Historical Context of Agricultural Commercialisation in Ghana: Changes in Land and Labour Relations

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Awetori Yaro ◽  
Joseph Kofi Teye ◽  
Gertrude Dzifa Torvikey
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Agrarian Change ◽  
Wealth Accumulation ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Global Capital

This paper provides a broad review of agrarian change in Ghana by highlighting the major developments in the agrarian political economy and their implications for agricultural commercialisation and its modifying influence on land tenure systems, livelihoods, production systems, social relations, and labour relations. While current land tenure arrangements and labour relations in Africa are often explained in terms of globalisation, we argue that the historical context of agricultural commercialisation in Ghana shows continuities and discontinuities in agrarian relations from the colonial period to the present. We also argue that changes over the years have blended with globalisation to produce the distinct forms of labour relations that we see today. The commercialisation of agriculture in Ghana has evolved progressively from the colonial era aided by policies of coercion, persuasion and incentives to its current globalised form. The expansion in the range of commodities over time necessarily increased the demand for more land and labour. The article contributes to the literature by providing great insights into changes in land and labour relations due to increasing commercialisation, and how these enhanced wealth accumulation for the richer segments of society and global capital to the detriment of the poor throughout Ghana’s agrarian history.

Land and Contestations over Autochthony and Local Citizenship in Agrarian Ghana

2021 ◽  
pp. 227797602110687
Author(s):  
Gertrude Dzifa Torvikey
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Agrarian Change ◽  
The Political ◽  
Citizenship Status ◽  
Class Differences ◽  
Community Institutions ◽  
Land Grab ◽  
The Social ◽  
Local Citizenship

This article examines the reimagination of communities in an industrial cassava frontier of Ghana in the wake of a contested land grab supported by state and community institutions. Qualitative and survey data were used to construct the existing social relations in the communities through the lens of earlier processes of agrarian change that have transformed the social base of the communities. It is argued that the expansion of capitalist production systems into agrarian areas results in local citizenship contestations centered on land, and redefinition and reclassification of people and their access to land. The multiple claims and contestations that arose from the land grab and the political reactions from below are highlighted. It is further argued that differentiated dispossession and class differences determine the strategies used by affected people. While some farmers demonstrated agency by holding on to a “little pie” to enjoy greater community social cohesion, others, drawing from their local citizenship status, although contested, fought the land grab.

scholarly journals Failure to Meet up to Expectation: Examining Women’s Activist Groups in the Post-Colonial Period in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-35
Author(s):  
Adebukola Dagunduro ◽  
Adebimpe Adenugba
Keyword(s):  
Colonial Period ◽  
Women's Activism ◽  
Women's Groups ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Nigerian Women ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Liberal Feminism ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Women’S Groups ◽  
Activist Groups

AbstractWomen’s activism within various ethnic groups in Nigeria dates back to the pre-colonial era, with notable heroic leaders, like Moremi of Ife, Amina of Zaria, Emotan of Benin, Funmilayo Kuti, Margaret Ekpo and many others. The participation of Nigerian women in the Beijing Conference of 1995 led to a stronger voice for women in the political landscape. Several women’s rights groups have sprung up in the country over the years. Notable among them are the Federation of Nigerian Women’s Societies (FNWS), Women in Nigeria (WIN), Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND) and Female in Nigeria (FIN). However, majority have failed to actualize significant political, social or economic growth. This paper examines the challenges and factors leading to their inability to live up to people’s expectations. Guided by patriarchy and liberal feminism theories, this paper utilizes both historical and descriptive methods to examine these factors. The paper argues that a lack of solidarity among women’s groups, financial constraints, unfavourable political and social practices led to the inability of women’s groups in Nigeria to live up to the envisaged expectations. The paper concludes that, for women’s activist groups to survive in Nigeria, a quiet but significant social revolution is necessary among women. Government should also formulate and implement policies that will empower women politically, economically and socially.

Networking, strategic positioning and creative knowledge in industrial districts

2000 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciano Pilotti
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Industrial Districts ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Useful Knowledge ◽  
Italian Case ◽  
Industrial Leadership ◽  
Differentiated Learning

This work is the last part of a unitary framework of analysis, the first part of which was published in HSM, Special Issue, Vol. 18, No. 2. The principal aim of the analysis is the pattern of transformation of local production systems. They are discussed as a complex institutional form of the division of labour and knowledge between firms by means of institutions and meta-organisers as actors of a post-Fordist local economy. A specific production system is defined as a peculiar governance form of interrelations, mediated by cognitive resources such as internal/external competencies of a population of firms localised in a sharing context. In this way there emerges a process of internalisation of competencies through evolutionary networking in which efficiency is not simply an output but a fundamental input for both growth and innovation. Our aim is to describe the peculiarity of the institutional networking system in the Italian case of Northeast industrial districts, assuming that a specific industrial economy evolves on the basis of differentiated learning capacities according to a complex system of economic and social relations, encouraging the circulation of useful knowledge and information for the economic enlargement based on industrial leadership and firm networks: they form a complex and dynamic Multilevel Neural Network. Two main types of district emerge: the evolutionary district (e.g., Montebelluna, specialised in ski-boot production) and non evolutionary static and adaptive districts (e.g., Maniago, specialised in knife production), where we find limited leadership and limited division of labour between firms.

