Jun Hesselberg
The Third World
in lransition
The Case of the Peasantry in Botswana
Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala
The Third World in Transition
The Third World
The Case of the Pesantry in Botswana
Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala 1985
Jan Hesselberg is professor in Development Geography at the
Department of Geography, University of Oslo. His main research
interests are production processes in rural areas and levels of
living in the Third World. He has conducted field work several
times in Botswana and Sri Lanka.
This book has been published with support from the Norwegian
Agency for International Development.
ISBN 91-7106-243-2
@
Jan Hesselberg and Nordiska afrikainstitutet
Printed in Sweden by
Motala Grafiska AB,
Motala, 1985
PREFACE
The o b j e c t i v e o f t h e p r e s e n t work i s t h r o u g h t h e c a s e of Botswana t o d i s c u s s
the creation of poverty in the period of transition from tribal to modem
society in the Third World today.
t h e peasantry.
T h i s i s done by a n a n a l y s i s f o c u s s i n g a t
The r e c e n t l y renewed f a s h i o n o f b l a m i n g t h e
peasants
for lack
o f improved f o o d p r o d u c t i o n and t h u s a l s o f o r p o v e r t y a t l o c a l and n a t i o n a l
l e v e l s is questioned.
I n a s h o r t n o t e i n 1 9 6 1 F a l l e r s l e f t no d o u b t t h a t a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s i n
A f r i c a c o u l d and s h o u l d b e c a l l e d p e a s a n t s e c o n o m i c a l l y , p o l i t i c a l l y and
culturally.
P e a s a n t c o m m u n i t i e s a r e more d i f f e r e n t i a t e d t h a n t r i b a l s o c i e -
t i e s b u t l e s s s o t h a n modern o n e s .
P e a s a n t s c o n s t i t u t e t h e n a c a t e g o r y of
p e o p l e f o u n d i n a c o u n t r y where f u n d a m e n t a l c h a n g e s o c c u r l e a d i n g t o a soc i e t y of a d i f f e r e n t kind.
I t i s p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e semi- autonomy o f p e a s a n t s
r e l a t i v e t o l a r g e r s y s t e m s t h a t i s u s e d i n t h e argument o f t h e o p t i o n t h o u g h t
available t o peasants of
withdrawing
a s p e c t s d e a l t w i t h i n t h e work a r e :
from p r o d u c t i o n f o r m a r k e t s .
s o c i e t a l evolution,
i n e q u a l i t y a n d p o v e r t y , and r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n .
The main
agrarian transition,
These a s p e c t s provide
t o g e t h e r a f a i r l y comprehensive p i c t u r e of t h e n a t u r e of t h e t r a n s i t i o n i n
which Botswana f i n d s i t s e l f .
The d a t a u s e d i n t h e e m p i r i c a l p r e s e n t a t i o n a r e p r i m a r i l y t a k e n from L e t l h a kenq and Tutume, two medium- sized v i l l a g e s i n Botswana.
Similar studies
were c a r r i e d o u t i n 1976 and 1980 a l l o w i n g f o r a t i m e p e r s p e c t i v e .
I n addi-
t i o n , i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t t h e c o u n t r y a t l a r g e i s u s e d whenever p o s s i b l e t o
enhance t h e s t r e n g t h of t h e f i n d i n g s .
The t h e o r e t i c a l p e r s p e c t i v e h a s b e e n t r e a t e d r e l a t i v e l y e x t e n s i v e l y .
I t en-
compasses i n a few i n s t a n c e s more t h a n t h e d a t a g a t h e r e d p e r m i t t o t e s t .
This
i s d e e m e d u s e f u l because of t h e e x p l o r a t i v e c h a r a c t e r of t h e s e p a r t s of t h e
work,
I t is a l s o regarded t o be f r u i t f u l t o include a thorough discussion of
the concept development, of development studies and of development geography.
At the present early stage in the evolution of development geography, this
part of the work may have some merit per se, in addition to explaining the
choice of research approach.
Over the years I have had recurrent useful discussions with Gerd Wikan.
The arguments forwarded here have also benefitted from her penetrating
question-marks.
Sylvi Endresen has pointed at several fine nuances of
meaning in the manuscript.
Jan Hesselberg
August, 1984
I am grateful to both of them.
CONTENTS
Preface
PART I
INTRODUCTION
1. DEVELOPMENT AND GEOGRAPHY
Development and related concepts
Some empirical observations
Development studies: causes and remedies
of inequality and poverty
Development geography
Some problematic aspects of development studies
Conclusion
2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
PART I1
THEORETICAL P E R S P E C T I V E
3. PEASANT AND RELATED CONCEPTS
Definitions of peasant
Peasant studies
Characteristics of peasant production
Conclusion
4. SOCIETAL EVOLUTION AND AGRARIAN TRANSITION
Societal evolution
Agrarian transition
Peasant differentiation
Conclusion
5. AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND RURAL SETTLEMENT PATTERN
Agricultural development
Rural settlement pattern
5. THE PEASANT CONCEPT, QUESTION AND HYPOTHESES
The peasant concept
Questions and hypotheses
Conclusion
PART 111
BOTSWANA
7. APPROACH AND DATA
A note on peasant and related concepts in the
literature on Botswana
8. SOCIETAL EVOLUTION
9. AGRARIAN TRANSITION
"Work position" and types of agricultural producers
Characteristics of the agricultural production process
Multiactivity at the household and individual levels
Conclusion
10. INEQUALITY AND POVERTY
Inequality
Poverty
Conclusion
11. AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
Policies and programmes relevant for agricultural
development in Botswana
Viewpoints on agrarian policies in Botswana
Conclusions
203
12. RURAL SETTLEMENT PATTERN
13. THE PEASANT CONTROVERSY
-
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
2 17
APPENDIX
1. Definitions
2 . Functions in Letlhakeng and Tutume 1976 and 1980
229
REFERENCES
231
224
PART I
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1
DEVELOPMENT AND GEOGRAPHY
DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED CONCEPTS
Development constitutes a process.
fairly general level.
The concept is normally used at a
It includes a wide variety of changing features.
It is in common usage equated with improvements.
The word development
thus has a positive connotation regardless of how it is defined.
To pre-
tend otherwise, as Seers (1972) says, is just to hide one's value judgements.
Moreover, it is often difficult to separate the positive from the
negative in a process of change.
For instance, the building up of formal
education is in most cases a good and necessary element for change.
In
many Third World countries formal education may nonetheless have negative
side-effects such as alienation regarding strenuous work in, for instance,
agriculture.
Due to the arguments above one may opt for adopting a defi-
nition of development which is goal-free.
Brookfield (1975) takes this
stance when he defines development as "the whole process of change brought
about by the creation and expansion of an interdependent world system".
In analytical work it is, however, necessary to establish a concept with a
specified content and regarding the process of development also to give
the concept a positive meaning.
Since concepts such as change and evolu-
tion (which are broader concepts) cannot replace development as a general,
descriptive and goal-free concept, it seems essential to refrain from defining development in a detailed manner.
Development should instead be
used, as is usual, to denote a complex process of change that may, although not necessarily in the short-run then later, result in improved levels of living for the world's population at large, that is, the collective betterment of mankind.
In thinking about development it is easy to
fall pray to the use of a framework of mechanical evolution, of thinking
in linear historical sequences leading to a typical modern Western (or
Eastern) society.
This is not implied in the concept in the present work.
In fact, one should strivc for an acceptance of multitudinous cultural
definitions of the good life.
of vagueness.
~ h u s ,the concept has a certain amount
This is as it should be.
The concept should refer to a
movement of a society as a whole to a better but undetermined position.
However, this "third option" should imply high economic welfare with low
ecological imbalances and a minimum of personal alienation. There may
be cases in which beneficial structural changes take place without immediate improvements in material satisfaction.
At a later stage such struc-
tural changes may prove to be the key to economic and social development.
The point is that we do n o t a p r i o r i know what brings about development
or what the necessary principal structural changes are in concrete empirical situations.
It is common to split
the concept development into economic growth and
social change which, for instance, UThant (1965) did at the start of the
UN's First Development Decade.
difficult to quantify.
Social change is a broad concept and
In view of the above discussion economic and so-
cial development will be used as analytical categories.
Economic devetop-
m a n t refers to economic growth (increases in GNP) and a more equal distribution of economic means (measured by income and employment).
It is im-
portant to note that economic growth at the national level does not automatically reduce poverty and inequality or provide sufficient employment,
at least not in the short-run.
growth and development.
Many scholars
confuse the concepts of
The reason is often, as for instance
Sundrum
(1983) anticipates, that as soon as attitudes and behaviour of people
in
their economic activities become more like "economic man", growth becomes
automatic and welfare in an encompassing sense ensues.
By s o c i a l develop-
ment is meant improvements regarding such aspects as life expectancy, nutrition and educational standard.
In short, social development refers to
the realization of the potential of the human personality.
This is of
course generally accepted. The path to this realization is, however,
highly disputed.
A pivotal controversy is, for instance, the possible ad-
verse effect of redistribution of income on economic growth.
advocated of course contains its own contradictions.
Each path
Development is ge-
r,erally a result of the interplay of "old" and "new" artifacts, social
structures and cultural values.
Normally, conflicts arise between the
"old" or indigenous and "new" or imported elements.
Development accor-
dingly constitutes a dialectical process in a Hegelian sense, that is, a
rigorous
ded.
prediction of societal evolution, as in Marxism, is not inclu-
It is the method that is highlighted, and development in future does
not necessarily have to contain similar negative effects everywhere, such
as the creation of an internal "proletariat".
If we then are to under-
stand the process of development, we have to look for conflicts and stress
created when the "old" and "new" merge without a p r i o r i knowing the fundamental forces of change in particular places.
Development has by some been substituted with liberation (Goulet 1971),
that is, with social justice and basic political freedom.
Liberation
means the removal of an elite by a majority who then assumes control over
its own process of change.
The most common example is nation-building by
the majority in a country.
To use liberation instead of development, to
talk about strategies for change of political and economic power r a t h e r
than how higher material and social levels are to be achieved, is to adopt
a revolutionary in contrast to a reformist attitude. To my mind, liberation is nothing but a necessary prerequisite for development in certain
countries, and cannot replace development as a concept of general concern.
There are, for instance, few prospects for economic development (not to
say social development) in South Africa short of a struggle of liberation
including violence.
After a successful liberation struggle the question
arises of what long-run content development should be given.
Should the
content be limited to economic and social aspects or should also the dimension of control over the forces of change be included?
Rodney (1972)
includes the latter aspect in his definition of economic development:
"A
society develops economically as its members increase jointly their capacity for dealing with the environment".
Can Third World countries become
masters of their own transitions or must they depend on imports of technology and culture from the West (or the East), or let transnational companies dominate their large-scale economic activities?
Undoubtedly, econo-
mic development can only in exceptional cases, if at all, take place in
isolation from other more developed countries.
The dependence on techno-
logical know-how is, for instance, a common characteristic of Third World
countries i n t h e i r present s t r a t e g y for development.
(BY strategy is meant
a set of internally consistent plans deduced from a general or several parttheories given certain goals.)
The question then arises whether the nc,ga-
tive effects of the relations Third World countries have with developed
countries put a number of poor Third World countries at a dead end.
The
concept zinderdevelopment denotes usually, in addition to undesirable conditions for work and life, such a situation where economic development is im-
possible due to the characteristics of the relations such countries have
with developed countries.
This is a relational mode of explanation.
Other scholars, who maintain that the developed countries are not a c t i v e l y
underdeveloping the Third World, argue that nondevelopment (or undevelopment) is a better description of most Third World countries.
non-relational mode of explanation.
This is a
It should be underlined that none of
the economies in the Third World are stagnant, both quantitative and qualitative changes occur, although often at a relatively low level.
Nonde-
velopment and underdevelopment thus make sense only in comparing levels of
development.
The choice of words are evidently closely related to views
adopted on causes for lack of development, whether the causes are originating mainly internally or externally.
(What appears to be internal cau-
ses often have an external dimension wholly or in part.)
All Third World
countries may be said to have been underdeveloped in a historical perspective.
However, whoever or whatever is to blame historically for the exis-
ting inequality and poverty, the situation today is that an active underdevelopment as the main characteristic of the relationships (positive and
negative relations will "always" exist) with the developed countries cannot be maintained for all Third World countries.
Thus the designation un-
derdeveloped countries is not appropriate for the Third World as a whole.
Nonetheless, both underdevelopment and nondevelopment are useful concepts
for sub-groups of the Third World category.
The recent economic growth in some Third World countries has made the concept dependent development
popular.
In particularly the "Newly Industria-
lizing Countries" (NICs) economic and social development, if not political
development, have occurred to some extent.
This development is, however,
heavily dependent on foreign inputs of capital both private and governmental.
The debt-burden to multilateral development banks (for instance the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and private transnational
finance institutions) reduce the freedom of choice for these countries regarding national economic policy generally.
A question-mark is therefore
put, through the use of the label dependent(in contrast to interdependent),
on whether their rapid economic development can be sustained.
S p a t i a l development is a major concern in geography.
To decide whether a
spatial pattern is optimal, is difficult in other but a limited economic
sense.
Once other criteria are included, it becomes less useful to at-
tempt to establish an optimum pattern.
It is thus more relevant to ask
if the spatial pattern functions in such a way as to justify the label
developed.
It is then often easy to see that spatial reorganization is
necessary in order to attain economic and social development.
Various
alternative spatial patterns may thereafter be suggested.
The choice o f a t e r n to designate the poor and non-modern countries of
the world implies a judgement on what the main causes for poverty or nonmodernity are.
In the 1950s and 1960s backward regions and less develo-
ped countries were commonly used.
In contrast to these concepts, the con-
cept "proletarian states" was used to point at the relations between nations as the main explanation for poverty and relatively permanent structural imbalances, that is, underdevelopment.
In the 1970s underdeveloped
countries gained popularity, as did the more optimistic term developing
countries.
Personally, I prefer poor countries to the former term but
since poverty includes both a quantitative position and a structural dimension, neither poor nor underdeveloped are appropriate designations.
Since the structural changes that take place in many Third World countries
are not conducive of economic and social development, the term developing
country is not an appropriate description of reality generally.
Myrdal
(1968) calls it a diplomatic euphemism. Others may be of another opinion
and hence choose this term.
It has been a fashion today to split the Third World into a number of often
overlapping categories.
oil-importing/oil-exporting developing countries,
low-income/middle-incomedeveloping countries, most severely affected count-
ries, least developed countries, non-oil least developed countries, island
developing countries, landlocked developing countries, newly industrializing countries and others.
three categories:
(The rest of the world is usually divided into
Industrialized (market) countries, centrally planned eco-
nomies and capital-surplus oil-exporters.)
categories of Third
The more specified and limited
World countries represent an important reorientation
of the development debate because those categories are more empirically relevant than the often extreme generalizations made in the last three decades.
Nonetheless, there are some structural characteristics which are common to
the Third World.
To my mind, it is most adequate to use the term
Third
World and Third World c o u n t r i e s at the general level because, as has been
said above, only some countries are today being actively underdeveloped and
only some are developing both economically and socially.
Moreover, the
concept Third World escapes an explicit comparison with the developed
either capitalist or socialist countries.
According to Lacoste (1965),
the designation Third World was first used by Sauvy in an analogue with
"Tiers Etat" denoting all the disadvantaged groups in France in 1789
that were opposed to the nobility and clergy.
is neutral.
The concept Third World
By using this concept, the scope is open for more complex
explanations, and no a priori decision is made of the main causes of underdevelopment/nondevelopment at a general level.
The First World refers
to developed market economies and the Second World to the developed socialist countries.
These terms are little used in the literature, and will
not be applied here.
The last argument for adopting the concept Third
World is the implicit notion of (or hope for) a third path, an undetermined but possible path to a "sane society".
At least it represents an-
other, undefined option for development thinking and planning.
The Third World is negatively defined "all nations that did not become,
during the historical process of the establishment of the present World
Order, industrialized and wealthy" (Abdalla 1978).
Exploitation and re-
shaping of the economy and distortion of social, cultural and psychological patterns during the colonial epoch are essential common factors.
The
category Third World is therefore still useful in spite of the existing
heterogeneity regarding, for instance, population size, resource endowment and level of development.
This heterogeneity, or rather different
combinations of undesirable characteristics, which the Third World countries have, makes a short and positive definition less appropriate.
Most
countries have all or approximately all of the following characteristics:
Insufficient food supply (or a skewed distribution among groups and/or
regions), low productivity in agriculture, high population growth, physical and other resources which are unused or used by foreigners, huge unemployment, low degree of industrialization, incomplete market system, unequally developed economic sectors hampering economic circulation, large
tertiary sector and social structures contradlcotry to economlc optimisation.
The relative importance of these factors will vary from country to
country.
The main point is the existence of a large number of these (and
other) factors at the same time.
countries earlier.
This was not the case in the developed
In view of the above, the following two examples of
definitions (somewhat shortened here) clearly become unsatlsfactory:
A
region is underdeveloped when there are a net flow of capital out from the
region, structurally caused unproductivity and increasing poverty (Frank
A country is underdeveloped when it is dominated from outside and
1967).
when sectors are thereby created which are not linked and have large differences in productivity (Amin 1974).
It is necessary when operationalizing the concept the Third World to rely
on measurable aspects.
In fact, the GNP together with structural imbalan-
ces of a relatively permanent nature give the group of countries included
by the United Nations in the category developing countries.
Moreover, since the Third World is not the unit of analysis in the present
work, it is in spite of its inadequacies acceptable in certain instances
to use the World Bank concept "developing countries", which is adopted in
major international statistical publications.
The World Bank (1980 a)
uses national income per person as the criterion of classification.
Low-
income (developing) countries (poor Third World countries) are those at or
below 300 (1977) US dollars GNP per person.
The middle-income developing
countries include those countries which have a GNP per person above 300
(1977) US dollars and which are not included in any of the following categories:
Industrialized countries, centrally planned economies or capital-
surplus oil-exporting countries.
The last category includes such count-
ries as Kuwait, Libya, Oman and Saudi-Arabia.
The middle-income develop-
ing countries comprise also Southern European countries such as Spain and
Greece, and Israel and South Africa.
These latter countries do not re-
present Third World countries because they have highly developed and relatively efficiently functioning government administrations. They have
lastly no similar colonial experiences as the Third World.
countries have such experiences.
and industrial production do not yet coincide.
exhaustible resource.
The oil-rich
Furthermore, in these countries wealth
In addition, oil is an
It is thus possible to argue that the oil-rich
countries should, due to structural considerations, be included in the
Third World category.
The magnitude of their wealth seems, however, to
prohibit such a reasoning.
lications for lack of data.
China is often not included in statistical pubThe reason for arguing that China should be
excluded from the Third World category, is that China was never really dominated by a western power. Furthermore, the Chinese culture never collapsed.
Its present coherent social structure, well organized economy and
equality (although at a relatively low level of living) may make it appro-
priate to include China in the category centrally planned economies, and
exclude it from the Third World category.
Although the Chinese leader-
ship maintains that the country belongs to the Third World (South, May
19831, this is not a sufficient reason to include it.
It should be noted
that the category centrally planned economies is rather heterogeneous in
that it contains East-European countries and the Sovjet Union on the one
side and China, Cuba, Vietnam and North-Korea on the other.
In sum, ~~>hc-n
T r c ? f & > r to t h e Third W o ~ l d , I eccclude t h e Southern European
c o u n t r i e s , I s m e Z , South A f r i c a , China arid t h e capital- surplus oil-export i n g c o u n t r i ~ s . Some of these countries may, however, be included when
international statistical data are used.
To offset this discrepancy, the
category poor Third World c o u n t r i e s will be preferred whenever possible.
The rationale behind the above delimitation of the Third World is two-fold:
F i r s t , poverty and not a relatively low GNP per person is a necessary characteristic of a Third World country.
Second, underdevelopment in the
structural dimension alone is not sufficient for a country to be included
in the Third World category.
When poverty is used here, it implies mass poverty, that is, a relatively
large amount of a country's population which is living in either absolute
or relative poverty.
Absolute poverty refers to such aspects as inadequate
dietary and health standard;
physical needs.
in short, to insufficient provision of basic
A distinction may also be made between primary and secon-
dary absolute poverty.
Primary ( a b s o l u t e ) poverty refers to lack of enough
food to sustain physical fitness for an individual (Rein 1970).
Secondary
povc?rty exists when the income earned is high enough for physical fitness
but is used for other purposes.
By r e l a t i v e poverty is meant that a part
of a country's population has a less than acceptable (related to a national
or world standard) satisfaction of basic needs and/or is kept away from political and/or cultural participation. Most often this means a lack of resources necessary to permit participation in diets and activities commonly
approved by society.
An interesting question, although of only theoretical
significance, is whether there is only secondary poverty in the world today
or a redistribution of wealth and income would result in global primary poverty.
In the super-industrial and post-industrial societies envisaged by
Kahn (1976) the whole world will be inhabited by numerous people who are
rich (GNP per person above 2 000 (1975) US dollars) and in control of the
forces of nature.
