’ tenurial rights are weakened by processes of commercialization leading to the development of relational forms of land access depicted by in-kind food crop gifts to land owners. They are further engaged in taungya agreements in which they exchange their labour for “free” land access. These agreements are indicative of labour exploitation and the creation of transactional rather than the theorised landlessness and waged labour in the context of commercialization.<br/><br/>The thesis also shows how women’s possibilities for commercialization are limited by structural factors and with it their ability to hold cultivation claims over communal land. Men however do not face these constraints and tend to consolidate their hold on customary land. Nonetheless, women are incentivized by the unique nature of cashew cultivation in circumventing structural barriers as well as its proprietary attributes under customary law, to seek land for cultivation. With these outcomes, it is imperative that stakeholders give consideration to the synergies between land tenure actors and the potential polarizing effects of commercialization on the production possibilities of different groups and on land tenure.}},
author = {{Kugbega, Selorm}},
isbn = {{978-91-8039-419-2}},
keywords = {{Smallholder; Commercialization; Land tenure; Social differentiation; Chiefs; Gender; Migrants; Ghana}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{10}},
publisher = {{Lund University}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{From Subsistence to Commercial Producers : Processes of State-led Agrarian Change, Land Tenure Dynamics and Social Differentiation among Smallholders in Ghana.}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/125510472/Selorm_Kobla_Kugbega_Kappa.pdf}},
year = {{2022}},
}