Postcolonialism

Geography ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay Naylor
Keyword(s):  
Production Systems ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
Accumulation By Dispossession ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Impact ◽  
British Colonies ◽  
Independence Movements

In the colonial period imperialism advanced in uneven ways across time and space globally. European exploration in the late 15th century first brought destructive, exploitative, and deadly changes to what became known as the Americas. The subjugation and elimination of Indigenous groups, which commenced during this period, created the conditions for accumulation by dispossession, enslavement (of both Indigenous groups and people stolen from Africa), plantation-style production systems, and the extraction of resources—the legacies of which still mark political, social, economic, and environmental landscapes today. Following rebellion and successful de jure (legal) independence from Europe in the late 1700s and early 1800s (starting with the radical uprising of enslaved peoples in Haiti), Western powers turned to new regions to regain such systems of control and resource extraction. In 1848, the Berlin Conference was held— also called the “Scramble for Africa,” where European powers divided the continent and created new sites of extraction. Such patterns followed in South and Southeast Asia as well as North Africa and Central Asia in the latter parts of the 19th century. As a result of these violent campaigns, there are very few places on the globe that did not sustain, at some point, a form of colonial-imperial relation. Independence movements were ongoing and by the end of the 20th century, de jure colonial control had all but disappeared. Decolonization had occurred and the global periphery entered the period of being postcolonial. Former British colonies were assembled into the Commonwealth, which changed relations from direct control and subjugation to allegiance to the Queen and for some, drastic changes in economic relations, (this had the effect of marginalizing Indigenous struggles in many of these places). Notwithstanding the legal separation of the colonies from imperial powers, de facto (in effect) colonial arrangements lingered and remain today, giving rise to a series of critiques and new ways of thinking about imperialism and the impact of colonialism, such as the theory of postcolonialism.

Ecoagriculture for a Sustainable Food Future

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Chalmer
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Cultural Sensitivity ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Constant Input ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
European Farming

Global food security is dependent on ecologically viable production systems, but current agricultural practices are often at odds with environmental sustainability. Resolving this disparity is a huge task, but there is much that can be learned from traditional food production systems that persisted for thousands of years. Ecoagriculture for a Sustainable Food Future describes the ecological history of food production systems in Australia, showing how Aboriginal food systems collapsed when European farming methods were imposed on bushlands. The industrialised agricultural systems that are now prevalent across the world require constant input of finite resources, and continue to cause destructive environmental change. This book explores the damage that has arisen from farming systems unsuited to their environment, and presents compelling evidence that producing food is an ecological process that needs to be rethought in order to ensure resilient food production into the future. Cultural sensitivity Readers are warned that there may be words, descriptions and terms used in this book that are culturally sensitive, and which might not normally be used in certain public or community contexts. While this information may not reflect current understanding, it is provided by the author in a historical context.

scholarly journals Industri dan Perdagangan Gula di Indonesia: Pembelajaran dari Kebijakan Zaman Penjajahan – Sekarang

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sri Wahyuni ◽  
NFN Supriyati ◽  
Julia Forcina Sinuraya
Keyword(s):  
Future Development ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Research Institutions ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
The Government ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
Sugarcane Industry