Economic growth will slow down and eventually stabilize.
1 0 0 y e a r s l a t e r t h e g a p b e t w e e n t h e 1 0 % r i c h e s t and 20% p o o r e s t c o u n t r i e s ,
now a t 100 t o 1 , w i l l b e o n l y 5 t o l .
T h i s "economic t r a n s i t i o n " w i l l b e
p o s s i b l e with a v a i l a b l e resources here on e a r t h .
Nonetheless,
extra-ter-
r e s t r i a l a c t i v i t i e s s u c h a s autonomous c o l o n i e s i n s p a c e i n v o l v e d i n raw
m a t e r i a l and e n e r g y p r o c e s s i n g w i l l t h e n , Kahn m a i n t a i n s , a l s o e x i s t .
my o p i n i o n t h i s i s a w r o n g k i n d o f optimism.
In
Although one should claim t h a t
development p a r t i c u l a r l y s o c i a l development i s p o s s i b l e , i t o u g h t t o b e
l o o k e d upon a s a non- ending s t r u g g l e - development w i l l s u c c e e d o n l y i f t h e
world r e a l i z e s t h a t it can f a i l .
To q u a n t i f y p o v e r t y i s d i f f i c u l t .
I t i s v i r t u a l l y impossible t o a r r i v e a t
a n o b j e c t i v e c a l c u l a t i o n of a b s o l u t e p o v e r t y .
P o v e r t y c a n b e shown t o v a r y
i n a c o u n t r y f o r t h e same y e a r a c c o r d i n g t o a c c e p t a b l e b u t d i f f e r e n t o p e r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n s of t h e concept.
F u r t h e r m o r e , d i f f e r e n t s c h o l a r s may f i n d
t h a t p o v e r t y d e c l i n e s o r i n c r e a s e s o v e r t i m e i n t h e same c o u n t r y f o r s i m i l a r
reasons.
This has obviously important p o l i c y implications.
The s e l e c t i o n o f
i n d i c a t o r s and c h o i c e o f methods f o r m e a s u r i n g a b s o l u t e o r r e l a t i v e p o v e r t y
o r f o r e s t a b l i s h i n g a c o m p o s i t e i n d e x , a s o c a l l e d po73erty
d o n e w i t h o u t v a l u e judgement.
line, cannot be
Moreover, a p o v e r t y l i n e w i l l b e r e l a t i v e
when u s e d i n a c o m p a r a t i v e s t u d y .
D i f f e r e n t s t u d i e s have, f o r i n s t a n c e ,
g i v e n t h a t t h e p o v e r t y l i n e i n USA i s 1 0 t o l 7 t i m e s t h a t o f I n d i a ( S c o t t
1981).
I n a T h i r d World c o u n t r y u r b a n and r u r a l d i s p a r i t i e s a r e a l s o impor-
t a n t , making t h e p o v e r t y l i n e c o n c e p t a r b i t r a r y t o a c e r t a i n e x t e n t .
An
example p r o v i d e d by S c o t t c l e a r l y shows t h e d i f f i c u l t y i n " drawing a l i n e " :
I n r u r a l W e s t - P a k i s t a n i n 1963/64 34% o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n would f a l l below t h e
p o v e r t y l i n e i f a Rs 2 2 5 income was u s e d f o r i n d i v i d u a l s .
I f t h e same amount
was u s e d b u t t h i s t i m e m e a s u r i n g e x p e n d i t u r e 26% were below t h e l i n e .
By
u s i n g 2 1 0 0 c a l o r i e s a s a minimum r e q u i r e m e n t a s much a s 808 o f t h e populat i o n could be s a i d t o be a b s o l u t e l y poor.
The c o n c l l ~ s i o ni s 1 .
t h a t i t 1s
b e t t e r t o r e l y on a l e s s g e n e r a l c o n c e p t t h a n a b s o l u t e p o v e r t y , s u c h a s maln o u r i s h m e n t , and 2 .
t h a t it i s more u s e f u l t o o p e r a t e w i t h a d i s t r i b u t i o n
o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n o v e r t h e income r a n g e .
b e t h e 20% w i t h l o r r e s t income.
The p o o r would t h e n , f o r i n s t a n c e ,
I n a c o u n t r y w i t h o u t a l a r g e p o r t i o n of t h e
p o p u l a t i o n i n wage employment, o r o t h e r w i s e e a r n i n g money, o r w i t h o u t a n i n come p o l i c y , i t i s more i n t e r m s w i t h r e a l i t y t o u s e d u r a b l e consumer goods
( e . g . b l a n k e t , t o r c h ) i n g e n e r a l demand i n t h e a r e a s t u d i e d t o e s t a b l i s h t h e
concept of r e l a t i v e poverty.
The f u n d a m e n t a l p o i n t i s t h a t p o v e r t y d e n o t e s
n o t j u s t l a c k of r e s o u r c e s , it r e f e r s t o l a c k o f r e s o u r c e s used (and f e l t t o
be r i g h t l y used) by t h e r i c h .
SOME EMPIRICPL OBSERVATIONS
There i s a t p r e s e n t a d i s m a l o v e r a l l s i t u a t i o n i n t h e T h i r d World d e s p i t e
t h e e x i s t e n c e of economic growth on a v e r a g e and g e n e r a l improvements on
some s o c i a l i n d i c a t o r s .
Below t h i s i s d i s c u s s e d .
There h a s even i n t h e poor T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s been economic growth p e r
p e r s o n i n t h e p e r i o d 1960-1980.
The a v e r a g e a n n u a l growth p e r p e r s o n (con-
s t a n t p r i c e s ) was 1.7% (World Bank 1981 b ) .
had i n comparison a 3.3% growth.
I n d u s t r i a l market economies
The income gap i s t h u s widening b y the
r i c h countries g e t t i n g r i c h e r , and n o t t h e poorer g e t t i n g poorer.
~t should
b e u n d e r l i n e d t h a t t h e r e a r e v a r i a t i o n s i n s i d e t h e group o f poor T h i r d World
countries.
I t was i n 1970 t h o u g h t p o s s i b l e f o r t h e T h i r d World t o a c h i e v e
a n economic growth p e r p e r s o n of 3.5-4.5% (Heppling 1 9 7 1 ) .
Moreover, t h e
P e a r s o n r e p o r t (1969) h e l d t h a t 3.5% economic growth p e r p e r s o n o r 6% t o t a l
growth would s u f f i c e t o c r e a t e economic development on a s u s t a i n e d b a s i s .
The growth t h a t o c c u r r e d was, a s shown above, much lower t h a n e x p e c t e d , and
lower t h a n t h e n e c e s s a r y l e v e l f o r development t o speed up.
The income d i s -
t r i b u t i o n among people i n t h e poor Third World countries has not improxed
during t h e 1 9 7 0 s .
4.9
The p e r c e n t a g e of income r e c e i v e d by t h e l o w e s t 20% was
i n 1970 and 4 . 1 around 1977 (World Bank 1980 b).
These d a t a i n d i c a t e
t h a t t h e r e i n s e v e r a l T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s h a s been an i n c r e a s i n g inequal i t y and t h u s no economic development a l t h o u g h economic growth may have t a ken p l a c e .
I f unemployment i s i n c l u d e d a s a n i n d i c a t o r on economic develop-
ment, t h e above c o n c l u s i o n i s s u b s t a n t i a t e d , t h e p r o p o r t i o n of t h e economic
a c t i v e p o p u l a t i o n s e e k i n g work i s i n c r e a s i n g .
A f u r t h e r important p o i n t i s
t h a t self- employment o f t e n y i e l d s a n i n a d e q u a t e income t o meet b a s i c needs
f o r a family.
Those who a r e self- employed may t h u s want ( a d d i t i o n a l ) work
without a c t u a l l y seeking it.
T h e e s t i m a t e d f i g u r e of underemployment (of
t h e t o t a l . l a b o u r f o r c e ) i n t h e T h i r d World was a s much a s 36% i n 1975 ( K i m
and Hanson 1 9 8 2 ) .
On some of t h e i n d i c a t o r s of s o c i a l development t h e r e h a s been a p o s l t i v e
change i n t h e 1970s.
t h e T h i r d World.
L i f e expectancy i s s t e a d i l y i n c r e a s i n g on a v e r a g e i n
The same i s t h e c a s e w i t h t h e p e r c e n t a g e of t h e popula-
t i o n which i s l i t e r a t e .
I f food p r o d u c t i o n p e r p e r s o n i s used a s an i n d i -
c a t o r f o r n u t r i t i o n a l s t a n d a r d , t h e p i c t u r e i s n o t p o s i t i v e (assuming a n
unchanged d i s t r i b u t i o n ) .
The a v e r a g e index (1969/71 = 100) f o r 1977-1979
was 97 f o r t h e poor T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s ( I n d i a excluded)
(World Bank
1981 b ) .
S o c i a l development may e v i d e n t l y be s a i d t o occur o r n o t occur
The conclusion must therefore be that
according t o i n d i c a t o r s s e l e c t e d .
important improvements have taken place i n the social dimension i n the
Third World, but on the whole social deve lopment, as economic deve Zopment,
i s not found.
I t i s t h e n n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t t h e number of
poor i s high and i n c r e a s i n g .
(absolute)
A t p r e s e n t about 750 m i l l i o n people a r e held
t o be e i t h e r " d e s t i t u t e " ( i n a c u t e poverty) o r "absolute" poor i n t h e Third
World.
The f i g u r e w i l l i n c r e a s e t o 850 m i l l i o n s by t h e y e a r 2 000 accor-
ding t o t h e low-growth World Bank s c e n a r i o which i n c l u d e s "unprecedented
economic and s o c i a l advance i n some p a r t s of t h e world".
The poor a r e
b a r e l y s u r v i v i n g on incomes judged i n s u f f i c i e n t t o s e c u r e t h e b a s i c necessit i e s of l i f e .
(The p o v e r t y l i n e used i n t h e s e c a l c u l a t i o n s a r e based on
r e a l buying power i n each c o u n t r y . )
Although t h e r e a r e p o c k e t s of poverty i n developed c o u n t r i e s , t h i s poverty
i s a r e s u l t of a skewed d i s t r i b u t i o n of income, t h a t i s , t h e r e i s secondary
poverty.
I n t h e poor Tnird World c o u n t r i e s t h e r e i s l i t t l e t o d i s t r i b u t e
although t h e i n e q u a l i t y of income and a s s e t s o f t e n i s extremely high, t h a t
i s , primary poverty i s found a t n a t i o n a l l e v e l .
Although t h e number o£
undernourished and hungry i n t h e Third World i s n o t known, e s t i m a t e s p u t
i t a t 500-600 m i l l i o n s (Brandt 1 9 8 0 ) .
About 8 m i l l i o n c h i l d r e n below 5
y e a r s of age d i e every year from d i a r r h e a caught from p o l l u t e d water.
f u r t h e r examples could be given.
Many
T h i s s u f f i c e , however, t o p o i n t a t t h e
bad s t a t e of our p r e s e n t world.
DEVELOPMENT STUDIES:
CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF INEQUALITY AND POVERTY
A f t e r t h e Second World War t h e d e b a t e concerning poverty and i t s causes i n
t h e Third World s t e a d i l y i n c r e a s e d i n p o p u l a r i t y .
beginning seen t o be a problem of
t y p i c a l of t h e 1950s.
Development was i n t h e
Lack of capital and s k i l l s .
T h i s was a l s o
G a l b r a i t h (1979) m a i n t a i n s t h a t what t h e developed
c o u n t r i e s could a s s i s t t h e Third World with, were taken t o be t h e causes of
poverty.
I n a long p e r i o d i n t h e 1950s p o p u l a t i o n p r e s s u r e on land and food
supply were, according t o G a l b r a i t h , n o t regarded t o be causes of poverty
because t h a t would have a l i e n a t e d t h e C a t h o l i c s of t h e developed c o u n t r i e s
f o r whom family planning was i d e o l o g i c a l l y impossible.
The development op-
t i m i s m of t h e 1950s e x i s t e d a l s o i n t h e n e x t decade, t h e F i r s t Development
Decade.
Nonetheless, it was now recognized by most scholars that eccnomic
factors were not the only relevant factors for explaining or eradicating
poverty.
The "low-equilibrium trap", "cumulative circular causation" or
"vicious circle of poverty" became catch words.
A large number o f i n t e r -
n a l f a c t o r s (economic, social, psychological, political etc.) were seen to
go together to produce a situation where a change had to be initiated in
several dimensions in order to bring about progress.
Although technology
still was held to be the key factor, it was realized that technological
adoption was not a sufficient condition for development.
The "discovery"
of the limited ability of economics to solve the question of poverty in
the Third World, resulted in that development studies became popular in
many social sciences and in history.
Nonetheless, modernization in the
sense of westernization (the Western societies were made equal to the state
of being modern, Bernstein 1973) continued to be the prevalent goal of development.
This ethnocentrism was not widely criticized until the end of
the 1960s.
The view that development constituted a "total process" em-
phasized the need to transcend the conventional segregation of economic
and non-economic factors.
This was the base for the diffusion of the fa-
shion of multidisciplinary research and "General Systems Theory" in the
early 1970s.
This fashion led to little actual empirical research but re-
sulted in that team work of scholars of several disciplines became more common.
In the 1970s particularly history and sociology brought studies of
colonialism and neo-colonialism and of class relations to the forefront of
development studies.
Poverty and (structural) underdevelopment were seen
to be closely related to the various previous and p r e s e n t Zinks between
devclopcd c o u n t r i e s and t h e T h i r d World.
During colonialism people were,
according to Mabogunje (1980), "... reduced to a state of imitative dependence, a highly degraded state associated not only with an inability to
provide themselves adequately with the material means of sustenance but
also with the loss of cultural and psychological integrity".
The remedy
was logically a (selective) delinking from the developed countries.
In
economics critical voices were heard, for instance, in the attack on the
notion of comparative advantage and the doctrine of free trade among countries at different levels of development.
As in the two previous decades,
the empirical relevance or testing of statements were often inadequate.
Each discipline has a tendency to magnify its own importance.
The result
in this connection is that core subjects of a discipline are often made into
l e a d i n g c a u s e s o f p o v e r t y , s u c h a s gemeinschaft-gesellschaft i n s o c i o l o g y ,
c a p i t a l - o u t p u t r a t i o s i n economics a n d a b s e n c e o f n a t i o n a l p o l i t i c a l i n s t i t u t i o n s i n p o l i t i c a l science.
explanatory f a c t o r .
H i s t o r i a n s made c o l o n i a l i s m i n t o t h e main
A l t h o u g h l a c k o f s k i l l s i s h e l d by some s c h o l a r s t o
b e e v e n more e s s e n t i a l , h i s t o r i a n s may s a y t h a t l a c k o f s k i l l s i s o n l y a
cause i n t h e s e n s e t h a t causes and consequences r e i n f o r c e each o t h e r .
The
r e a s o n f o r l a c k o f s k i l l s may, f o r i n s t a n c e , b e f o u n d i n t h e b a n o n manuf a c t u r i n g which England i n t r o d u c e d i n many o f i t s c o l o n i e s .
E l i t e s and do-
minant c l a s s e s i n a l l i a n c e s w i t h " c a p i t a l i s t s " i n developed c o u n t r i e s a r e
s e e n b y many t o r e p r e s e n t t h e main p o s t - c o l o n i a l c a u s e o f l a c k o f d e v e l o p ment i n t h e T h i r d World.
A s o c i a l i s t s t a t e is t h u s advocated.
O t h e r s would
a r g u e t h a t s o c i a l i s m i n t h e T h i r d World t o d a y would p u t a h e a v y c l a i m on
the scarcest resource - administrative talent.
They t h e r e f o r e a r g u e t h a t
e n t r e p r e n e u r s a n d m a r k e t s a r e i n e v i t a b l e i n p o o r T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s .
Of
l e a d i n g c a u s e s r e l a t e d t o n a t u r e , u n f a v o u r a b l e c l i m a t e , b a d s o i l s and m a l a r i a
a r e o f t e n mentioned.
I n t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l dimension " accomodation t o p o v e r t y " ,
t h a t i s , t h e f a c t t h a t p e o p l e o f t e n p r e f e r t o s t a y w i t h what t h e y a r e a c customed t o , i s h e l d t o b e a s t r o n g e x p l a n a t i o n f o r u n s u c c e s s f u l d i f f u s i o n
of innovations.
The s p a t i a l s t r u c t u r e o f i n f r a s t r u c t u r e and economic a c t i -
v i t i e s which w e r e l e f t when t h e c o l o n i e s a t t a i n e d i n d e p e n d e n c e , shows a t y p i c a l p a t t e r n of "periphery- centre" d i r e c t i o n .
The r a i l w a y l i n e s go from t h e
i n t e r i o r t o t h e c o a s t w i t h few o r no l i n e s c o n n e c t i n g " p e r i p h e r y " w i t h " p e r i phery".
O t h e r c e n t r e s o f economic a c t i v i t i e s t h a n t h e p l a n t a t i o n s o r mines
from which t h e r a i l w a y l i n e s commonly o r i g i n a t e d a r e l o c a t e d a t p o i n t s b e s t
s u i t e d f o r t r a d e w i t h Europe o r f o r s e t t l e m e n t o f w h i t e p e o p l e u s e d t o a
more t e m p e r a t e c l i m a t e .
L o c a t i o n s t h a t would h a v e been s e n s i b l e i n r e g a r d
t o t r a d e a n d o t h e r r e l a t i o n s w i t h n e i g h b o u r i n g c o u n t r i e s h a v e s e l d o m become
centres.
The above s k e t c h o n l y r e v e a l s t h e d o m i n a n t t r a i t s o f t h e d e v e l o p m e n t l i t e r a ture.
The v a r i o u s o p i n i o n s o n c a u s e s and r e m e d i e s o f i n e q u a l i t y and p o v e r t y
h a v e e x i s t e d a n d c o n t i n u e t o e x i s t 7:n r*'ifferc7n/,m i l i e u s .
There h a s been an
a c c u m u l a t i o n o f p a r a d i g m s p r a c t i c e d by d i f f e r e n t m i l i e u s o r by i n d i v i d u a l
scholars.
The s h i f t o f p a r a d i g m i n f a s h i o n i s a r e s u l t o f , among o t h e r
t h i n g s , t h e l a c k o f s u c c e s s i n t h e e f f o r t s o f d e v e l o p m e n t i n most T h i r d World
countries.
I n a number o f c o u n t r i e s t h e r e h a s i n f a c t b e e n economlc growth
n o t w i t h development b u t w i t h i n c r e a s i n g p o v e r t y .
Today and s u r e l y i n t h e
r e s t o f t h i s d e c a d e a wide v a r i e t y o f r e m e d i e s t o p o v e r t y a r e and w i l l con-
tinue to be suggested - from extreme isolationistic self-reliance to
maximum borrowing of foreign capital from multilaterial development
banks. Poverty is, however, a many-sided and highly integrated phenomenon.
Remedies must therefore also be of such a kind.
solution does not exist.
The one-factor
Some scholars accordingly argue that "invest-
ments in the poor" will yield positive results such as higher productivity and production by an appropriate mix of infrastructural provisions.
Obviously, deuelopment p ~ m n i n gshould in this situation include, as an
explicit goal, the "satisfaction of an absolute level of basic needs"
(ILO 1976).
Development efforts should hence be more directly focussed
on the poorest groups of people.
McNamara's speech at the World Bank annual meeting in 1973 was seminal
in redirecting the attention (at least at the level of rhetoric) to poverty as the essential preoccupation of aid.
Economic growth was then
accepted not to be a sufficient indicator, in fact, development was no
longer thouyhtto follow automatically from economic growth.
In addition,
it was decided that the smallholder was a legitimate unit to support in
order to increase global food production.
The lending policy of the
World Bank did, however, not change much in the following years.
(In the
period 1975-1978 only 9.6% of the Bank's loans went to the "least developed countries", while 30.3% was given to the "upper middle-income group"
(Laar 1980).)
Undoubtedly, both economic growth and redistribution are
necessary to solve the problem of poverty.
Other scholars maintain that
there is no alternative but to rely on the modern sector either the plantation or the export industry sector as the engine of growth and thus development.
The urban slums become in this perspective a necessary evil in
a period of transition.
The optimism of the 1950s and 1960s and the critical views of the 1970s
have been replaced by a widening pessimism in the early 1980s, despite a
short-lived fairly general optimism around the turn of the decade based on
the high rates of growth achieved by the NICs before their serious balance
of payment difficulties became too apparent.
No wonder that slogans such
as "alternative" or "another development" find ample space In journals.
The stagflation of the world economy has made Keynesian economics insufficient.
According to Frank's (1967) thesis, there should now be a better
possibility for self-centred economic and social development (as he showed
was the case for a short while in Latin America during the depression
from 1929 onwards).
The common view is, however, that the relatively
high degree of interdependence among most countries today, leads to
the
opposite conclusion, the Third World will be adversely affected by global
economic stagnation.
Warren (1980) was a representative of the orthodox
Marxists maintaining that capitalism is presently developing the Third
World and that this development of the productive forces is a necessary
stage in the evolution towards a s u c c e s s f u ~socialist revolution. The
immediate preoccupation of orthodox Marxists is similar to the only preoccupation of conservatives and liberals, that is, the identification of
the forces in the market economy and elsewhere that hamper a market economy development.
Although a full-fledged market economy development
eventually will arrive, the strategy is to assist this process by removing
barriers, also barriers which are created by the process itself (figure 1).
Neo-Marxists (for instance Amin 1974, 1977, 1980, Wallerstein 1974, 1979)
base their writings more on Luxemburg (1913), Lenin (1917) and Baran (1957)
than on Marx.
They argue that peripheral or dependent capitalism in the
Third World has qualitative differences from capitalism in the centre.
The existence of poverty in the Third World is an outcome of the peripheral
nature of capitalist expansion in most of the Third World and of insufficient socialist mobilization in other Third World countries.
In the former
case the market forces are not able to eradicate traditional forms or production completely but they are strong enough to transform these forms of
production into what may be called a transitory - not completely traditional, not fully modern
Figure 1.
-
form.
The penetration and contradiction of capitalism
Capitalist
penetration
--c------
l
=
Contradictory
forces
Traditional
Thus, t h e c o n d i t i o n s p r e v a i l i n g i n r u r a l a r e a s i n t h e T h i r d World a r e
r a t h e r a r e f l e c t i o n of t h e c o n t r a d i c t o r y f o r c e s i n t h e expansion o f t h e
m a r k e t economy t h a n t h e r e s u l t o f a s i m p l e d i f f u s i o n p r o c e s s .
The pe-
n e t r a t i o n o f market f o r c e s c r e a t e s both o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r and o b s t a c l e s
t o development.
The e m p i r i c a l v a r i e t y of l o c a l and r e g i o n a l a r e a s a r e
furthermore of p a r t i c u l a r importance.
day.
However, more s o e a r l i e r t h a n t o -
I n c r e a s e d i n t e g r a t i o n h a s changed t h e o f t e n u n i q u e r e s u l t s o f t h e
c o m b i n a t i o n o f l o c a l t r a d i t i o n a l economy and c u l t u r e a n d t h e p e n e t r a t i o n
of outside forces.
E a r l i e r , economic r e l a t i o n s were t h e d o m i n a n t f o r c e s ,
b u t now c u l t u r a l u n i f i c a t i o n o f t h e West and t h e T h i r d World i s a l s o
h a v i n g a tremendous i m p a c t on t h e T h i r d World.
The i n d i r e c t e f f e c t s o n
d e v e l o p m e n t of t h e s e p r o c e s s e s a r e viewed t o b e o n e o f t h e p r i m a r y r e a s o n s
behind t h e c r e a t i o n of
(mass) p o v e r t y i n t h e T h i r d World.
The t r a r i s l t o r y form of t h e p r o d u c t i o n s t r u c t u r e
(and s o c i e t y a t l a r g e ) i s
t h o u g h t t o b e o f a r e l a t i v e l y permanent c h a r a c t e r .
transition" i s a p p l i e d t o t h i s s i t u a t i o n .
The c o n c e p t '%Locked
Since t h e blocked t r a n s i t i o n
h a s b e e n c r e a t e d by t h e p e n e t r a t i o n o f g l o b a l m a r k e t f o r c e s , some s c h o l a r s
i n t h i s s c h o o l o f t h o u g h t m a i n t a i n t h a t a d e l i n k i n g from a t l e a s t t h e world
m a r k e t i s a n e c e s s a r y p r e r e q u i s i t e f o r a i ~ t o n o m o u sa n d s e l f - c e n t r e d economic
and s o c i a l development.
I n my o p i n i o n it i s i m p o r t a n t n o t t o u s e t h e t e r m c a p i t a l i s m when r e f e r r i n g
t o t h e m a r k e t economies e x i s t i n g t o d a y .
The r e a s o n f o r t h i s i s t h a t t h e
a l r e a d y w i d e l y u n d e r e s t i m a t e d p r e s e n t and p o t e n t i a l r o l e o f t h e s t a t e i n
many T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s i s f u r t h e r e d .
The s t a t e may, i f t h e p o s i t i v e
a n d n e g a t i v e f o r c e s of t h e p r e s e n t m e r g e r o f "new" and " o l d " p r o c e s s e s a r e
i d e n t i f i e d , a s s i s t t h e good and hamper t h e had f o r c e s and t h u s c r e a t e development.
A l s o t h e t e r m m a r k e t economy h i d e s t h e f a c t t h a t t h e r e i s a
mixed economy i n most T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s .
C o u n t r i e s s u c h a s C h i n a and
Tanzania have p r i v a t e a g r i c u l t u r a l p l o t s a l o n g s i d e t h e c o l l e c t i v e ones.
B u t e v e n t h e s o c a l l e d c a p i t a l i s t c o u n t r i e s may h a v e s t a t e f a r m s and v a r i ous forms of c o o p e r a t i v e s .
nomy i n most c o u n t r i e s .
I n r e a l i t y t h e r e a r e d e g r e e s o f mixed eco-
S i n c e t h e t e r m mixed economy a c c o r d i n g l y i s n o t
a d e q u a t e , m a r k e t economies a n d s o c i a l i s t c o u n t r i e s w i l l b e u s e d .
The r e a -
s o n f o r h e t e r o g e n i e t y i n s o c i a l i s t T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s may l i e i n t h a t
t h e s o c i a l i s t form of p r o d u c t i o n i s n o t implemented i n a l l s e c t o r s o r i n
all parts of a country, because of, for instance, lack of political or
military strength.
Finally, it should be stressed that the problem of
development in most Third World countries is specific to each country,
that is, in no circumstances will a "selective delinking" or "forced
socialization" be sufficient conditions for development.
Furthermore,
development in the Third World is, on the whole, qualitatively different
from the transition from tradition to modernity in Europe.
The Third
World exists in a fundamentally different world than Europe did during,
what Hettne (1982) has called, the original transition.
DEVELOPMENT GEOGRAPHY
Development geography is a subdiscipline which together with similar subdisciplines within economics, social anthropology, sociology, political
sclience etc. are called development studies.
Development studies may be
defined as studies that are dealing with the alleviation of poverty in
the Third World and with the reduction of inequality inside the Third
World and between the Third World and developed countries.
To conduct a
geographical study in a Third World country thus does not automatically
qualify a scholar for the category development geographer.
The aim and
often also the approach of the study must beseleckd in such a way as to
allow a discussion of poverty and development related matters in order for
the scholar to be included in this category.
Development geography is
accordingly a subdiscipline of a particular kind because it comprises topics which are studied in various other subdivisions of the discipline.
It should be mentioned that it is not possible to formulate development
relevant research objectives regarding all the topics studied in geography.
No single (sub)discipline holds the key to such a compiex problem as the
existing global misery.
The development geography's point of view high-
lights some aspects neglected or only rudimentary treated by other social
sciences.
There is, as mentioned above, a constant risk that a discipline
overemphasizes the importance of its own core subject matter.
In develop-
ment g e o g r q h y spatial variation has been given a dominant place in the
discussion on development.
In reality geography as a spatial science is
regarded by most other scholars and even some geographers to be of less
centrality to the question of development.
It is essential to relate spa-
tial variation and spatial flows to the broader structure of society in
o r d e r t o g a i n e x p l a n a t o r y power.
I f t h i s i s accepted, i t becomes a matter
of d i s p o s i t i o n whether economic, s o c i a l , p o l i t i c a l and o t h e r p r o c e s s e s r e l e v a n t i n a p a r t i c u l a r c o n t e x t should be d i s c u s s e d before o r a f t e r t h e
t r e a t m e n t of s p a t i a l a s p e c t s .
placed a t t h e end.
I n t h e p r e s e n t work t h e s p a t i a l a s p e c t s a r e
Geography (geography i s used and n o t human geography
t o e n s u r e t h a t p h y s i c a l a s p e c t s a r e understood t o be of r e l e v a n c e i n human
geography) may provide d a t a , i n s i g h t s and an understanding v a l u a b l e t o t h e
development d e b a t e .
The d i s c i p l i n e s deemed most u s e f u l regarding an under-
s t a n d i n g of t h e problem o f p o v e r t y d e p e n d on t h e a s p e c t s of t h e problem
looked a t .
The r e l a t i v e importance of economics and geography concerning
economic development may a t f i r s t hand be s a i d t o favour t h e former.
How-
e v e r , t h i s i m p l i e s t h a t t h e r e i s a g e n e r a l agreement on t h e causes of underdevelopment o r nondevelopment.
This i s n o t t h e case.
In t h e p r e s e n t
s i t u a t i o n of incomplete knowledge, a determining of t h e r e l a t i v e relevance
of d i f f e r e n t d i s c i p l i n e s i s n o t p o s s i b l e t o undertake.
I n p a r t i c u l a r con-
t e x t s t h e a s p e c t s thought t o be of l e s s r e l e v a n c e may e v e n t u a l l y prove t o
b e key f a c t o r s .
The major source of new i d e a s and concepts f o r development geography w i l l ,
a s was t h e c a s e i n t h e p a s t , probably be development ( s u b ) d i s c i p l i n e s i n
other s o c i a l sciences.
Innovations may, b u t i s l e s s l i k e l y t o o r i g i n a t e
i n development geography i t s e l f because of t h e r a t h e r l i m i t e d m i l i e u s .
Another source o f novel concepts b u t p a r t i c u l a r l y of methods of study i s
o t h e r p a r t s of geography.
To t e s t t h e a p p l i c a b i l i t y of such innovations
i n t h e Third World should be a t a s k f o r development geography i n f u t u r e .
I t must n o t b e f o r g o t t e n t h a t t h e main t h e o r e t i c a l and methodological de-
b a t e i n geography a s w e l l a s most e m p i r i c a l geographical s t u d i e s f o c u s on
developed c o u n t r i e s.
Development geography h a s c o n t r i b u t e d l i t t l e t o development theory.
This
is p r i m a r i l y due t o t h e r a t h e r weak t r a d i t i o n of explanation i n geography.
Both
r e g i o n a l geography, which was t h e leading paradigm b e f o r e and s h o r t l y
a f t e r t h e Second World War, and t h e
d i f p s ~ s i o nstudies of t h e 1960s (Gould
1964, Soya 1968) were r a t h e r d e s c r i p t i o n s of f a c t s than e l u c i d a t i o n s of
causes.
The d i f f u s i o n paradigm was taken from economics, p o l i t i c a l science
and sociology of t h e 1950s.
the
This s o c a l l e d modernization paradigm r e s t s on
n o t i o n of dualism, and of development through i m i t a t i o n and i n t e g r a -
tion with the western world.
Development was equated with spatial difThe diffusion was thought
fusion of modern elements from growth centres.
to occur eventually after an original phase of polarization.
These stu-
dies have been heavily criticized (Brookfield 1973, 1978, Slater 1974,
1977).
For instance, the sophisticated modernization surfaces produced
by Gould (1970) and Riddell (1970) reveal little about the process of
development. (These studies are nonetheless part of development
geography because the assumption of the studies is that development
is brought about through a "trickling down" of modern, i.e. western
techniques, organization and culture, that is, development is regarded
primarily to be a process of diffusion.)
The diffusion paradigm was not
replsced but two other categories of development geographical studies
appeared to become more popular in the 1970s.
The first wasneo-
Marxist dependency studies (an approach based on a particular theory),
the other multidiscipZinary studies (not necessarily based on any explicit theory).
level.
These two categories remained largely at the prcqraarmatic
Few studies used explicit Marxist concepts and methods of study.
The multidisciplinary studies turned out to become team work consisting
of disciplinary specialists rather than one scholar combining concepts
from and studying research objects "belonging" to a number of other disciplines.
The conclusion that can be drawn is that mainstream geography
continued to prevail.
This in fact applied also to many of those scholars
who used non-traditional geographical concepts.
Since the basic approach
used was mainstream geography, the use of some "new" concepts became a
form of "window-dressing" with certain exceptions.
Those adhering to the
Marxist category focussed explicitly on spatial structures.
This has been
called the dialectic development geography approach (De Souza 1982).
To
those more inclined toward multidisciplinary team work, space seldom became the dependent variable. Poverty and resource use became
study.
the foci of
Space was nonetheless included whenever it was regarded to be of
relevance;
the spatial point of view was never lost sight of.
Browett
(1980,1981) maintains that if the neo-Marxist dependency approach is accepted by development geography generally that would imply a repetition of
the mistake of the 1960s of adopting the diffusion approach when that aproach was being discarded in other social sciences.
two paths for development geography in future:
To Browett there are
The reformist path con-
cerned with micro-macro scale dialectics and the (orthodox;.)MamZst path,
that is, a structural, political economy approach with historical analyses
of the "totality" and of the fundamental processes of change.
Of course,
dependency theory in its crude (Frankian)form is not tenable.
However,
to deny the existence of dependency relations between developed countries
and transnational companies on the one hand and many Third World countries on the other would be false and imply to "throw out the baby with
the bath water".
Since the r a i s o n d ' z t r e of development geography is relevance to major
global problems, geography a s a s p a t i a l s c i e n c e i n a narrow s e n s e will
often be inappropriate. It is important not to limit geography to "a
Geography confined to a spatial science, for
discipline in distance".
instance, in the form of correlations of spatial patterns, is in danger
of spatial determinism.
This is not to say that space a s t h e o b j e c t of
r e s e a r c h cannot be of relevance in the Third World.
The point is rather
that space as a p o i n t o f view on another (the primary) topic is held to
be of greater significance to an understanding of poverty.
Although a
truism, it must not be forgotten that socio-economic processes are not
reducible to spatial patterns, and furthermore that people and groups of
people are active agents of change.
In other words, spatial relationships
must be given meaning through other processes in order for geography to
become explanatory.
"...spatial structures are implicated in social struc-
tures and each has to be theorized with the other."
(Gregory 1978).
Space
should be regarded as one of a number of relevant factors, such as the physical environment, that need to be taken into consideration in an analysis
of inequality and poverty.
This does not, however, mean, as pointed out
above, that space is thought to have a crucial explanatory power on inequality and poverty as implied by Soya (1980) in his call for socio-spatial
dialectics.
I argue accordingly for a pragmatic and broad view of geo-
graphy, in contrast to a narrow and, according to Johnston (1979), spatial
separatist view.
There is only one possible path for a geographical discipline aiming at
explanation.
This path is s y s t e m a ~ i cgeography, that is, the selection of
one topic for analysis and the study of this topic in several places or
through time, thereby enabling generalization. To reach beyond the stage
of classification through area1 differentiation (Hartshorn 1939, 1959) has
proved futile.
Regional geography in the sense of a study of the interre-
lations of features in specific localities (in contrast to regionalism)
has furthermore been fairly widely accepted to be empirical, inductive and
inescapably caught in the web of uniqueness.
There are of course a number
of interesting exceptions to general findings which must and should be
studied as unique cases.
But for a science generalization is necessary
because that is the basis of theory.
Without theory we are left with sub-
jectivity, and in the case of regional geography often a form of art.
If
the above fundamental difference between systematic and regional geography
is accepted, the frequently quoted argument of Berry (1964) that geographical studies may be found anywhere in a continuum from many characteristics in one locality to one characteristic in many localities, is misleading.
It gives the impression that there is no fundamental difference
between systematic and regional geography.
The characteristics of a lo-
cality, its "total milieu", cannot but be unique and therefore, if that
is the purpose of study, there is a fundamental difference between systematic and regional geography.
If the purpose is not the character of the
locality per se but a topic, then the question arises of appropriate approach.
The objective of the present work is to contribute to an enhanced understanding of poverty and the nature of the process of development.
This
is a complex subjective matter and a choice has been made to analyse this
at what could be called middle-level complexity.
The study does not pur-
port to be "holistic" in any sense but to include a number of variables
that are thought to be of general relevance.
thus regarded to be most appropriate.
A case-study approach was
This type of approach may be a lon-
ger route to generalization but its aim is nonetheless the formulation of
hypotheses and testing of theory.
Studies at "middle-level complexity"
are important in order to gain insight into relatively comprehensive processes.
This point should be seen in the light of the urgent need for in-
formation of development planning institutions.
I n c o n c ~ u s i o n ,the distinguishing features of geography, besides the preoccupation with space, is the interest in resources, t h e production pro-
cess and l e v e l of l i v i n g of s p e c i f i c groups of people i n p a r t i c u l a r Zocalities.
I agree with Gregory (1978) that what makes geography diffe-
rent as a social science, is not the falsely stated aim of eventually attaining the grand synthesis of man and nature but "its attempts to operate
within specifically regional contexts".
Although the overall aim of de-
velopment geography is description and explanation of uneven spatial de-
velopment, t h i s should n o t p r i m a r i l y b e understood a t t h e l e v e l of an
i n d i v i d u a l geographer b u t a t t h e l e v e l of geography.
SOME PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Development geography and o t h e r development s t u d i e s a r e
and t h u s s a i d t o be i n e s c a p a b l y
normative.
problemoriented
This is correct insofar a s
t h e meaning of t h e term normative i s t h a t a s c h o l a r h a s t o s e l e c t h i s
Then a l l s o c i a l s c i e n c e work i s normative.
t o p i c of r e s e a r c h .
Although
a t h e o r y is used t o determine t h e e x a c t way of posing q u e s t i o n s and formul a t i n g hypotheses, a s c h o l a r s e l e c t s t h e t o p i c t o which t h e t h e o r y belongs.
S i n c e t h e r e s o u r c e s f o r r e s e a r c h a r e s c a r c e , a l i m i t e d number of p o s s i b l e
s c i e n t i f i c jobs, f e l l o w s h i p s e t c . e x i s t .
A s c h o l a r ' s c h o i c e of r e s e a r c h
o b j e c t w i l l t h e r e f o r e c o n t a i n a p o l i t i c a l dimension, h i s c h o i c e w i l l r e s t
on v a l u e judgement.
T h i s i s a l s o t h e c a s e i f he chooses a t o p i c a t t h e
When t h e s e l e c t i o n of a t o p i c h a s been made, it i s
research frontier.
p o s s i b l e a l s o i n t h e s o c i a l s c i e n c e s t o a c h i e v e a high d e g r e e of o b j e c t i v i t y i n d a t a c o l l e c t i o n , p r o c e s s i n g and a n a l y s i s i n t h e s e n s e of i n t e r s u b j e c t i v e t e s t a b i l i t y of r e s u l t s .
I n t h i s r e s p e c t development s t u d i e s
a r e no e x c e p t i o n .
I n s h o r t , t o s t u d y " r e l e v a n t " problems does n o t g i v e
normative t h e o r y .
Normative t h e o r y i s produced when an e n d - s t a t e i s
g i v e n and t h e p a t h t o i t s a t t a i n m e n t analyzed.
Development s t u d i e s do not
n e c e s s a r i l y b u i l d normative t h e o r i e s b u t may d i s c u s s r e s e a r c h f i n d i n g s i n
a normative way.
determined.
One may, however, say t h a t t h e q u e s t i o n s asked a r e value-
The answers o b t a i n e d a r e n o n e t h e l e s s o b j e c t i v e i n s i d e a g i v e n
frame of r e f e r e n c e .
For s c h o l a r s from developed c o u n t r i e s c a r r y i n g o u t r e s e a r c h i n a T h i r d
World c o u n t r y , t h e e x i s t i n g p o l i t i c a l - e c o n o m i c system may b e taken a s t h e
frame o f r e f e r e n c e .
The government's p r i o r i t y wishes concerning r e s e a r c h
t o p i c s may be c h o s e n a n 3 t h o s e t o p i c s t h e government i s b l a c k l i s t i n g may
be shunned.
The s i t u a t i o n may t h u s a r i s e t h a t t h e t o p i c a group of scho-
l a r s hold t o be e s s e n t i a l r e g a r d i n g development, i s n o t r e s e a r c h e d upon
a t all.
A s c h o l a r u n w i l l i n g t o comply w i t h a government's r e s e a r c h p r i -
o r i t i e s , and who i s s t i l l o p t i n g f o r r e s e a r c h on domestic i s s u e s i n a
T h i r d World c o u n t r y , may f i n d h i s " a l i b i " i n t h e UN Human R i g h t s C h a r t e r .
Myrdal (1968) a r g u e s t h a t a s c h o l a r should n o t b e concerned with t a c t ,
t a c t i c s and diplomacy.
I t i s e s s e n t i a l t h a t r e s e a r c h aims a t t r u t h , and
t h e r e s e a r c h e r m u s t always a s c e r t a i n t h a t t h i s i s achieved.
of t h e s c h o l a r t h u s becomes imperative.
The honesty
Tact may n o n e t h e l e s s be neces-
s a r y i f recommendations a r e t o be adopted by a government.