<strong>English</strong><br />Sugarcane industry and trade (SIT) in Indonesia is significantly influenced by the government policies. This paper reviewed SIT policies from colonial period up to now to obtain valuable lessons for future development of SIT.  Lessons learned include: (1) During the colonial era, the peak triumph was achieved through farmers’ sacrifice; (2) High financial support for research institutions to produce super varieties, such as POJ 2838 and 3016 with productivity as high as 18 ton/ha of crystal; (3) In the beginning of independence, Indonesia’s institutions and manpower were not exclusively ready to optimally develop SIT; (4) There were no comprehensive policies and several of the existing one were conflicting. Based on these lessons, a comprehensive policy issued by related institutions are strongly required for future development of SIT.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Indonesian</strong><br />Industri dan Perdagangan Gula Indonesia sangat ditentukan oleh kebijakan pemerintah. Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk mereview kebijakan IPG sejak zaman penjajahan sampai sekarang, untuk dijadikan pembelajaran dalam pengembangan IPG ke depan. Pembelajaran yang dapat dipetik antara lain: (1) Kejayaan gula pada zaman penjajahan dicapai dengan mengorbankan petani; (2) Dukungan dana yang kuat, sehingga lembaga penelitian mampu menghasilkan varietas ajaib POJ 2838 dan 3016 dengan produktivitas sebesar 18 ton hablur/ha; (3) Pada awal kemerdekaan, kelembagaan dan sumberdaya manusia Indonesia belum siap untuk mengembangkan pergulaan secara optimal; (4) Kebijakan kurang komprehensif dan kadang-kadang saling bertentangan. Berdasarkan pembelajaran ini, untuk pengembangan pergulaan ke depan diperlukan kebijakan yang komprehensif dari semua pihak yang terkait.

“Now is not like before. The world has changed.”

2018 ◽  
pp. 29-57
Author(s):  
Heather D. Switzer
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Education For All ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Economic Insecurity ◽  
Postcolonial State ◽  
The World

“Maasai Education in Cultural and Historical Context,” focuses on how ideas about “being Maasai” and “being educated,” beginning in the colonial period and extending into the formation of the postcolonial state, are dynamic. Schoolgirls, mothers, and teachers see education as a powerful antidote to historically produced ethnic otherness, marginalization, and endemic economic insecurity. Schoolgirls, mothers, and teachers explained that as “the world has changed,” so have Maasai attitudes about education. This chapter historicizes and therefore politicizes contemporary Maasai attitudes about education in the case-study communities, within and against still salient ideas in the Kenyan social imaginary about Maasai as people who “hate” education, by showing how Maasai have come to see themselves as people who “love” education for all children, including girls.

scholarly journals Resetting the Narrative in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Annabelle Wilson ◽  
Roland Wilson ◽  
Robyn Delbridge ◽  
Emma Tonkin ◽  
Claire Palermo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Tenure ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Australian Aboriginal ◽  
Nutrition Research ◽  
Torres Strait

ABSTRACT As the oldest continuous living civilizations in the world, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have strength, tenacity, and resilience. Initial colonization of the landscape included violent dispossession and removal of people from Country to expand European land tenure and production systems, loss of knowledge holders through frontier violence, and formal government policies of segregation and assimilation designed to destroy ontological relationships with Country and kin. The ongoing manifestations of colonialism continue to affect food systems and food knowledges of Aboriginal peoples, and have led to severe health inequities and disproportionate rates of nutrition-related health conditions. There is an urgent need to collaborate with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to address nutrition and its underlying determinants in a way that integrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ understandings of food and food systems, health, healing, and well-being. We use the existing literature to discuss current ways that Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are portrayed in the literature in relation to nutrition, identify knowledge gaps that require further research, and propose a new way forward.

scholarly journals “Who Has the Power to Adapt?” Frameworks for Resilient Agriculture Must Contend With the Power Dynamics of Land Tenure

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Calo
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Agrarian Change ◽  
Resilience Thinking ◽  
Capacity Formulation

This special issue aims to develop how Diversified Farming Systems (DFS) may contribute to adaptive capacity in order to confer resilience to agricultural systems. In this perspective article, I argue that a framework for DFS and adaptive capacity must adequately contend with the role of farmland tenure on the shape of food systems to be both internally coherent and socially redistributive. Yet, both DFS and adaptive capacity scholarship deemphasize or mischaracterize the role of farmland tenure in favor of ecosystem dynamics. In this paper, I bring together lessons from the agrarian change literature and established critiques of resilience thinking to demonstrate core problems with a framework aimed at linking DFS to adaptive capacity without adequately addressing the role of farmland tenure. Namely, applying resilience thinking as a framework to understand food systems change prioritizes concern over final “states” or processes of farming systems and may ignore who has the power to adapt or who derives benefits from adaptation. The critiques of resilience thinking inform that the result of this apolitical elision is (1) entrenchment of neoliberal logics that place responsibility to cultivate adaptation on individual farmers and (2) provisioning of legitimacy for land tenure systems that can most readily adopt DFS, without understanding how well these systems distribute public benefits. Resilience reformers call for ways to include more power aware analysis when applying resilience thinking to complex socio-technical systems. I suggest that centering the role of land tenure into the frameworks of DFS and adaptive capacity provides a lens to observe the power relations that mediate any benefits of agricultural diversification. Integrating analysis of the social and legal structures of the food system into the DFS for adaptive capacity formulation is a crucial step to transforming resilience thinking from an apolitical tool to transformative and power-aware applied science.

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