The develop-
ment s c h o l a r has a moral r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o o f f e r recommendations t o governments o r o t h e r r e l e v a n t p a r t i e s .
This i s , however, n o t unproblematic.
I t i s "easy" t o advocate r a d i c a l s o l u t i o n s o r p a i n f u l reforms f o r o t h e r s
when s e a t e d s a f e and comfortable i n a developed country ( S t r e e t e n 1 9 7 4 ) .
Although i t i s widely accepted t h a t b a s i c knowledge i s a common good, t h a t
t r u t h cannot be r a t i o n a l i z e d , and t h a t f r e e r e s e a r c h should n o t be l i m i t e d
by n a t i o n a l boundaries, t h e r e i s a q u e s t i o n of adequacy when s c h o l a r s go
t o an a l i e n cuzture.
Disciplines trying t o i n t e r p r e t a limited topic i n
another c u l t u r e may encounter problems of understanding and t h u s draw f a l The common o b j e c t i o n t o such r e s e a r c h i s t h a t t h e
l a c i o u s conclusions.
concepts, models and h i g h l y s o p h i s t i c a t e d methods t h e s c h o l a r s from developed c o u n t r i e s o f t e n apply i n t h e Third World a r e u t t e r l y inadequate t o
t h e r e a l i t i e s of t h i s p a r t of t h e world.
t h e n be i n a p p r o p r i a t e .
The p o l i c i e s recommended w i l l
Another n e g a t i v e e f f e c t i s t h a t l o c a l s c h o l a r s
o f t e n i m i t a t e t h e inadequate models of v i s i t i n g s c h o l a r s .
In addition t o
t h i s model and methodological b i a s , a b i a s of r e l e v a n t t o p i c s i n l o c a l r e s e a r c h may e x i s t .
To c o u n t e r a c t b i a s e d r e s e a r c h , everybody should be f r e e
t o c a r r y o u t r e s e a r c h i n t h e Third World.
I n r e a l i t y some f o r e i g n scho-
l a r s w i l l "always" be found i n t h e Third World.
I t i s t h e r e f o r e "always"
a p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t c o r r e c t i o n s should be a p p l i e d by o t h e r s c h o l a r s t o t h e
a t b e s t p a r t i a l s o l u t i o n s advocated by t h e " f i r s t " s c h o l a r s .
(Another
reason f o r conducting r e s e a r c h i n t h e Third World i s t h a t b u s i n e s s , cult u r a l and o t h e r l i n k s always w i l l e x i s t between t h e Third World and t h e
developed c o u n t r i e s .
Research on t h e s e l i n k s
and t h e i r m a n i f e s t a t i o n s
i n p a r t i c u l a r c o u n t r i e s i s t h u s necessary f o r t h e debate i n t h e developed
c o u n t r i e s on t h e i r r e l a t i o n s w i t h t h e Third World g e n e r a l l y . )
T h i s view
i s based on t h e b e l i e f t h a t t h e t a s k of s o c i a l s c i e n t i s t s i s t o provide
policy-makers with a range of p o s s i b l e and n e c e s s a r i l y p a r t , o f t e n conf l i c t i n g , i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of a s o c i e t y .
C o l l a b o r a t i v e r e s e a r c h between
s c h o l a r s from developed c o u n t r i e s and s c h o l a r s from t h e Third World would
provide a s o l u t i o n t o t h e above mentioned problems.
Moreover, such a col-
l a b o r a t i o n would i n c r e a s e t h e p o t e n t i a l i n f l u e n c e on policy-makers i n both
p a r t s of t h e world.
I n s h o r t , development r e s e a r c h i n t h e Third World in-
c l u d i n g p e r s o n s from t h e d e v e l o p e d c o u n t r i e s s h o u l d b e a form o f d i a l o g u e ,
and t h i s d i a l o g u e s h o u l d b e l o o k e d upon a s a n i m p o r t a n t p a r t o f t h e e f f o r t
t o w a r d s a p e a c e f u l economic and s o c i a l development o f t h e e n t i r e w o r l d .
I t m u s t , however,
n o t b e f o r g o t t e n t h a t t h e above argument o f u n f a m i l i a r i t y
w i t h a n o t h e r c u l t u r e o f t e n a l s o a p p l i e s t o " u r b a n " h i g h s t a t u s T h i r d World
s c h o l a r s when t h e y e n t e r t h e r u r a l f i e l d i n t h e i r own c o u n t r i e s .
The fresh-
n e s s o f p e r c e p t i o n a c h i e v e d when s h u t t l i n g between c u l t u r e s i s , on t h e o t h e r
hand, a n i m p o r t a n t a m e l i o r a t i n g p o i n t .
F o r development r e s e a r c h e r s a c o n t r a d i c t i o n may b e f o u n d between what t h e y
s e e a s being of p r a c t i c a l r e l e v a n c e ,
the development research frontier ( o f
t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e d i s c i p l i n e s ) , and t h e a c a d e m i c a l l y r e l e v a n t ,
tional research frontier.
the institu-
T h i s s i t u a t i o n e x i s t s b e c a u s e development s t u d i e s
o n l y c o n s t i t u t e a minor p a r t o f t h e r e s p e c t i v e d i s c i p l i n e s .
b e a r i n g o n t h e q u e s t i o n o f employment a t u n i v e r s i t i e s .
This has a
T h e r e i s , however,
no a l t e r n a t i v e i n development s t u d i e s b u t t o c h o o s e t o p i c s r e l e v a n t t o and
p l a c e d i n a p e r s p e c t i v e o f development i n t h e c o u n t r y i n which a s t u d y i s
carried out.
Because o f t h e n e c e s s a r y
dedication to the problem of develop-
rncnt, t o a l l e v i a t i n g p o v e r t y a n d m i s e r y i n t h e w o r l d , a d e v e l o p m e n t r e s e a r c h e r ' s c h o i c e o f r e s e a r c h t o p i c may h a r b o u r a n e l e m e n t o f d i s q u a l i f i c a t i o n r e g a r d i n g a n academic c a r e e r a t home (Chambers 1 9 8 1 ) .
Thus, i f idea-
l i s m was r e l i e d upon, t h e number o f s c h o l a r s i n t h i s f i e l d would b e extremely
low.
Chambers m a i n t a i n s t h a t i n o r d e r t o a c h i e v e r e l e v a n t development r e -
s e a r c h " t h e s y s t e m o f r e w a r d s , p r e s t i g e and p r o m o t i o n h a s t o change i f t h e
m a j o r i t y o f t h o s e c o n c e r n e d w i t h ( r u r a l ) development a r e t h e m s e l v e s t o change".
The i m p o r t a n t r e a s o n f o r d e d i c a t i o n l i e s i n t h e f o l l o w i n g q u o t a t i o n from
Goulet (1971):
"Unless one h a s p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y " tuned i n " on t h e wavelength
o f t h e p o o r , h e ( t h e s c h o l a r ) c a n n o t i m a g i n e e v e n v i c a r i o u s l y what it means
t o be underdeveloped.
T h i s j.s e s p e c i a l l y t r u e o f t e c h n i c i a n s working a b r o a d ;
t h e y c a n n o t hope t o g a i n r e a d y a c c e p t a n c e i n u n d e r d e v e l o p e d s e t t i n g s u n l e s s
they p r a c t i c e voluntary a u s t e r i t y i n judicious fashion.
...
( T h i s ) must b e
founded o n i n t e r n a l d e t a c h m e n t from e g o c e n t r i c p u r s u i t s a n d o n a c t i v e r e spect for others."
CONCLUSION
The t y p i c a l t r a i t o f d e v e l o p m e n t s t u d i e s i s t h a t o f i n c o m p l e t e knowledge.
No g e n e r a l t h e o r y o f d e v e l o p m e n t e x i s t s , a n d i f f o r m u l a t e d i n f u t u r e , no
common a c c e p t a n c e i s l i k e l y t o b e f o u n d .
The u r g e n c y o f f i n d i n g a s o l u -
t i o n t o g l o b a l i n e q u a l i t y and
( m a s s ) p o v e r t y i s no l e s s t h a n t h a t o f p r e -
venting a nuclear holocaust.
A
poverty focus was u n d e r l i n e d above a s t h e
main c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f d e v e l o p m e n t s t u d i e s .
have t o b e given p r i o r i t y .
Thus c e r t a i n r e s e a r c h t o p i c s
A l i s t o f p r i o r i t y t o p i c s h a s t o b e b a s e d on
d e v e l o p m e n t t h i n k i n g , o n t h e f i e l d o f d e v e l o p m e n t r e s e a r c h , and n o t on
convenience, p o l i t i c a l expediency o r c a r e e r considerations.
The l i s t
s h o u l d n o t b e o f a n a r r o w k i n d b e c a u s e o f t h e s t a t e d i n c o m p l e t e knowledge.
I t s h o u l d f u r t h e r m o r e b e s t r e s s e d t h a t d e v e l o p m e n t i s a n open- ended con-
cept,
a n d t h a t e t h n o c e n t r i s m i s a c o n s t a n t t h r e a t i n c h o i c e of t o p i c and
method o f r e s e a r c h .
The r e s e a r c h a p p r o a c h a d o p t e d s h o u l d b e i n d u c t i v e r a t h e r t h a n d e d u c t i v e ,
a s e x p r e s s e d b y Hyd6n ( 1 9 8 0 ) :
"We have r e a s o n t o i n i t i a t e a n i n d u c t i v e
s e a r c h t h a t w i l l f i l l t h e empty s p o t s i n o u r knowledge o f development
(in
The r o l e of developmrnt p6.c-
A f r i c a ) and t h e r e f o r e e n r i c h o u r m o d e l s " .
graphy i n t h i s p e r s p e c t i v e s h o u l d b o t h b e t o p r o v i d e a w i d e r v a r i e t y of
d a t a which t a k e n t o g e t h e r w i t h s t u d i e s o f t h e d e v e l o p e d c o u n t r i e s discZosa
m d e x p l a i n regional and global i n e q u a z i t i e s , and t o h i g h l i g h t t h e more
narrow s p a t i a l d i m e n s i o n o f t h e development p r o c e s s .
The o v e r r i d i n g ques-
t i o n i s why economic and s o c i a l development h a v e o c c u r r e d r a p i d l y i n some
a r e a s and s l o w l y i n o t h e r s .
To l i m i t t h e development g e o g r a p h i c a l ana-
l y s i s t o i n c l u d e o n l y forms of s p a t i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n
( i n t h e extreme c a s e
o n l y d i s t a n c e ) a s v a l i d d i m e n s i o n o f e x p l a n a t i o n , i s deemed t o make development g e o g r a p h y a n i r r e l e v a n t d i s c i p l i n e .
ment i s " e s s e n t i a l l y a s o c i o - s p a t i a l p r o c e s s "
On t h e o t h e r h a n d , d e v e l o p (Mabogunje 1 9 8 0 ) , and (geo-
g r a p h i c a l ) s p a c e i s a d i m e n s i o n which t h e development g e o g r a p h e r , i n cont r a s t t o o t h e r s c h o l a r s , is c o n t i n u a l l y looking f o r , evaluating t h e imp o r t a n c e o f and i n c l u d i n g i n h i s a n a l y s i s .
S h o u l d p r i o r i t y b e g i v e n t o m r a z areas?
The r e a s o n f o r g i v i n g a p o s i t i v e
answer i s , i n f o l l o w i n g L i p t o n ( 1 9 7 7 ) , t h a t t h e most i m p o r t a n t c o n f l i c t
between g r o u p s o f p e o p l e t o d a y i s between r u r a l and u r b a n g r o u p s .
Most o f
t h e p o v e r t y and most o f t h e l o w - c o s t s o u r c e s of p o t e n t i a l a d v a n c e a r e found
i n r u r a l a r e a s , w h e r e a s t h e u r b a n s e c t o r c o n t a i n s most o f t h e a r t i c u l a t e d n e s s and power.
F u r t h e r m o r e , i f it i s t a k e n a s a n a s s u m p t i o n t h a t p r i o r i t y
i n investments should b e g i v e n t o a g r i c u l t u r e and n o t t o i n d u s t r y , t h e
a t t e n t i o n should b e c e n t r e d on r u r a l poverty.
I s global development possible through a s t r a t e g y based on an asswnption of
harmony of i n t e r e s t i n the world?
a s t h e leading premise.
The B r a n d t r e p o r t (1980) t a k e s harmony
The r e p o r t s t a t e s :
T h i s i s , however, n o t s e e n t o b e i n -
g r e a t e r c a t a s t r o p h e s than t h e 1930s."
evitable.
"The 1 9 8 0 s c o u l d w i t n e s s e v e n
The w o r l d i s a u n i t y w i t h p r o b l e m s b u t t h e n e c e s s a r y f u n d a m e n t a l
For i n s t a n c e , a l a r g e - s c a l e t r a n s f e r
changes can b e t o t h e b e n e f i t of a l l .
o f r e s o u r c e s t o t h e T h i r d World w i l l h a v e a m a j o r i m p a c t o n g r o w t h i n t h e
whole w o r l d economy.
The r i c h d o e s n o t r e a l l y h a v e t o s a c r i f i c e i n o r d e r t o
u p l i f t t h e poor b u t i n t h e short- run reduce t h e i r investments i n t h e developed
countries.
G o u l e t (1971) h o l d s a d i f f e r e n t view:
"... inhuman
poverty cannot
b e wiped o u t u n l e s s t h e w o r l d a s a whole s e t s o u t t o e l i m i n a t e p o v e r t y , n o t
t o obtain affluence".
T h i s c l a s s i c a l dilemma o f w h e t h e r t o g i v e p r i m a c y t o
economic g r o w t h o r t o p o v e r t y e r a d i c a t i o n r e g a r d l e s s o f a p o s s i b l e n e g a t i v e
i m p a c t on economic g r o w t h i n t h e l o n g - r u n l i e s a t t h e b o t t o m o f t h e d i s c u s s i o n
of
( r a d i c a l ) reforms versus revolution.
Although a c e r t a i n degree of mutual
i n t e r e s t e x i s t s between t h e T h i r d World a n d d e v e l o p e d c o u n t r i e s , a c o n f l i c t
model is a b e t t e r r e f l e c t i o n of t h e r e a l world.
one example i s t h e compe-
t i t i o n between e s p e c i a l l y t r a n s n a t i o n a l companies which r e s u l t s i n t h a t c o s t
c o n s i d e r a t i o n s t h r o u g h c h e a p l a b o u r become i m p e r a t i v e and t h u s t h e p r e s s u r e
o n p o o r c o u n t r i e s t o c r e a t e a n ample s u p p l y t o a t t r a c t f o r e i g n i n v e s t m e n t s .
T h i s i s n o t t o deny t h a t l a r g e - s c a l e i n d u s t r i e s h a v e a n o b j e c t i v e i n t e r e s t
i n a n improved b u y i n g power among t h e w o r l d ' s p o p u l a t i o n a t l a r g e .
A case
i n p o i n t i s t h e m u t u a l i n t e r e s t e x i s t i n g b e t w e e n many l a r g e S o u t h A f r i c a n
companies and a n t i - a p a r t h e i d f o r c e s ,
A n o t h e r example i s t h a t t h e M a r x i s t
conclusion t h a t t h e r e i s a b a s i c s o l i d a r i t y between r i c h and poor workers
n a t i o n a l l y a s w e l l a s i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y i s b e l i e v e d t o have l i t t l e explanatory
power i n t h e w o r l d t o d a y .
S o l i d a r i t y between r i c h w o r k e r s i n t h e d e v e l o p e d
c o u n t r i e s a n d p o o r w o r k e r s i n t h e Thlrd World i s a c c o r d i n g l y r e g a r d e d t o b e
a t b e s t a f a r - s i g h t e d o p t i o n , and t h u s a g e n e r a l a g r e e m e n t o n a n " i n t e r n a t i o n a l welfare ideology" is n o t thought t o be p l a u s i b l e i n t h e foreseeable
future.
There i s a common agreement t h a t g l o b a l interdependence regarding raw mat e r i a l s , technology and c a p i t a l has reached such a high l e v e l t h a t i t i s
impossible t o envisage t h e development of any Third World country through
a s t r a t e g y of i s o l a t i o n . Furthermore, t h e developed c o u n t r i e s a r e technol o g i c a l l y more advanced and w i l l "always" be s o i f market f o r c e s a r e l e f t
t o o p e r a t e unchecked.
The d i r e c t i o n of t e c h n o l o g i c a l change w i l l t h e r e -
f o r e be determined by t h e developed c o u n t r i e s .
The r e l a t i o n s between t h e
Third World and t h e developed c o u n t r i e s which r e p r e s e n t c o n f l i c t s of i n t e r e s t should t h e r e f o r e be solved by Third World u n i t y i n g l o b a l negotiat i o n s with t h e g e n e r a l aim of achieving a g l o b a l v i s i o n which i s e s s e n t i a l
t o solve a global c r i s i s .
The viewpoint adopted h e r e i s t h a t s u b s t a n t i a l
and t o some degree autonomous development i s p o s s i b l e i n t h e Third World
w i t h i n t h e p r e s e n t world system and w i t h i n t h e f i n i t e r e s o u r c e s of t h e world.
This i s so not l e a s t , a s a l s o underlined by Chisholm (1982), because of t h e
d e c l i n e i n p o p u l a t i o n growth i n t h e l a s t few y e a r s .
The t o t a l e r a d i c a t i o n
of poverty and t h e r e d u c t i o n of i n e q u a l i t y f o r e t o l d by Kahn ( 1 9 7 6 ) a r e ,
however, n o t thought t o be p l a u s i b l e i n a world where competition and conf l i c t s between groups of people and n a t i o n s a r e t h e b a s i c c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s .
The v i s i o n of hope must n o n ~ t h e l e s snever be l o s t .
CHAPTER 2
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Botswana i s a n example o f a T h i r d World c o u n t r y i n t r a n s i t i o n .
of t h e p e a s a n t r y i s used t o analyze t h i s t r a n s i t i o n .
The c a s e
The p o i n t o f d e p a r -
t u r e i s t h e r e c e n t l y renewed s c h o l a r l y i n t e r e s t i n p e a s a n t s a s c o n s t i t u t i n g a s e p a r a t e and c r u c i a l c a t e g o r y o f a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s f o r a g r i c u l t u r a l development.
This debate is here c a l l e d t h e peasant controversy.
I n e q u a l i t y a n d p o v e r t y among a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s
accompanying phenomena o f t r a n s i t i o n s .
are often
Poverty c o n s t i t u t e s t h e p i v o t a l
i s s u e and t h e r u i s ~ ndlWtre o f t h i s work.
Poverty a l l e v i a t i o n through
a g r i c u l t u r a l development i s t h u s t h e l o g i c a l l y n e x t s t e p t o b e c o v e r e d .
I n Botswana t h e r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n i s o f p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t r e g a r d i n g
a g r i c u l t u r a l development b e c a u s e o f a t r a d i t i o n of v i l l a g e - b a s e d
t u r a l producers.
agricul-
F i n a l l y , t h e concepts used i n o f f i c i a l s t a t i s t i c a l publi-
c a t i o n s on a g r i c u l t u r e may n o t b e f u l l y a d e q u a t e t o r e f l e c t t h e p r e s e n t
a g r a r i a n r e a l i t i e s i n Botswana.
Thus, a comment on t h e s e c o n c e p t s w i l l b e
included.
Ths peasant coztrovcrsy
Tiia main ohjrc/,-iuc i s t o question t h e recent but widely held view tirat
p m x a n t s i n A f r i ~ . nhave a c e r t a i n amount o f freedom t o pursup values t h a t
d i f f e r from thoec !:omnon i n deueloped c o u n t r i e s .
BY p e a s a n t i s g e n e r a l l y
u n d e r s t o o d a c u l t i v a t o r , o r sometimes a l s o a herdsman, who t a k e s p a r t i n
m a r k e t exchange on e i t h e r t h e s a l e s o r i n p u t s i d e b u t who h a s n o t become
a f a r m e r , o r a r a n c h e r , u s i n g modern t e c h n i q u e s o f p r o d u c t i o n .
By t h e i r
b e h a v i o u r p e a s a n t s a r e s a i d t o h o l d back t h e g e n e r a l development o f n a t i o n s t a t e s b e c a u s e t h e y do n o t p r o d u c e a n a d e q u a t e s u r p l u s f o r t h e growing u r ban c e n t r e s .
The main r e a s o n why t h e p e a s a n t s a r e a b l e t o w i t h s t a n d t h e
p r e s s u r e from t h e s o c a l l e d p e n e t r a t i o n o f t h e m a r k e t economy ( o r from soc i a l i s t planning) is h e l d t o be t h e i r c o n t r o l over land.
Herein l i e s a l s o
p a r t l y t h e e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h e d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n t h e A f r i c a n and t h e
A s i a n and L a t i n American p e a s a n t s .
I n t h e two l a t t e r a r e a s l a n d l o r d i s m
p r e v a i l s t o a much l a r g e r e x t e n t .
The key t o dcvslopment t h u s l i e s w i t h
t h e peasants, t h e i r economy and c u l t u r e .
A particular emphasis i s placed
on socio- psychological aspects o f t h e peasants and t h e i r c o m u n i t i e s .
An a l t e r n a t i v e way o f l o o k i n g a t t h e g e n e r a l l a c k o f a g r i c u l t u r a l d e v e l o p ment i n t h e T h i r d World i s t o focus on t h e
termine t h e work and l i f e o f t h e peasants.
.in72dit;-ions and forces t h a t deT h i s i m p l i e s , among o t h e r
t h i n g s , a n a n a l y s i s o f t h e n a t u r e o f t h e p e n e t r a t i o n o f t h e m a r k e t economy
i n concrete empirical s i t u a t i o n s .
The a s s u m p t i o n i s t h e n t h a t p e a s a n t s ,
a s most o t h e r p e o p l e i n t h e w o r l d t o d a y , a r e on a c o n s t a n t o u t l o o k f o r
ways i n which t o improve t h e i r l e v e l o f l i v i n g , and t h e r e f o r e t h e y w i l l
improve t h e i r a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n i f t h a t h e l p s them i n o b t a i n i n g a
better life.
A d i s c u s s i o n of development e f f o r t s w i l l a c c o r d i n g l y revolve
a r o u n d t h e n e g a t i v e and p o s i t i v e e f f e c t s o f t h e e x t e n s i o n and i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n o f m a r k e t r e l a t i o n s ( i . e . t h e e x p a n s i o n o f t h e m a r k e t economy) o r
t h e d i f f u s i o n o f s o c i a l i s t p l a n n i n g and t h e e n v i r o n m e n t i n a wide s e n s e
These c o n t r a s t i n g viewpoints a r e t h e es-
u n d e r which t h e p e a s a n t s e x i s t .
s e n c e o f what w i l l b e c a l l e d t h e peasant controversy.
The main p o i n t o f what may b e c a l l e d t h e " u n c a p t u r e d p e a s a n t r y " t h e s i s i s
t h a t p e a s a n t s a r e n o t w h o l l y " c a p t u r e d " b y t h e m a r k e t economy, t h e y h a v e
an " e x i t option".
I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e m a r k e t eco-
nomy, p e a s a n t s t o some d e g r e e s t i l l have a n economic c i r c u l a t i o n p a t t e r n
c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y r e d i s t r i b u t i o n and r e c i p r o c i t y .
I t is therefore in t h i s
l i n e of thinking h e l d t o be p o s s i b l e t o d e s c r i b e t h e peasants a s having a
s p e c i f i c mode o f p r o d u c t i o n
(Chayanov 1 9 2 5 , B a r l e t t 1 9 8 0 , Hyd6n 1 9 8 0 ,
Rudengren 1 9 8 1 , S k a r s t e i n 1 9 8 1 ) .
The p e a s a n t mode o f p r o d u c t i o n i s b l o c -
k i n g a r e a l c a p i t a l i s t t r a n s i t i o n i n t h e T h i r d World.
l e v a n t t o say "blocking a s o c i a l i s t revolution" .
It is equally re-
Thus, i n t h i s l i t e r a t u r e
much o f t h e blame f o r l a c k o f d e v e l o p m e n t i n g e n e r a l i s p u t on t h e p e a s a n t s .
C o l b u r n (1982) e v e n g o e s a s f a r a s t o s a y t h a t " t h e way p e a s a n t s r e s p o n d
t o economic and p o l i t i c a l a l t e r n a t i v e s i s more t h a n e v e r b e f o r e i n f l u e n c i n g
n a t i o n a l and world p o l i t i c s . "
(Underlined h e r e . )
By u s i n g t r a d i t i o n a l ,
and a c c o r d i n g l y well- known p r a c t i c e s o f c u l t i v a t i o n and a n i m a l h u s b a n d r y ,
t h e p e a s a n t s , it i s m a i n t a i n e d , h a v e a c e r t a i n d e g r e e o f s e c u r i t y of s a t i s f a c t i o n o f b a s i c needs.
When t h e y need c l o t h e s , t e a and a l i t t l e o f o t h e r
r e l a t i v e l y c h e a p consumer g o o d s , t h e y w i l l s e l l t h e i r s u r p l u s a t t h e m a r k e t .
N a t i o n a l p l a n n e r s a c c o r d i n g l y d o n o t g e t s u f f i c i e n t p r e d i c t a b i l i t y on which
t o make t h e i r p l a n s .
The l e s s t h a n o p t i m a l p r o d u c t i o n i s a l s o i n macro-
economic t e r m s a d r a i n o n f o r e i g n exchange b e c a u s e o f , f o r i n s t a n c e , t h e
need t o i m p o r t f o o d .
I f t h e w e a t h e r o r o t h e r f a c t o r s make it t o o l a b o u -
r o u s t o a c h i e v e a marketable s u r p l u s , t h e p e a s a n t s w i l l n o t do it.
In-
s t e a d t h e y w i l l p u r s u e t h e s t r a t e g y of l i m i t i n g t h e i r c o n s u m p t i o n .
This
i s t h e t y p i c a l r e a c t i o n o f t h e p e a s a n t s t o t h e b a s i c dilemma o f a l l c u l t i v a t o r s who a r e l i n k e d i n some way t o t h e w o r l d m a r k e t a n d i t s u n e q u a l l y
s p i r a l l i n g p r i c e s - e i t h e r t h e y h a v e t o p r o d u c e more f o r s a l e o r consume
l e s s of goods bought.
Although t h e r e i s 1 i t t l . e d i s a g r e e m e n t o n most o f t h e c o n s e q u e n c e s o f t h e
e x i s t e n c e of a p e a s a n t r y , t h e fundamental q u e s t i o n i s whether t h e p e a s a n t s
r e a l l y want t o b e p e a s a n t s .
I t is obvious t h a t "accomodation t o poverty" ,
t h e f a c t t h a t most p e a s a n t s a r e u s e d t o a s i m p l e e x i s t e n c e , r e p r e s e n t s a n
e l e m e n t o f i n e r t i a , and i s i n i t s e l f a n o b s t a c l e t o change.
They may a l s o
i n some i n s t a n c e s t u r n away from improvements b e c a u s e o f c u l t u r a l v a l u e s
p r e s c r i b i n g s u b s i s t e n c e ( s a t i s f i e r ) p r o d u c t i o n o r l e i s u r e a s more v a l u a b l e
t h a n money o b t a i n e d t h r o u g h a m a r k e t .
Such c a u s e s c a n n o t , however, b e
t a k e n t o form a c o m p l e t e e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h e l a c k o f a g e n e r a l commercial i z a t i o n o f a g r i c u l t u r e i n t h e T h i r d World.
I n my o p i n i o n it i s more l i k e l y
t h a t p e a s a n t s , a s most o t h e r p e o p l e , w i l l " a t t e m p t t o improve t h e i r long- run
s e c u r i t y by moving t o a p o s i t i o n w i t h h i g h e r incomes w i t h l e s s v a r i a n c e . "
(Popkin 1980).
T h i s i s probably e s p e c i a l l y t r u e i n contemporary s o c i e t i e s
where o t h e r p e o p l e ' s "good l i f e " is e a s i l y o b s e r v a b l e f o r most p e o p l e .
Peasants who t u r n away from market s a l e s , i s accordingZy doing s o because
t h conditions
~
under which production for sale i s undertaken, are n o t favourable.
Peasants a r e undoubtedly forced t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n market s a l e s
a t l e a s t once i n a while because t h a t i s t h e o n l y o p t i o n a v a i l a b l e today
t o improve t h e i r income.
The p e a s a n t i s i n f a c t c o n t i n u o u s l y p r e s s e d , i f
h e o r she wants t o b e an a g r i c u l t u r a l producer i n f u t u r e , by t h e contrad i c t i o n between m a i n t a i n i n g s e c u r i t y o f l i v e l i h o o d i n t h e s h o r t - r u n and
a c h i e v i n g a n improved l e v e l o f l i v i n g a n d t h u s h i g h e r s e c u r i t y i n t h e longrun.
The s i t u a t i o n i n many p l a c e s t o d a y i s t h a t t h e p e a s a n t s a r e u n a b l e
t o s a t i s f y t h e i r f o o d r e q u i r e m e n t s from own s o c a l l e d s u b s i s t e n c e p r o d u c t i o n .
T h i s h a s b e e n s a i d t o b e a normal s t a t e o f a f f a i r s i n a s o c i e t y i n r a p i d
t r a n s i t i o n where e s p e c i a l l y a g r i c u l t u r a l s t r u c t u r e s a r e o f a p r e - m a r k e t
( o r p r e - s o c i a l i s t ) k i n d (Wilkinson 1 9 7 3 ) .
The r e l a t i v e l y l o n g d u r a t i o n
of t h e s t a g n a t i o n i n t h e p r o d u c t i o n a t most f a r m s i n t h e T h i r d World may,
however, make i t r e l e v a n t t o r e g a r d i t a s a r e l a t i v e l y p e r m a n e n t phenomenon ( a l t h o u g h it w i l l d i s a p p e a r i n t h e e n d ) .
I t should b e expected i n a
s i t u a t i o n l i k e t h i s t h a t p e a s a n t s choose a v a r i e t y of a d a p t a t i o n s involving
a g r i c u l t u r e a n d n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l means o f o b t a i n i n g a s a t i s f a c t o r y d e g r e e
of p r o b a b i l i t y of f u t u r e p r o s p e c t s f o r a b e t t e r l i f e .
The main a l t e r n a -
t i v e s a r e urban migration, continued a g r i c u l t u r a l production e i t h e r by
r e m a i n i n g a p e a s a n t o r b y becoming a f a r m e r a n d c o m b i n a t i o n of work o r
t r a d e with a g r i c u l t u r e e i t h e r a s a n i n d i v i d u a l o r based on t h e household
a s t h e economic u n i t .
The p e a s a n t c o n t r o v e r s y i s a w o r t h w i l e t o p i c f o r d e v e l o p m e n t g e o g r a p h y t o
t a k e up b e c a u s e more t h e o r e t i c a l and e m p i r i c a l work i s n e e d e d f o r a b e t t e r
u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e i n t e r p l a y between peasants and markets.
Although t h e
peasant concept h a s been t h e o r e t i c a l l y debated i n anthropology s i n c e t h e
m i d - f i f t i e s , it h a s b e e n w i d e l y u s e d b u t c l o s e t o e n t i r e l y a p p l i e d a s a
d e s c r i p t i v e concept i n o t h e r d i s c i p l i n e s .
On t h e e m p i r i c a l s i d e , a good
reason f o r looking i n t o t h e peasant concept i s t h a t according t o convention a l d e f i n i t i o n s , p e a s a n t s c o n s t i t u t e t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e w o r l d ' s populaticsl,
and a r e becoming more numerous.
Moreover, a n a n a l y s i s o f t h e p e a s a n t con-
t r o v e r s y a l l o w s a d i s c u s s i o n o f some o f t h e k e y q u e s t i o n s i n t h e d e v e l o p ment d e b a t e , b o t h t h e o r e t i c a l and practical q u e s t i o n s .
InequaZity and poverty
Botswana i s a t t h e moment c h a n g i n g r a p i d l y i n many ways.
A s i n o t h e r so-
c i e t i e s d u r i n g t h e f u n d a m e n t a l t r a n s i t i o n from a t r a d l t l o n a l a g r a r i a n soc i e t y t o a modern m a r k e t economy b a s e d o n wage l a b o u r , i n e q u a l i t y and pov e r t y i s p r o b a b l y a l s o c r e a t e d i n Botswana ( f i g u r e 2 ) .
question asked
The fundamental
i s why more and more people are dropping out of agricul-
t u r a l p u r s u i t s i n a s i t u a t i o n w i t h ample access t o s u i t a b l e Zand and L i t t l e
o r no a l t e r n a t i v e employment.
E x i s t i n g o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r wage employment
d o n o t s u f f i c e f o r more t h a n p a r t o f t h o s e who l e a v e o r a r e f o r c e d o u t of
agriculture.
Although t h e h i g h r a t e o f p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h may b e a n impor-
t a n t r e a s o n f o r l a c k o f employment o p p o r t u n i t i e s , a n d t h u s o f p o v e r t y , i t
is not t h e only reason.
The study i s then concerned w i t h t h connection
~
between increased n a t i o n a l and i n t e r n a t i o n a l i n t e g r a t i o n , on the one hand,
and changes i n the d i s t r i b u t i o n of t h e h e n ~ f i t so f economic grouth, t h a t
i s , t h e p a t t e r n of l e v e l o f l i v i n g , on t h e other.
This n e c e s s i t a t e s an
a p p r o a c h where t h e p e a s a n t c a t e g o r y i s s p l i t i n t o a number o f h o u s e h o l d ca-
42
Figure 2.
Model of the present work.
Inequality
Societal
Agrarian
/
Agricultural and
spatial development
planning
Rural
settlement
pattern
Note.
The arrowc show h y p o t h e t i c a l d i r e c t i o n s o f causal Links.
The
point i s t o d i s t i n g u i s h between d i r e c t and i n d i r e c t causes of
i n e q u a l i t y and poverty.
By a d i r e c t cause i s understood t h a t
i n e q u a l i t y and/or poverty i s created (and r e c r e a t e d ) d i r e c t l y ,
for in.stnnce, from s o c i a t a l e v o l u t i o n r a t h e r than i n d i r e c t l y
from s o c i ~ t a ZpvoZution v i a c o n d i t i o n s f o r a g r i c u l t u r e ( i . e .
t h e agrarian t r a n s i t i o n ) .
teyories based on income and income sources.
A possible process of eco-
nomic growth with increasing inequality will thus be illuminated.
Ob-
viously, a historical perspective revealing the roots of the present inequality and the mechanisms behind, must also be included.
The mechanisms behind inequality and poverty may be determined both through
a world system or by an actor type of approach.
The ~ o r L dsystem approach
(Wallerstein 1974, 1 9 7 9 , Hollist and Rosenau 1981, Hopkins and Wallerstein
1982) entails an analysis of the internal logic of the development of capitalist relations.
This is a relatively deductive approach at a hlgh level
of abstraction. The a c t o r approach is usually more inductive.
It may, for
instance, consist of an analysis of the aggregated behaviour of different
categories of agricultural producers.
In this kind of approach a decision
is not normally taken a p r i o r i concernlny whlch of the mechanisms influencing people's behaviour that were the most determining ones, as would be
t h e c a s e i n t h e former approach.
An a p p r o a c h more s i m i l a r t o t h e a c t o r
a p p r o a c h h a s b e e n c h o s e n s i n c e o n e aim i s t o p r o v i d e i n f o r m a t i o n u s e f u l
f o r planning purposes.
T h i s a p p r o a c h a l l o w s f o r more d e t a i l e d e m p i r i c a l
coverage of s e v e r a l a s p e c t s .
I t i s f u r t h e r m o r e n o t a t t h e same h i g h
l e v e l of a b s t r a c t i o n a s t h e world system approach which, f o r i n s t a n c e ,
g i v e s t h e m a r k e t a t o o d e t e r m i n i s t i c r o l e and a l m o s t i g n o r e s t h e product i o n process.
I n s h o r t , t h i s choice implies giving p r i o r i t y t o empirical
d e t a i l o n a g r i c u l t u r e and r e l a t e d m a t t e r s i n Botswana.
I n t h i s way B o t s -
wana becomes a n example o f a s o c i e t y i n t r a n s i t i o n .
The w o r l d s y s t e m p e r -
s p e c t i v e w i l l , however, n o t b e l e f t o u t c o m p l e t e l y .
I n c e r t a i n p a r t s of
t h e argument s u c h a p e r s p e c t i v e i s e s s e n t i a l f o r a n improved u n d e r s t a n d i n g .
A g r i c u l t u r a l deva Zopment
Many s c h o l a r s have been p r e o c c u p i e d w i t h t h e s t a g n a t i o n o r l a c k o f d e v e l o p ment o f a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i v i t y i n t h e T h i r d World.
c a s e i n Botswana i n r e c e n t y e a r s .
This is a l s o t h e
One may a s k why t h e p e n e t r a t i o n o f t h e
m a r k e t economy h a s n o t l e d t o a dynamic e x p a n s i o n ( w i t h t h e p r o m i s e of
h i g h w e l f a r e i n f u t u r e ) i n t h e T h i r d World g e n e r a l l y , a s was t h e c a s e i n
t h e developed c o u n t r i e s .
The r o l e o f a g r i c u l t u r a l c o m m e r c i a l i z a t i o n i n
t h e o v e r a l l p r o c e s s o f n a t i o n a l development h a s a l s o b e e n a n a l y s e d i n t e n sively.
Why t h e n add more t o t h i s t o p i c ?
F i r s t , t h e d i s c u s s i o n of a g r i -
c u l t u r a l s t a g n a t i o n a n d t h e r o l e o f a g r i c u l t u r e i n development g e n e r a l l y
a r e n o t t h e primary o b j e c t i v e p r e s e n t l y .
Second, p a r t o f t h e
rai.son
d ' B t r e o f development s t u d i e s , a n d t h u s o f development g e o g r a p h y , i s a s
s t r e s s e d a b o v e , t o u s e a n y d a t a c o l l e c t e d also w i t h t h e view o f improving
t h e s i t u a t i o n studied.
Hereby i s n o t i m p l i e d a k i n d o f a c t i o n r e s e a r c h
b u t t h a t t h e l o g i c a l conclusions regarding
t h e a n a l y s i s undertaken.
p l a n n ~ d change a r e drawn from
The v a l u e p r e m i s e s which s u c h a s t a n c e e n t a i l s ,
w i l l b e made e x p l i c i t i n due c o u r s e .
A l a s t p o i n t which n e e d s t o b e
s t r e s s e d i s t h a t a l t h o u g h much h a s been w r i t t e n a b o u t a g r i c u l t u r a l d e v e l o p ment, t h e s t a t u s a n d r o l e o f women have l a r g e l y b e e n i g n o r e d .
T h i s must
b e r e c t i f i e d t o p r o v i d e a sound b a s i s o f s y s t e m a t i c knowledge f o r p l a n n e d
change.
T h i s i s p a r t i c u l a r l y t r u e i n Botswana where women p l a y a s i g n i f i -
cant r o l e i n crop c u l t i v a t i o n .
I n t h e d i s c u s s i o n o f p l a n n e d change i n
Botswana t h e p i v o t a l q u e s t i o n i s w h e t h e r " s m a l l i s p o s s i b l e " , and t o what
e x t e n t a r r a n g e m e n t s c a n b e e n v i s a g e d r e g a r d i n g s u p p o r t t o t h o s e who choose
Is t h e r e any p l a c e f o r t h e
t o r e l y on a c o m b i n a t i o n o f income s o u r c e s .
smallholder o r peasant i n a s t r a t e g y f o r o v e r a l l national a g r i c u l t u r a l
development?
Rural s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n
The a g r a r i a n s y s t e m and t h e p r e s e n t a g r i c u l t u r a l c h a n g e s h a v e a b e a r i n g
o n t h e r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t pattern,
t h a t i s , where t h e c u l t i v a t o r s l i v e .
The t r a d i t i o n a l v i l l a g e p a t t e r n i s , i f n o t t h e e x c l u s i v e , s t i l l t h e dom i n a n t form of s e t t l e m e n t f o u n d i n most o f Botswana.
The p a t t e r n i s
u n d e r c o n f l i c t i n g s t r e s s from t h e well- known f o r c e s o f b a s i c s e r v i c e p r o v i s i o n v e r s u s modern f a m i l y farm development.
The need f o r t h e p e a s a n t
t o s t a y c l o s e t o h i s o r h e r f i e l d i n o r d e r t o enable an e a s i e r t r a n s f o r m a t i o n t o modern a g r i c u l t u r e , p u l l s t h e c u l t i v a t o r away from t h e v i l l a g e ,
w h e r e a s t h e c o s t s t o t h e government of p r o v i d i n g w a t e r , e d u c a t i o n and
h e a l t h make a c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f s u c h i n f r a s t r u c t u r e t o v i l l a g e s n e c e s s a r y .
I t t h e n f o l l o w s t h a t government p l a n s i n t h i s r e s p e c t u s u a l l y a r e con-
t r a d i c t o r y , l e a v i n g p e a s a n t s and modern a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s w i t h t h e
dilemma o f where t o h a v e t h e i r main homestead.
Appropriate concepts for o f f i c i a l s t a t i s t i c a l use
A t t h e S o c i o l o g y U n i t i n t h e M i n i s t r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e i n Botswana work i s
now c a r r i e d o u t t o f i n d s e n s i b l e o p e r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n s o f t h e c o n c e p t s
" t r a d i t i o n a l " and "cornrnercial" f a r m e r .
A t p r e s e n t a l l farms b e s i d e s t h e
f r e e h o l d farms a r e t r e a t e d a s t r a d i t i o n a l .
This is fallacious.
I h a v e c o l l e c t e d may c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e d e b a t e o n t h e most
The d a t a
appropriate de-
f i n i t i o n s for s t a t i s t i c a l purposes o f t h e various t y p e s o f c u Z t i v a t o r s
and herdsmen found i n Botswana today.
PART I1
THEORETICAL PERSPECTlVE
CHAPTER 3
PEASANT AND RELATED CONCEPTS
I n t h i s c h a p t e r d e f i n i t i o n s o f t h e p e a s a n t c o n c e p t , p e a s a n t s t u d i e s and
The p o i n t i s t o
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of peasant production a r e included.
d e t e r m i n e t h e c o n t e n t o f and d e l i m i t t h e p e a s a n t c o n c e p t i n r e l a t i o n t o
o t h e r t y p e s of producers and production.
The c o n c e p t p e a s a n t ( o r p e a s a n t r y ) h a s been w i d e l y used.
I t i s , however,
o f t e n a p p l i e d without a d e f i n i t i o n o r s p e c i f i c a t i o n of c o n t e n t .
Thus,
i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e one f i n d s p e a s a n t used i n a v a r i e t y of c o n t e x t s .
This
may b e e x p l a i n e d by t h e f a c t t h a t t h e c o n c e p t h a s emerged from e m p i r i c a l
generalizations.
I t i s a c c o r d i n g l y mainly used d e s c r i p t i v e l y
1 9 7 1 , 1 9 7 4 , S i l v e r m a n 1 9 7 9 , Boesen 1 9 8 0 ) .
(Shanin
Even i n t h e E n c y c l o p e d i a o f
t h e S o c i a l S c i e n c e s (1968) p e a s a n t s a r e n o t d e f i n e d i n a s t r i c t s e n s e b u t
The t h e o r e -
t h e main c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s g i v e n i n v a r i o u s works r e l i e d upon.
t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e of t h e concept i s t h u s l i t t l e explored.
Some M a r x i s t s
a r e o f t h e o p i n i o n t h a t t h e c o n c e p t i s o f no u s e i n t h i s r e s p e c t
(Friedmann 1 9 8 0 , P a t n a i k 1 9 8 1 ) .
O t h e r s a r e s c e p t i c a l o n l y o f t h e more
encompassing c o n c e p t s s u c h a s p e a s a n t economy a n d p e a s a n t s o c i e t y .
a n example, S h e n t o n and Lennihan
As
(1982) d i d n o t f i n d i n a s t u d y on Nor-
t h e r n N i g e r i a a p e a s a n t economy f o l l o w i n g i t s own l a w s o f d e v e l o p m e n t .
Roseberry
(1978) d o u b t s w h e t h e r i t i s u s e f u l t o a r r i v e a t a g e n e r a l pea-
s a n t concept with a high degree of speci.fication.
Few g o a s f a r a s , f o r
i n s t a n c e , B a r l e t t ( 1 9 8 0 ) who s t a t e s e x p l i c i t l y t h a t s h e w i l l u s e p e a s a n t
interchangeable with farmer.
A c c o r d i n g t o normal u s a g e t o d a y , t h e pea-
s a n t c o n c e p t s h o u l d b e r e s e r v e d f o r c u l t i v a t o r s and herdsmen.
The con-
c e p t h a s b e e n u s e d a l s o f o r f i s h e r m e n and a r t i s a n s ( F i r t h 1946, Hunter
and W i l t e n 1 9 7 6 , Hashim 1 9 8 0 ) .
By i n c l u d i n g a g r o u p s u c h a s f i s h e r m e n ,
t h e r e s u l t i s t o l i m i t i t s c o n t e n t t o a k i n d o f economic b e h a v i o u r .
To
add t o t h e c o n f u s i o n o f t h e meaning o f t h e c o n c e p t , a v a s t number o f
d i f f e r e n t terms w i t h o f t e n s i m i l a r c o n t e n t a r e used:
Semi- subsistent
c u l t i v a t o r s , t r a d i t i o n a l peasants, near- landless peasants, land- short
peasants, r u r a l peasants, peasant- farmers, lumpenpeasantry, disguised
p r o l e t a r i a t , s e m i - p r o l e t a r i a n s , emergent farmers and smallholders.
D i f f e r e n t d i s c i p l i n e s and d i f f e r e n t s c h o l a r s h a v e g i v e n t h e p e a s a n t conc e p t d i f f e r e n t c o n t e n t s by emphasizing v a r i o u s a s p e c t s of it.
I n anthro-
pology c u l t u r a l and s o c i a l a s p e c t s dominated e a r l i e r , whereas t h e int e r e s t h a s t u r n e d t o t h e economic d i m e n s i o n l a t e l y .
I n s o c i o l o g y and
p o l i t i c a l s c i e n c e t h e p e a s a n t r y a s a c l a s s and t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between
p e a s a n t s a n d t h e s t a t e h a v e b e e n t h e main themes.
I n g e o g r a p h y t h e con-
c e p t h a s n e i t h e r b e e n much d i s c u s s e d n o r a d e q u a t e l y d e f i n e d , a l t h o u g h i t
h a s been r a t h e r f r e q u e n t l y used.
I t may b e c o n c l u d e d t h a t
various s o c i a l
sciences w i z 2 probably give t h e peasant concept d i f f e r e n t s p e c i f i e d content.
They ought then t o use other terms or s p e c i f y t h e term.
A n example
o f such a s p e c i f i e d t e r m , a p p l i e d h e r e i n t h e d i s c u s s i o n o n Botswana, i s
m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r ( a p p e n d i x 1 ) . The t a s k now seem t o b e t o
d e c i d e on a minimum o f common e l e m e n t s t o p u t i n t o t h e d e f i n i t i o n o f
p e a s a n t i n o r d e r t o d i s t i n g u i s h p e a s a n t s from t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s
o n t h e o n e hand a n d modern a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s o n t h e o t h e r .
The com-
mon u n d e r s t a n d i n g i s t h a t p e a s a n t s r e p r e s e n t a t r a n s i t o r y phenomenon i n
t h i s dimension.
ter.
The t r a n s i t i o n w i l l b e e l a b o r a t e d upon i n t h e n e x t chap-
Here t h e c o n c e p t w i l l b e t o u c h e d upon i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e n o t i o n s of
t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t a n d modern a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r .
DEFINITIONS O F PEASANT
According t o Shanin
(1966).
"The p e a s a n t r y c o n s i s t s o f s m a l l a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s who w i t h
t h e h e l p o f simple equipment and t h e labour of t h e i r f a m i l i e s ,
p r o d u c e m a i n l y f o r t h e i r own consumption and f o r f u l f i l m e n t of
o b l i g a t i o n s t o t h e h o l d e r s o f p o l i t i c a l and economic power".
S a u l and Woods ( 1 9 7 1 ) d e f i n e p e a s a n t s a s :
" t h o s e whose u l t i m a t e s e c u r i t y and s u b s i s t e n c e l i e s i n t h e i r
h a v i n g c e r t a i n r i g h t s i n l a n d and i n t h e l a b o u r o f f a m i l y members
on t h e l a n d , b u t who a r e i n v o l v e d , t h r o u g h r i g h t s a n d o b l i g a t i o n s ,
i n a w i d e r economic system which i n c l u d e s t h e p a r t i c i p a t i o n of
non- peasants".
Key c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of p e a s a n t s a r e t h e u s e o f s i m p l e t e c h n o l o g y and f a mily labour;
some d e g r e e o f h o u s e h o l d c o n t r o l o f l a n d ;
a s a t i s f i e r ra-
ther than maximizer attitude towards production (but implying some participation in markets); and obligations in form of rent, interest or tax
to powerholders outside the household.
Landless agricultural labourers
(in the sense of not owning or not having access to land) are not peasants.
The characteristics above will be further elaborated upon in a
separate paragraph below.
A major problem regarding analytical use of
the peasant concept is that some of the characteristics attributed to
peasants also pertain to traditional agriculturalists and other to modern agricultural producers.
Hence, it is e s s e n t i a l t o r e l a t e t h e posi-
t i o n o f peasants t o o t h e r groups, t h a t i s , t o t h e i r p o s i t i o n i n t h e
larger socio-economic s t r u c t u r e .
x
T r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s existed before the market economy became
widespread.
When trade made sales of surplus
production possible at lo-
cal or external markets against payment in money (if not undertaken by
all), the concept peasant should be used because the cultivators and herdsmen then had an option to participate in a market.
The peasants are ac-
cordingly different from traditional agriculturalists in that they take
part at least occasionally in a market economy, in sales or purchase of
inputs to agriculture involving areas outside their local home area.
How-
ever, traditional agriculturalists also undertook exchange not only as barter but firstthrough various means of general e change and later with more
modern forms of money.
This exchange was in some instances systematic as
in the symbiotic relations between nomads and sedentary traditional cultivators in, for instance, East Africa.
It is then necessary by market eco-
nomy a l s o t o implzy more modern forms of exchange, particuZarZy t h a t labour
has a money p r i c e .
It would be possible to talk about traditional agri-
culturalists today if the term was limited to agricultural practices and
sales.
In a more encompassing sense there would be few if any traditional
agriculturalists anywhere in the world now.
An example, which substanti-
ates this view, is the necessity to buy goods like tea, salt and sugar at
the shop.
Another example of the problem of a narrow definition is the
oscillation between different forms of production found among cultivators
today.
Furthermore, a cultivator may produce a surplus one year because
of a specific target he wants to achieve, such as a bicycle, or bad weather may leave him just enough to feed his family.
In view of the pre-
sent objective it is essential to include the type of the larger society
in the specification of the category of cultivators and herdsmen.
Tradi-
i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s can thus only be said t o e x i s t i n a s o c i e t y which
do not harbour modern n e i t h e r c a p i t a l i s t nor s o c i a Z i s t r e l a t i o n s of production.
By s o c i e t y i s meant a p o l i t i c a l - a d m i n i s t r a t i v e u n i t such a s
n a t i o n - s t a t e s today and c o l o n i e s , kingdoms and t r i b a l t e r r i t o r i e s e a r l i e r .
The u s u a l d ~ s t ~ n c t l o n b e t w e e n p e a s a n
and
t modem a g r i c u l t u r a l producer i s
t h e r a t i o of s u b s i s t e n c e t o commodity p r o d u c t i o n .
S a l e i s t h e common
A peasant i s thus a c u l t i -
a s p e c t used i n o p e r a t i o n a l i z i n g t h e c o n c e p t s .
v a t o r o r herdsman who s e l l s l e s s t h a n 50% of h i s p r o d u c t i o n .
I f nothing
a t a l l i s s o l d , t h e p r o d u c t i o n i s c a l l e d p u r e s u b s i s t e n c e (Wharton 1 9 7 0 ) .
If, on the other hand, 50% o r more i s sold, t h e production i s comerciaZ
and the c u l t i v a t o r i s c a l l e d farmer and t h e herdsman rancher.
such r a -
t i o s can b e e s t a b l i s h e d a l s o , f o r i n s t a n c e , f o r u s e of h i r e d t o f a m i l y
l a b o u r and u s e of modern t o t r a d i t i o n a l equipment and methods.
Such eco-
nomic c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s may be a d e q u a t e t o d i s t i n g u i s h g r o u p s which have
d i f f e r e n t cultural,psychological or social a t t r i b u t e s .
(The d e f i n i t i o n
used i n t h e p r e s e n t work on Botswana i s g i v e n i n c h a p t e r 6 . )
Since a
more comprehensive t h e o r e t i c a l d e f i n i t i o n i s n e c e s s a r y f o r t h e p r e s e n t
p u r p o s e , i t w i l l be u s e f u l t o e x p l o r e t h e p e a s a n t concept f u r t h e r .
PEASANT STUDIES
The u s e of p e a s a n t a s a term o r i g i n a t e d i n Europe and was f r e q u e n t l y app l i e d p a r t i c u l a r l y t o t h e s i t u a t i o n i n E a s t e r n Europe and R u s s i a ( K l e i n
1980).
V a r i o u s d i s c i p l i n e s used t h e term i n t h e 19. c e n t u r y , b u t d e f i n i -
t i o n s were seldom g i v e n .
The term was e v i d e n t l y n o t i n t e n d e d t o b e used
Few s o c i o l o g i s t s have " e l e -
a s a n a n a l y t i c a l c a t e g o r y by most s c h o l a r s .
v a t e d t h e p e a s a n t r y from t h e f o o t n o t e t o t h e page" (Shanin 1 9 6 6 ) .
h i s t o r y and a n t h r o p o l o g y it was and is commonly used.
Kroeber (1948) made
p e a s a n t i n t o a concept f o r anthropology w i t h h i s c a t c h y p h r a s e :
c o n s t i t u t e p a r t - s o c i e t i e s with part- cultures".
In
"peasants
R e d f i e l d (1953, 1956)
e s t a b l i s h e d p e a s a n t a s a n a n a l y t i c a l c a t e g o r y - a human t y p e , and t h u s a
s u b j e c t m a t t e r f o r s t u d y i n i t s own r i g h t .
c u l t u r a l a s p e c t s of " p e a s a n t s o c i e t i e s " .
He was preoccupied w i t h t h e
I n h i s d e f i n i t i o n he includes
t h a t p e a s a n t s a r e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s who c o n t r o l t h e i r l a n d and c u l t i v a t e i t a s p a r t of a t r a d i t i o n a l way of l i f e .
L a t e r a u t h o r s i n t h i s school
of thought have continued t o u s e c u l t u r a l s p e c i f i c c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a s
fundamental c r i t e r i a of p e a s a n t s (Silverman 1979).
Wolf
(1955) s t a n d s
a s t h e main e a r l y c o n t r i b u t o r t o w a r d s a t h e o r e t i c a l - e c o n o m i c t r e a t m e n t
of t h e p e a s a n t s .
He f o c u s e d o n t h e r e l a t i o n s o f t h e l o c a l p r o d u c t i o n
a r r a n g e m e n t s w i t h t h e l a r g e r p r o c e s s e s o f c o l o n i a l i s m a n d m a r k e t economy d e v e l o p m e n t t h a t s h a p e d t h e l o c a l s i t u a t i o n .
The ~ h a r a c t e r l ~ s t i c s
of a r e g i o n were f o u n d i n t h e i n t e r p l a y among a s p e c t s s u c h a s l a b o u r
f o r c e , r e s o u r c e s and c a p i t a l w i t h i n p a r t i c u l a r p o l i t i c a l - h i s t o r l c contexts.
The p o i n t o f d e p a r t u r e i n t h e s t u d i e s was, however, s t i l l t h e
p e a s a n t communities having s p e c i f i c " c u l t u r e s " , although t h e s e " c u l t u r e s "
were n o t e n t i r e l y a r e s u l t of s u r v i v i n g t r a d i t i o n a l v a l u e s b u t a l s o a
c r e a t i o n of outside forces.
I n 1966 Wolf moved t h e emphasis from c o l o -
n i a l i s m t o t h e r o l e o f t h e s t a t e i n d e t e r m i n i n g t h e " p e a s a n t way o f l i f e " .
T h i s , i f n o t a c o m p l e t e s h i f t , a l s o i m p l i e d a change from economic t o
political factors.
T h e s e two s c h o l a r s a r e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e f o r a number o f o t h e r a u t h o r s who
more o r l e s s j u s t i f i a b l y c a n b e p u t i n two d i f f e r e n t s c h o o l s o f p e a s a n t
studies.
The m a j o r d i f f e r e n c e between t h e s c h o o l s , b e s i d e s t h e d i f f e r e n t
f o c u s of s t u d y , i s t h a t t h e former allows l i t t l e l a t i t u d e t o i n d i v i d u a l
action.
nuity.
thesis.
Thebehaviour of p e a s a n t s a r e t h u s explained by c u l t u r a l c o n t i T h i s l i n k s up w i t h t h e v i e w p o i n t o f t h e " u n c a p t u r e d p e a s a n t r y "
The l a t t e r s c h o o l , on t h e o t h e r h a n d , c o n t a i n s i n e s s e n c e t h e
a r g u m e n t s s t r e s s e d b y more M a r x i s t o r i e n t e d s c h o l a r s , a s i n t h e c a s e o f
t h e d e b a t e on a r t i c u l a t i o n o f modes o f p r o d u c t i o n .
I n o r t h o d o x Marxism
t h e p e a s a n t r y d i d n o t e x i s t a s a t h e o r e t i c a l economic c a t e g o r y (Ennew
e t a l . 1977).
The c a t e g o r y h a s , however, been u s e d by M a r x i s t a u t h o r s ,
f i r s t a s a d i s t i n c t form o f economy a n d now a l s o a s a s e p a r a t e mode o f
p r o d u c t i o n f o l l o w i n g i t s own l a w s of development
(see below).
Common
f o r t h e two s c h o o l s i s t h e c o n c e p t i o n o f p e a s a n t s a s a c a t e g o r y o f c u l t i v a t o r s a n d hersmen who a r e n e i t h e r t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s n o r modern a g r i c u l t u r a l producers.
v e r s i t y of p e a s a n t r i e s .
Such a n e g a t i v e d e f i n i t i o n a l l o w s f o r a d i -
To make a p o s i t i v e
general d e f i n i t i o n i s , how-
e v e r , a s m e n t i o n e d , h e l d t o b e d i f f i c u l t and l e s s f r u i t f u l .
L e n i n a n d Chayanov w e r e b e s i d e Kautsky t h e most o u t s t a n d i n g a u t h o r s on
t h e agrarian question i n Russia.
The d i f f e r e n t v i e w s o f L e n i n and
Chayanov a r e i l l u s t r a t i v e o f t h e M a r x i s t v e r s u s t h e p o p u l i s t s t a n c e .
One
o f Lenin's p o i n t s , a c c o r d i n g t o Ennew e t a l .
(19771, was t h a t t h e R u s s i a n
p e a s a n t s a t t h e end of t h e 1 9 . c e n t u r y w e r e i n c r e a s i n g l y s u b o r d i n a t e d t o
c a p i t a l i s t r e l a t i o n s of production,
p i t a l i s t s " ( i . e . farmers).
whiZc
t h e y t h e m s e l v e s were n o t "ca-
Wage l a b o u r was n e i t h e r commonly u s e d i n
Russian a g r i c u l t u r e a t t h a t time, nor i n t h e beginning of t h i s c e n t u r y .
However, m a n u f a c t u r i n g ,
t r a d e a n d s e r v i c e s r e l a t e d t o a g r i c u l t u r e were i n -
c r e a s i n g l y employing p e o p l e and a d h e r i n g t o t h e p r o f i t m o t i v e a s t h e d r i v i n g f o r c e of economic change.
L e n i n managed by h i s dynamic a n d compre-
h e n s i v e a n a l y s i s t o r e v e a l how r u r a l R u s s i a was c h a n g i n g and p o v e r t y
created.
Chayanov ( 1 9 2 5 ; i n h i s more l i m i t e d s t u d y o f t h e f a m i l y - l a b o u r
farm showed how p e a s a n t s were committed t o a s a t i s f i e r t y p e o f p r o d u c t i o n .
When p r i c e s o n a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t s i n c r e a s e d , t h e y r e d u c e d t h e i r o u t p u t .
F u r t h e r m o r e , h e f o u n d t h a t v a r i a t i o n s i n o u t p u t a t a g i v e n p r i c e were
mainly r e l a t e d t o t h e family l i f e - c y c l e , f a m i l i e s with
k i n g a g e had t h e h i g h e s t o u t p u t .
c h i l d r e n i n wor-
Chayanov t r e a t e d t h e p e a s a n t s a s s o c i o -
economic homogeneous (Heynig 1 9 8 2 ) .
T h i s c o n t r a s t s w i t h L e n i n ' s emphasis
on a d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n among t h e p e a s a n t s which e v e n t u a l l y would l e a d t o
" c a p i t a l i s t f a r m e r s " and a p r o l e t a r i a t .
(To Marx t h e p e a s a n t s w e r e doomed
b e c a u s e o f t h e i r l a c k o f c e n t r a l i z e d s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e which c o u l d s t a n d
a g a i n s t t h e p e n e t r a t i o n o f t h e m a r k e t economy.)
A c c o r d i n g t o Chayanov, it
would b e p o s s i b l e t o t a l k o f a d i s t i n c t p e a s a n t form o f economic behaviour.
B u t t o s a y t h a t t h e r e i s a " p e a s a n t mode o f p r o d u c t i o n " i m p l i e s a r e d u c t i o n
o f t h e c o n t e n t o f t h e c o n c e p t "mode o f p r o d u c t i o n " .
"Mode o f p r o d u c t i o n "
s h o u l d b e r e s e r v e d f o r b r o a d e r s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s o f p r o d u c t i o n , o f systemat i c c o n n e c t i o n s between l a b o u r p r o c e s s e s a n d t h e ways i n which t h e r e s u l t
of production i s d i s t r i b u t e d .
According t o L e n i n ' s p e r s p e c t i v e , i t i s i m -
p o s s i b l e t o e s t a b l i s h a general " p e a s a n t mode o f p r o d u c t i o n " .
The f o c a l
p o i n t i s t h u s t h a t t h e p e n e t r a t i o n of t h e m a r k e t economy r e s u l t e d i n
o: V a -
riety o f f0rm.s o f aci.nomic production due t o t h e d i f f e r e n t n a t u r e of t h e
o r i g i n a l economy i n d i f f e r e n t p l a c e s .
peasant.
They may, however, a l l b e t e r m e d
The c o n c e p t a r t i c u l a t i o n , u s e d by some s c h o l a r s t o d a y , means
t h a t t r a d i t i o n a l o r s o c a l l e d p r i m i t i v e s o c i e t i e s ( " p r e - c a p i t a l i s t modes o f
p r o d u c t i o n " ) and t h e m a r k e t economy p r o d u c e sevqral s p e c i f i c t y p e s o f soc i e t i e s ( " s o c i a l f o r m a t i o n s " ) when t h e y merge (Rey 1 9 7 5 ) .
The i n t e r e s t i n g
t o p i c of r e s e a r c h i s t h e e m p i r i c a l m a n i f e s t a t i o n s of t h i s f u s i o n of d i f f e r e n t " l : i o d e s o f : > r o d u c t i o n Mi n t h e T h i r d World b e c a u s e i t t a k e s a v a r i e t y
o f f o r m s and d o e s n o t seem t o r e s u l t i n a n e a r e x c l u s i v e m a r k e t economy
now o r i n t h e f o r e s e e a b l e f u t u r e .
I n a d d i t i o n . t h i s combination of d i f -
f e r e n t " s u b - s o c i e t i e s " hamper economic c i r c u l a t i o n .
To s e a r c h f o r a
g e n e r a l " p e a s a n t mode o f p r o d u c t i o n " i s f u t i l e and s h o u l d b e r e p l a c e d
by r e s e a r c h on t h e c o n d i t i o n s and mechanisms which c r e a t e i m p o v e r i s h e d
peasants.
This cannot b e done through studying t h e p e a s a n t r y a s an
aggregate of i n d i v i d u a l p r o d u c t i o n u n i t s ( P a t n a i k 1982).
n i s m s o f change w i l l t h e n n o t b e d i s c o v e r e d .
The mecha-
It is thus necessary t o
t r a n s c e n d t h e n e o - p o p u l i s t c o n c e p t i o n o f a homogeneous p e a s a n t r y , and
look f o r d i f f e r e n c e s and c o n f l i c t s i n t e r n a l t o t h e peasantry.
The word
peasant is then used as a descriptive tern comprising a wide variety
of Land tenure, Labour relations, production and marketing arrangements.
Ennew e t a l .
(1977) a r e q u i t e e x p l i c i t on t h i s :
"Typologies have been
formulated i n terms of l e v e l o f technology, c u l t u r a l f e a t u r e s , t h e e x i s t e n c e o f s p e c i f i c f o r m s o f e x c h a n g e , a g r i c u l t u r a l p r a c t i c e s and s o o n ,
a l l o f which d e v e l o p d e s c r i p t i v e c a t e g o r i e s w h i c h a r e a n a l y t i c a l l y useless.
...".
P e a s a n t a s a d e s c r i p t i v e c o n c e p t i s , however, u s e f u l t o d i s t i n g u i s h , a t
a g e n e r a l l e v e l , t h e g r o u p s o f c u l t i v a t o r s and herdsmen which a r e n e i t h e r
t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s n o r modern a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s .
Thus,
it w i l l b e n e c e s s a r y i n s p e c i f i c a n a l y s e s t o e s t a b l i s h c o n c e p t s a t a
lower l e v e l o f g e n e r a l i t y .
Friedmann (1980) h o l d s t h e same o p i n i o n :
"The t e r m " p e a s a n t " must g i v e way t o a n a l y t i c a l s p e c i f i c a t i o n o f forms
o f p r o d u c t i o n b a s e d on i n t e r n a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e u n i t ( s t u d i e d )
and e x t e r n a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e s o c i a l f o r m a t i o n " .
I n o t h e r words,
the peasant concept does not refer to a unique set of productive reLations.
A g r e a t number o f p r o d u c t i v e a r r a n g e m e n t s may e x i s t and need
t o h a v e n o t h i n g more i n common t h a n l i m i t a t i o n s i n t h e o p e r a t i o n o f
t h e market p r i n c i p l e .
t i c of p e a s a n t s i s
The c h i e f u n i f y i n g a n d d i s t i n g u i s h i n g c h a r a c t e r i s -
partial integration
i n t o t h e m a r k e t economy.
c i f i c l e v e l of i n t e g r a t i o n is included i n t h e d e f i n i t i o n .
production.
a priori
spe-
A g r e a t va-
r i a b i l i t y o f d e g r e e s o f i n t e g r a t i o n may t h e r e f o r e b e t h e outcome.
variability prohibits
No
This
formulations about conditions of peasant
Thus a p u r e d e d u c t i v e a p p r o a c h c a n n o t b e u s e d a t p r e s e n t .
The c o n c e p t s h o u l d a c c o r d i n g l y b e r e p l a c e d by a n a n a l y t i c a l s p e c i f i c a t i o n o f t h e i n t e r n a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e u n i t s o f p r o d u c t i o n and t h e
e x t e r n a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h e " s o c i a l formation" e x i s t i n g i n p a r t i c u l a r regions o r national t e r r i t o r i e s .
In view of the above discussion a peasant w i l l be defined as a cuZtiua-
t o r or herdsman who carry out a non- traditional and non-modem production and who l i v e s i n a s o c i e t y w i t h a developed market, be i t capitalist
GP
socialist.
This delimitation of the peasant concept is ne-
cessary to allow for a distinction between peasants and traditional
agriculturalists.
Peasants are struggling in a different world than
the traditional agriculturalists.
However, ststdike organizations
and appropriation of surplus by an elite have existed for a long time.
Thus the distinction above enables a formulation of a separate traditional agriculturalist category denoting a more developed method of acquiring food than undertaken by hunter-gatherers.
As will be seen in the
case of Botswana, the different tribes occupying the territory in the
18. and 19. centuries, had centralized organizations of authority and
systematic ways of reproducing inequality between chiefs and their kin
and the commoners
and slaves.
It would be meaningless to say that
cultivators at that time were peasants although barter and sale of especially cattle to other tribes further east were common.
According to the above definition, peasants can be found in Europe
from the sixteenth century onwards because then market economy forms
of production were created in commerce, industry and agriculture
(Wallerstein 1979).
In the literature on European agriculture in the
period from about the middle of the last century to the Second World
War, the concept peasant was frequently used.
The work on particularly
Eastern European agriculture in the beginning of this century is consistent with the proposed definition. The above discussion of where
the boundary between traditional agriculturalists and peasants should
be drawn, is not the primary concern presently.
The aim of research
is the establishment of concepts which enable an uncovering of the general mechanisms and processes of stagnation and poverty in the contemporary world.
Then less abstract concepts are necessary.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PEASANT PRODUCTION
Peasants have, as mentioned, a number of characteristics in cornmon with
traditional agriculturalists.
The household is the unit of operation.
Labour is controlled by the family.
The aim of production is rather
use- value t h a n exchange- value.
The major p a r t o f t h e l a b o u r time i s
used t o s e c u r e s u b s i s t e n c e and n o t w i t h a view o f p r o f i t and r e i n v e s t ment.
The h o u s e h o l d i s b o t h a p r o d u c t i o n and consumption u n i t .
amount o f p r o d u c t s exchanged v a r i e s mainly w i t h t h e weather.
The
The pro-
d u c t i o n can be c h a r a c t e r i z e d r a t h e r a s a "way of l i f e " t h a n a n e n t e r prise.
This i s n o t t o say t h a t a surplus does n o t e x i s t .
To produce
a replacement and ceremonial f u n d (Wolf 1966) were e a r l i e r common and
normally a c h i e v e d .
By r e p l a c e m e n t fund i s meant t h e p r o d u c t i o n of s u r -
p l u s enough t o e n a b l e a n accumulation t o r e p l a c e n e c e s s a r y t o o l s and
t o pay workers i n k i n d o r w i t h money when, f o r i n s t a n c e , c l e a r i n g new
fields.
Accumulation i s a l s o n e c e s s a r y t o cover e x p e n d i t u r e s a t i n i -
t i a t i o n s , m a r r i a g e and o t h e r k i n d s o f ceremonies.
Accumulation was n o t
long ago mainly a c h i e v e d through t h e p r i n c i p l e s of r e c i p r o s i t y and r e d i s t r i b u t i o n (Polanyi 1957).
through h e r d e x p a n s i o n . )
(Herdsmen can i n a d d i t i o n accumulate
S a l e t o m a r k e t s h a s n e a r l y everywhere r e p l a c e d
t h e s e p r i n c i p l e s a s d e t e r m i n i n g economic f a c t o r s .
T h i s d o e s n o t imply
t h a t t h e p e a s a n t s and t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s e a r l i e r l i v e d i n s e l f c o n t a i n e d communities.
Another i u p o r t a n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s and
peasants i s
security.
r i s k aversion, t h a t i s , t h e y w i l l minimize r i s k and maximize
The r e a s o n why p e a s a n t s do n o t a c c e p t modern technology lm-
p l y i n g d e b t , and new u n f a m i l i a r methods of p r o d u c t i o n i s mainly t h a t t h e y
dependon theoutcome f o r t h e i r s u r v i v a l .
(1977):
I n t h e words of Stavenhagen
"The p e a s a n t h o u s e h o l d ' s margins of manoeuvre a r e s l i m , and t h e
r i s k s loom l a r g e . "
S e c u r i t y f o r t h e p e a s a n t s (and t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l -
t u r a l i s t s ) c o n s i s t s i n t h e maintenance o f s o c i a l l i n k s w i t h r e l a t i v e s
and neighbours a b l e t o h e l p i n t i m e s of need.
P e a s a n t s f o c u s r a t h e r on
a v o i d i n g r e d u c t i o n s i n p r o d u c t i o n t h a n on improving t h e p r o d u c t i v i t y .
Popkin (1980) c a l l s t h i s concern w i t h s u b s i s t e n c e and s e c u r i t y f o r t h e
safety- first principle.
The p e a s a n t s a r e , however, always l o o k i n g f o r
ways t o improve t h e i r l e v e l of l i v i n g .
To f i n d such ways i s d i f f i c u l t
when t h e e x i s t i n g l i v e l i h o o d i s s o p r e c a r i o u s .
Thus, when d i s c u s s i n g
planned change of p e a s a n t a g r i c u l t u r e , it i s of utmost importance t o
f i n d ways and means i n which t h e r i s k of p r o d u c t i o n can b e reduced i n
t h e s h o r t as ?Jell
as i n t h e l o n g r u n .
The p e a s a n t s used t o i n c r e a s e
t h e i r s e c u r i t y i n t h e long- run by exchanging l a b o u r and d i s t r i b u t i n g
food t o k i n and neighbours i n t i m e o f s u r p l u s .
(Complex i n t e r a c t i o n
w i t h mutual o b l i g a t i o n s g e n e r a l l y took and s t i l l t a k e p l a c e o n l y among
a s m a l l number of households because of t h e need t o remember t h e d i f f e r e n t o b l i g a t i o n s i n a s i t u a t i o n w i t h l a c k of w r i t t e n r e c o r d s . )
The
same can b e s a i d when a p e a s a n t t r i e s t o keep c h i l d r e n i n t h e f i e l d s
i n s t e a d o f u s i n g machinery.
a b l e old- age p e n s i o n .
C h i l d r e n normally r e p r e s e n t t h e o n l y a v a i l -
However, p e a s a n t s w i l l t a k e o p p o r t u n i t i e s a r i s i n g
o u t s i d e t h e e s t a b l i s h e d means of s e c u r i t y i f t h a t improves t h e long- run
s e c u r i t y by moving them t o a p o s i t i o n w i t h h i g h e r income.
Such oppor-
t u n i t i e s seldom e x i s t e d f o r t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s b u t have been
available t o peasants.
I t is accordingly f a l l a c i o u s t o say t h a t peasants
have no i n t e r e s t i n market p r o d u c t i o n when t h e i r s u b s i s t e n c e i s s e c u r e d .
Moreover, i n t e r n a l f o r c e s e x i s t i n most v i l l a g e s which c o n f l i c t w i t h t h e
well-known l e v e l l i n g mechanism which r e s u l t s i n o p p o s i t i o n t o innovations.
The p a s s i v e c o n n o t a t i o n of " p e n e t r a t i o n " , used i n t h i s t e x t , i m -
p l i e s t h a t t h e i n i t i a t i v e f o r change i s t h o u g h t t o come from powerful
T h i s i s t h e normal e m p i r i c a l f a c t .
outsiders.
The s t r a t i f i c a t i o n r e -
g a r d i n g w e a l t h and p o l i t i c a l p o s i t i o n , which e x i s t e d even i n pre- market
v i l l a g e s , gave, h o w e v e r , s t r e n g t h t o t h e i n i t i a t i v e s i d e of t h e normal
c o n f l i c t existing i n small s o c i e t i e s .
The t s c h n o l g y 3 j ' pi-cduction used by t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s and
p e a s a n t s may b e s i m i l a r .
The plough which h a s c o m p l e t e l y r e p l a c e d t h e
hoe and d i g g i n g s t i c k many p l a c e s , a s f o r i n s t a n c e i n most of Southern
? . f r i c a , r e p r e s e n t s a major s h i f t i n technology.
Thus when c u l t i v a t o r s
adopted t h e plough, t h e y were no l o n g e r t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t i v a t o r s .
s a n t c u l t i v a t o r s may, however, s t i l l u s e a hoe.
Pea-
A plough used w i t h a n i -
mal draught- power w i l l be r e g a r d e d a s i n t e r m e d i a t e technology.
Inter
mediate technology ( o r t h e non-use of modem a g r i c u l t u r a l i n p u t s ) i s
one o f t h e main c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s d i s t i n g u i s h i n g peasants from modem
a_oricultura%producers.
I t i s i m p o r t a n t t h a t t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n of modern
technology among s m a l l h o l d e r s o n l y r e c e n t l y h a s become a g e n e r a l concern.
P r e v i o u s l y such i n n o v a t i o n s were r e s e r v e d f o r p l a n t a t i o n s , e s t a t e s and
l a r g e farms.
Technological innovations a r e n o t accepted i n i s o l a t i o n
from f a c t o r s such a s l a n d t e n u r e , s o c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n and economic means.
I n n o v a t i o n s which a r e economic r a t i o n a l , have t h e r e f o r e o f t e n been r e j e c t e d by p e a s a n t s n o t because of i r r a t i o n a l b e h a v i o u r , a s some s c h o l a r s
m a i n t a i n , b u t because t h e y do n o t f i t e a s i l y w i t h t h e above mentioned
factors.
Those c u l t i v a t o r s who n o n e t h e l e s s manage t o move from t h e pea-
sant- cultivator
t o farmer category must a l s o surmount socio-economic
and c u l t u r a l o b s t a c l e s t o innovation.
The main problem of r e s e a r c h i n
r e s p e c t of planned change i n a g r i c u l t u r e i s a c c o r d i n g l y t o d e c i d e whether
t h e o b s t a c l e s belong p r i m a r i l y t o t h e economic o r t h e c u l t u r a l sphere.
The c u l t u r a l o b s t a c l e s a r e obviously more d i f f i c u l t f o r o u t s i d e i n s t i t u t i o n s t o i n f l u e n c e t h a n t h e socio-economic ones.
P e a s a n t s a r e s a i d t o c a r r y o u t "simple commodity production" ( B e r n s t e i n
1979, Friedrnann 1 9 8 0 ) , t h a t i s , p r o d u c t s a r e s o l d a t markets b u t wage
labour i s n o t a g e n e r a l commodity.
This c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n does not c r e a t e
d i f f i c u l t i e s i n h i s t o r i c a l a n a l y s e s where t h e market economy i s l i t t l e developed a t t h e n a t i o n a l l e v e l .
I n s t u d i e s comprising a l s o t h e contempo-
r a r y world, it becomes problematic because l a b o u r , land and c a p i t a l cannot
be c h a r a c t e r i z e d by immobility i n t h e l a r g e r economy although t h e f a c t o r
m o b i l i t y may be r e l a t i v e l y low a t t h e l o c a l l e v e l .
The competition f o r
l a b o u r , land and c a p i t a l which e x i s t s among p e a s a n t s and between p e a s a n t
production and v a r i o u s o t h e r s e c t o r s of t h e economy l e a d s t o a d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n among t h e p e a s a n t s , and t h u s t o a p o s s i b l e c r e a t i o n of modern
a g r i c u l t u r a l producers and i n c r e a s e d p r o d u c t i v i t y of a g r i c u l t u r a l production.
A p e a s a n t may h i r e labour and t a k e l o a n s .
When t h i s i s done
with a p r o f i t motive, with t h e i n t e n t i o n of i n c r e a s i n g t h e o u t p u t
and
r e i n v e s t l n f u r t h e r I n c r e a s e s , t h e c u l t i v a t o r s and herdsmen should be c a l l e d modern a g r i c u l t u r a l producers.
The t h e o r e t i c a l i n t e r e s t i n g p o i n t here
i s t h a t i n t h i s process t h e peasants replace dependence on k i n and neigh-
bours w i t h a dependence on an external market and on modern i n s t i L u t i o n s .
For example, labour i s becoming n e a r l y e x c l u s i v e l y mobilized through t h e
market and n o t by t h e domestic group.
A n a l t e r n a t i v e p r o c e s s of c r e a t i o n of modern a g r i c u l t u r a l producers i s
found i n China.
Chinese c u l t i v a t o r s organized i n what formerly was c a l l e d
P e o p l e ' s Communes must be s a i d t o be f u l l y i n t e g r a t e d i n t o t h e n a t i o n a l
s t r a t e g y f o r a g r i c u l t u r a l development and i n t h e s o c i a l i s t market.
o v e r , t h e household i s n o t t h e u n i t of production.
More-
Their production i s
s t r o n g l y i n f l u e n c e d by o u t s i d e demand, and t h e aim i s maximization of production,
j u s t t o mention a few a s p e c t s i n o r d e r t o show t h a t " P e o p l e ' s
Communes" a r e more s i m i l a r t o p r i v a t e e n t e r p r i s e s than t o p e a s a n t production.
Thus, such c u l t i v a t o r s should be c a l l e d farmers.
To i d e n t i f y t h e boundary between p e a s a n t s and modern a g r i c u l t u r a l prod u c e r s may o f t e n be d i f f i c u l t i n p r a c t i c e .
There i s a l s o an i n h e r e n t
danger of t e l e o l o g y i n t h e above way of i d e n t i f y i n g t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s , p e a s a n t s and modern a g r i c u l t u r a l producers.
It i s there-
f o r e necessary t o u n d e r l i n e t h a t no automatic o r e v e n t u a l outcome of
t h e p r o c e s s of change i s implied, such a s c h a t a l l p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s
w i l l become farmers.
CONCLUSION
Most a u t h o r s d e a l i n g w i t h p e a s a n t s on a conceptual and t h e o r e t i c a l l e v e l
emphasize t h a t p e a s a n t s a r e r u l e d by o t h e r s o c i a l c l a s s e s and s u b j e c t e d
t o state- power.
They have t o render p a r t of t h e i r surplus- value o r sur-
plus- labour t o l a n d l o r d s , moneylenders o r t h e s t a t e .
E a r l i e r when a g r i -
c u l t u r e was t h e dominant economic occupation and only few o t h e r opport u n i t i e s e x i s t e d f o r investment, p a r t of t h e c a p i t a l a p p r o p r i a t e d by nonc u l t i v a t o r s was normally channelled back t o a g r i c u l t u r a l production.
Today investments are often made not in agriculture but in agricultural
trade, transport, shops, bars and higher education of children.
such
t y p e s of investments w i l l e v e n t u a l l y c o n t r i b u t e t o a l i m i t a t i o n of f u r t h e r
such investments i f an adequate investment i n a g r i c u l t u r a l production i s
n o t forthcoming.
This seems t o be a r a t h e r common problem i n many Third
World c o u n t r i e s today.
It is therefore essential for the s t a t e t o find
methods of a c q u i r i n g t h e s u r p l u s generated by t h e p e a s a n t s and t o i n c r e a s e
t h e s u r p l u s of t h o s e p e a s a n t s who a r e more e a s i l y c o n t r o l l e d i n o r d e r t o
allow f o r s t a t e supported reinvestments i n a g r i c u l t u r e .
One method f o r
t h e s t a t e t o achieve a higher degree of c o n t r o l over a g r i c u l t u r e i s t o
make land i n t o a commodity ( o r t u r n it i n t o s t a t e l a n d ) .
much e a s i e r t o o b t a i n .
Rent i s t h e n
By modernizing a g r i c u l t u r a l production, t h e s t a t e
g e t s an income from t a x e s on i n p u t s and from p e r s o n a l t a x of modern a g r i c u l t u r a l producers.
inputs.
P e a s a n t s i n c o n t r a s t seldom pay any t a x and use few
I f p e a s a n t s have o b l i g a t i o n s t o l a n d l o r d s , a s i n t h e c a s e of
sharecroppers i n Asia and L a t i n America, t h e s t a t e may e v e n t u a l l y g e t p a r t
of t h e produced s u r p l u s .
I n A f r i c a where communal land i s a v a i l a b l e i n
many p l a c e s , p e a s a n t s a r e s a i d t o be r e l a t i v e l y f r e e t o avoid t h e p r e s s u r e s
of t h e market and/or t h e s t a t e .
T r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s were i n com-
p a r i s o n o f t e n bound by t h e p o l i t i c a l power of c h i e f s t o g i v e t r i b u t e t o
them.
And modern a g r i c u l t u r a l producers a r e subordinated t o t h e r a p i d l y
i n c r e a s i n g p r i c e s on expensive i n p u t s .
The b a s i s of t h e t h e s i s of t h e
"uncaptured p e a s a n t r y " r e s t s on t h i s perceived r e l a t i v e freedom of t h e
p e a s a n t s t o pursue aims o f t h e i r own, t o avoid t h e laws
economy ( o r s t a t e p l a n n i n g ) .
of t h e market
The reasoning above i s based upon t h e as-
sumption t h a t p e a s a n t s want t o pursue a s u b s i s t e n c e production r a t h e r
than t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n market r e l a t i o n s when t h e y have s e c u r i t y i n land.
the Limited peasant
participation in agricuLtura2 production for markets, is mainly expZained
I n c o n t r a s t , t h e argument made i n t h i s work i s t h a t
by unfavourabZe conditions for such production.
~ h u s ,p e a s a n t s e x i s t
today n o t because they p r e f e r t o be p e a s a n t s b u t because t h e y a r e f o r c e d
t o f o r l a c k of adequate a l t e r n a t i v e s .
CHAPTER 4
SOCIETAL EVOLUTION AND AGRARIAN TRANSITION
P i o n e e r s c h o l a r s s u c h a s Weber, Durkheim, Marx a n d L e n i n h a v e a n a l y s e d
t h e e v o l u t i o n from t r a d i t i o n a l t o modern s o c i e t y .
Below t h e i n t e n t i o n
i s l i m i t e d t o a d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e f a c t t h a t e l e m e n t s of t r a d i t i o n a l
s o c i e t i e s s t i l l may b e f o u n d i n t h e c o n t e m p o r a r y T h i r d World.
The mecha-
nisms of s o c i e t a l e v o l u t i o n and a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n w i l l n o t be t r e a t e d
e x h a u s t i v e l y , o n l y t h e main p o i n t s w i l l b e i n c l u d e d .
SOCIETAL EVOLUTION
T h e r e a r e no
t r a d i t i o n a l s o c i e t i e s i n A f r i c a t o d a y (Amin 1 9 7 2 ) .
However,
t r a d i t i o n a l forms o f p r o d u c t i o n s r e o f t e n s t r e n g t h e n e d when t h e i n t e g r a t i o n w i t h t h e m a r k e t economy, f o r e i g n o r d o m e s t i c , i n c r e a s e s .
The p r o c e s s
of change i n t h e T h i r d World i s r e g a r d e d by many t o b e a dynamic p r o c e s s
of d i s i n t e g r a t i o n o r d i s s o l u t i o n of t h e t r a d i t i s n a l s o c i e t y r a t h e r t h a n
a b u i l d i n g o f a modern o n e .
kept intact,
C e r t a i n a s p e c t s of t r a d i t i o n a l forms a r e
t h e i r f u n c t i o n a l i t y i s , however, d i s t o r t e d .
t h e m a r k e t economy i s n o t f u l l y d e v e l o p e d .
t o c a l l such s o c i e t i e s f o r p e r i p h e r a l .
A t t h e same t i m e
T h i s h a s l e d Amin ( 1 9 7 6 )
U n i l i n e a r e v o l u t i o n - t h e conven-
t i o n a l p e r s p e c t i v e i n which s p e c i f i c c a s e s o f c h a n g e a r e p l a c e d - i s r e g a r d e d by a n i n c r e a s i n g number o f s c h o l a r s n o t t o p r o v i d e a d e q u a t e exp l a n a t i o n r e g a r d i n g most o f t h e T h i r d World.
Undoubtedly, many o f t h e cha-
r a c t e r i s t i c s o f a s o c i e t y i n t r a n s i t i o n from t r a d i t i o n t o m o d e r n i t y f o u n d
i n t h e d e v e l o p e d c o u n t r i e s e a r l i e r , a r e a l s o p r e s e n t i n t h e T h i r d World.
N o n e t h e l e s s , i n t h e l a t t e r t h e m a g n i t u d e o n some f u n d a m e n t a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , f o r i n s t a n c e , unemployment and p o v e r t y i n r e l a t i o n t o n a t i o n a l w e a l t h ,
is different.
Simply t o i n f e r from s i m i l a r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s t o a n e c e s s a r y
development p a t h , i s inadequate.
O b v i o u s l y , a p r e d i c t i o n o f change i n f u -
t u r e always r e s t s on q u a l i f i e d b e l i e f , onwhether t h o s e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s t h a t
d i f f e r o r t h e d i f f e r e n t o r d e r o f m a g n i t u d e on some c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a r e det e r m i n i n g t h e f u r t h e r e v o l u t i o n i n t h e T h i r d World r e s u l t i n g i n b l o c k e d
transition.
On t h e o t h e r hand, t h e c a s e may b e t h a t t h e m a r k e t economy
w i l l wipe o u t a l l r e m n a n t s o f t h e t r a d i t i o n a l s o c i e t y i n t h e s h o r t - r u n ,
and l e a v e no o p t i o n s open f o r i n d i g e n o u s p a t h s o f e v o l u t i o n .
The p o i n t
h e r e i s n o t t o a s s e s s t h e r e l a t i v e p r o b a b i l i t y of t h e s e two c o n t r a s t i n g
I t i s r a t h e r t o conclude both t h a t change a s w e l l a s reproduc-
views.
t i o n o f e x i s t i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a t a number o f l e v e l s i n t h e T h i r d World
and t h a t t h e p r e d i c t i o n o f t h e outcome o f t h i s complex p e r i o d of t r a n s i t i o n i n t h e s h o r t - r u n a r e n o t a s i m p l e m a t t e r o f drawing a n a l o g i e s from
n e i t h e r m a r k e t economies n o r s o c i a l i s t c o u n t r i e s .
The v i e w h e l d by some
t h a t t h e m a r k e t economy h a s n o t p e n e t r a t e d r u r a l l i f e i n A f r i c a and
hat t h e A f r l c a n p e a s a n t s i n g e n e r a l a r e " i n d e p e n d e n t o f a n y l a r g e r system"
(Rudengren 19811, h a s no b a s i s i n e m p i r i c a l f a c t .
A l l groups of people,
however r e m o t e t h e y l i v e from l a r g e c e n t r e s o f economic a c t i v i t i e s ,
are
e i t h e r d i r e c t l y o r i n d i r e c t l y t o some d e g r e e i n f l u e n c e d b y t h e l a r g e r nat i o n a l economic s y s t e m , and t h u s l i n k e d t o t h e w o r l d m a r k e t .
The many c a s e s o f s p e c t a c u l a r g r o w t h i n p e a s a n t p r o d u c t i o n i n t h e T h i r d
World r e s u l t i n g from new o u t s i d e m a r k e t s and imprcved t r a n s p o r t a t i o n f a cilities
(Myint 1 9 7 0 ) , s u p p o r t t h e a s s u m p t i o n t h a t p e a s a n t e s a r e
ving " l i m i t e d wants".
not
ha-
When t h e u n i v e r s a l a t t i t u d e i s r a t h e r t a k e n t o b e
a want o f m a t e r i a l b e t t e r m e n t , i t becomes n e c e s s a r y t o a n a l y s e t h e macro
s y s t e m , i t s c h a n g e s a n d l o c a l m a n i f e s t a t i o n s r a t h e r t h a n t h e p e a s a n t ment a l i t y or culture.
Hence, a p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h r e e d e t e r m i n i n g mechanisms
o f change - t h e t e n d e n c y i n a m a r k e t economy o f a n e c e s s a r y c o n t i n u o u s
e x t e n s i o n and i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n o f m a r k e t r e l a t i o n s ;
i n t e r n a l and e x t e r n a l c a p i t a l ;
t h e c o n f l i c t between
and l a s t l y t h e e x i s t e n c e o f d i f f e r e n t " p r e s
s u r e groups" - is included i n t h e following.
The
firsi; d e t e r m i n i n g
nism o f change i s t h e c o n t r a d i c t i o n i n t h e m a r k e t economy i t s e l f :
mechaA s com-
p e t i t i o n i s a main c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t h e m a r k e t economy, t h e r e w i l l always
e x i s t a p r e s s u r e t o expand t h e m a r k e t ( b y c r e a t i n g new p r o d u c t s , e n l a r g i n g
t h e m a r k e t s h a r e o r f i n d / c r e a t e new m a r k e t s ) .
On t h e c o s t s i d e o f t h e
ba-
l a n c e s h e e t , companies a n d i n d i v i d u a l e n t r e p r e n e u r s w i l l t r y t o f i n d cheap
labour.
By c o m p l e t e l y t r a n s f o r m i n g t r a d i t i o n a l s o c i e t i e s i n t o e f f e c t i v e
m a r k e t s , w a g e s h a v e t o b e i n c r e a s e d which l i m i t s o r e r a d i c a t e s t h e s u p p l y
of cheap labour.
A n e m p i r i c a l r e s o l u t i o n o f t h i s c o n t r a d i c t i o n h a s i n many
p l a c e s o f t h e T h i r d World b e e n t o p r o d u c e m a i n l y f o r e x p o r t t o t h e developed c o u n t r i e s .
their
The wages p a i d t o w o r k e r s may t h u s b e no h i g h e r t h a n f o r
i n d i v i d u a 2 s u r v i v a l and f i t n e s s a s w o r k e r s .
The p r e r e q u i s i t e f o r
such a development i s t h a t t h e s u p p l y of l a b o u r i s g r e a t e r t h a n t h e demand - which i s t h e t y p i c a l T h i r d World r e a l i t y t o d a y a s w e l l a s e a r l i e r .
I n t h e e a r l y p h a s e s o f market economy p e n e t r a t i o n a l a b o u r s u p p l y was
u s u a l l y c r e a t e d by c o e r c i o n .
T h i s was n o t n e c e s s a r y everywhere i n A f r i c a
( H i n d e r i n k and S t e r k e n b u r g 1 9 7 9 ) .
I n Ghana, f o r i n s t a n c e , Howard (1980)
m a i n t a i n s t h a t t h e t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t i v a t o r s became p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s
through a r e s p o n s e t o economic o p p o r t u n i t i e s and i m p e r a t i v e s o n l y .
The
mechanism used by c o l o n i a l powers t o c r e a t e a l a b o u r s u p p l y was t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n of t a x e s which had t o be p a i d by e v e r y o n e , and i n money.
Tra-
d i t i o n a l c u l t i v a t o r s t h e n had t o s e l l s u r p l u s p r o d u c t s (which o f t e n meant
c u l t i v a t i n g new c r o p s ) o r t h e i r l a b o u r .
Labour m i g r a t i o n i n S o u t h e r n
A f r i c a and e l s e w h e r e was o r i g i n a l l y i n i t i a t e d i n t h i s way.
L a t e r , market
f o r c e s t o g e t h e r w i t h p o p u l a t i o n growth were enough t o s e c u r e a f l o w of
l a b o u r t o t h e growing p l a n t a t i o n s , mining and urban c e n t r e s .
No d o u b t ,
p e o p l e had g o t used t o a few consumer goods and a g r i c u l t u r a l equipment
which c o u l d no l o n g e r b e made l o c a l l y .
The demand f o r t r a d i t i o n a l pro-
d u c t s d i s a p p e a r e d , and t h e knowledge of t h e p r o d u c t i o n p r o c e s s of such
p r o d u c t s was g r a d u a l l y l o s t .
An o u t s t a n d i n g f e a t u r e of p e o p l e ' s a d a p t a -
t i o n t o wage employment was t h e i r c o n t i n u a t i o n w i t h a g r i c u l t u r a l product i o n a s well.
E i t h e r t h e worker came home i n t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l s e a s o n ,
t h a t i s , he became a peasant- worker, o r o t h e r members of t h e household
carried out the a g r i c u l t u r a l tasks, i n t h i s case t h e
peasant- worker t y p e .
household i s of t h e
The low wages r e c e i v e d i n t h e modern s e c t o r of t h e
economy which seldom e n a b l e d t h e worker t o s u s t a l n t h e f a m i l y on t h e wage
a l o n e , had t h e e f f e c t t h a t u r b a n i z a t i o n d i d n o t i n c r e a s e much i n t h i s period.
L a t e r wages i n c r e a s e d , i f n o t much i n r e a l t e r m s , t h e n r e l a t i v e l y
t o t h e income g e n e r a t i n g p o s s i b i l i t i e s i n a g r i c u l t u r e .
now became a p r e f e r e n c e f o r many.
M i g r a t i o n t o towns
To abandon a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n could,
however, n o t be done on a l a r g e s c a l e b e c a u s e , among o t h e r t h l n g s ,
c u r i t y was low and o l d a g e p e n s i o n s n o n - e x i s t e n t .
job se-
Today a s u b s t a n t i a l
number of p e o p l e i n t h e T h i r d World have g o t permanent j o b s and h i g h s a l a ries.
They may t h u s s e v e r e t h e i r l i n k s t o r u r a l r e s o u r c e s .
Nonetheless,
a l a r g e number of p e o p l e d o n o t s e e such p r o s p e c t s f o r t h e m s e l v e s , and t r y
t o become i n v o l v e d i n a m u l t i t u d e o f economic s e c t o r s , o f t e n l e a v i n g w i f e
and c h i l d r e n t o look a f t e r b a s i c food p r o d u c t i o n .
S p a t i a l l y , economic a c t i v i t i e s of a non- primary k i n d w i l l " always" be conc e n t r a t e d b e c a u s e of t h e l o g i c of t h e economy of s c a l e .
The p l a c e s where
c o n c e n t r a t i o n s a r e l o c a t e d can most o f t e n be e x p l a i n e d by i n i t i a l advant a g e s such a s a v a i l a b l e energy ( c o a l , r i v e r s ) o r a c e n t r a l s i t u a t i o n i n
t h e t r a n s p o r t a t i o n network a t t h e b e g i n n i n g of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n .
It is
worth mentioning t h e t r u i s m t h a t t h e i n i t i a l advantage of a n e a r l y induss t r i a l i z a t i o n , i s a major e x p l a n a t i o n of t h e r e l a t i v e l y modest i n d u s t r i a l
development i n many T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s .
The q u e s t i o n i s
T h i s i s never q u e s t i o n e d .
why t h e market economy h a s n o t been a b l e t o b r i n g about
a r a p i d i n d u s t r i a l expansion i n t h e T h i r d World.
No d o u b t , one r e a s o n i s
t h e f a c t t h a t market economy expansion i s uneven economically, s o c i a l l y
and s p a t i a l l y .
I n s i d e t h e T h i r d World s p a t i a l v a r i a t i o n i n r e s o u r c e en-
dowment e x e r c i s e d a n i m p o r t a n t i n f l u e n c e o v e r t h e uneven c o u r s e of e a r l y
An example i s c l i m a t e f a v o u r a b l e t o European
market economy p e n e t r a t i o n .
s e t t l e r s (e.g.
t h e Nairobi a r e a ) .
The
second
d e t e r m i n i n g mechanism, which
h e l p s t o e x p l a i n t h e p r e s e n t s t r u c t u r a l l y d i s t o r t e d economy i n many T h i r d
World c o u n t r i e s , i s t h e c o n f l i c t between i n t e r n a l ( l o c a l o r r e g i o n a l ) and
e x t e r n a l ( n a t i o n a l o r i n t e r n a t i o n a l ) owners o r c o n t r o l l e r s of c a p i t a l .
The
i n t e r n a l owners o f c a p i t a l , m o s t l y t r a d e r s , moneylenders o r l a n d l o r d s (merc h a n t c a p i t a l i n M a r x i s t t e r m s ) do n o t u s u a l l y i n v e s t money ( n e a r l y ) s o l e l y
They w i l l be preoccupied w i t h c o n t r o l l i n g t h e
f o r maximization of p r o f i t .
sources of p r o f i t , e.g.
t h e p e a s a n t s and a r t i s a n s .
External c o n t r o l l e r s
of c a p i t a l ( i n d u s t r i a l c a p i t a l i n M a r x i s t terminology) a r e i n t e r e s t e d i n
investment i n production.
Merchant c a p i t a l i s g e n e r a l l y a n a g e n t of stagn-
a t i o n , whereas i n d u s t r i a l c a p i t a l i s one of change.
t o be poor f o r merchant c a p i t a l t o be m a i n t a i n e d .
Poor p e o p l e must c o n t i n u e
This i s not the case with
i n d u s t r i a l c a p i t a l . The c o n f l i c t between merchant and i n d u s t r i a l c a p i t a l o f f e r s
a b e t t e r e x p l a n a t i o n a s t o why t h e market economy h a s n o t a l r e a d y submerged
t r a d i t i o n a l forms of p r o d u c t i o n t h a n t o s a y t h a t p e a s a n t s want a l i f e of
low m a t e r i a l s a t i s f a c t i o n ,
comes.
t h a t t h e y a r e n o t i n t e r e s t e d i n i n c r e a s e d in-
The outcome of t h e c o n f l i c t i n g i n t e r e s t s g i v e s q u i t e d i f f e r e n t com-
b i n a t i o n s ( a r t i c u l a t i o n s ) of
be termed
forms o f production.
socio-economic formations.
Such combinations w i l l
On a more encompassing l e v e l of as-
p e c t s of s o c i e t y , i t i s common t o u s e t h e c o n c e p t s "mode of p r o d u c t i o n " and
" s o c i a l f o r m a t i o n " f o r forms of p r o d u c t i o n and socio- economic f o r m a t i o n r e spectively.
Amin (1980) r e c o g n i z e s o n l y 5 t y p e s of
"modes o f production"
t r i b u t a r y , s l a v e - b a s e d , s m a l l - s c a l e t r a d e and c a p i t a l i s t ) .
(primitive,
This reduces
t h e u s e f u l n e s s of t h e c o n c e p t by e s t a b l i s h i n g it a t a h i g h l e v e l of ab-
straction.
The o v e r s i m p l i f i c a t i o n a n d l i m i t a t i o n o f t h e c o n c e p t a r e r e -
v e a l e d when c o n f r o n t e d w i ~ hs p e c i f i c " s o c i a l f o r m a t i o n s " ( K l e i n 1 9 8 0 ) .
Some s c h o l a r s h a v e expanded t h e number o f "modes o f p r o d u c t i o n " ( c o l o n i a l , E a n a j i 1972;
1978;
l i n e a g e , Rey 1975;
F e u d a l and p a s t o r a l , C l i f f e 1977.
l i n e a g e - t r i b u t a r y , Dejean 1 9 8 0 ;
p e a s a n t , Hyded 1 9 8 0 ) .
d o e s n o t seem a f r u i t f u l d i r e c t i o n i n which t o p r o c e e d .
This
I n c e r t a i n types
o f a n a l y s e s , f o r i n s t a n c e , i n s t u d i e s o f s o c i a l c l a s s e s and c l a s s c o n f l i c t s ,
t h e g e n e r a l i t y o f t h e 5 t y p e s o f modes o f p r o d u c t i o n i s r e q u i r e d .
rrSociaz fornation" r e f e r s t o a c o m b i n a t i o n o f "modes o f p r o d u c t i o n " e x i s t i n g a t a given p l a c e a t a s p e c i f i c p o i n t i n time.
A " s o c i a l formation"
h a s a s p e c i f i c h i s t o r y , c u l t u r e , economy a n d p o l i t i c a l o r g a n i z a t i o n .
t y p o l o g y o f " s o c i a l f o r m a t i o n s " i s worked o u t .
b e s a i d t o have h e u r i s t i c value.
No
The c o n c e p t c a n , however,
The a r t i c u l a t i o n o f "modes o f p r o d u c t i o n "
h a s been c r i t i z e d o f f u n c t i o n a l i s m ( C r u s h 1 9 8 1 ) .
However, n o t a l l a s p e c t s
of t r a d i t i o n a l s o c i e t i e s remaining today a r e thought t o be replaced by
market f o r c e s based i n dominant o u t s i d e c e n t r e s .
The p o i n t i s t h a t t h e
e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h e continued e x i s t e n c e of t r a d i t i o n a l forms of production
i s seen r a t h e r t o l i e i n t h e o p e r a t i o n of t h e world market (Hesselberg
1981 a ) t h a n i n e i t h e r c o u n t e r v a i l i n g f o r c e s i n t h e t r a d i t i o n a l forms of
p r o d u c t i o n o r i n h a b i t s p e o p l e a r e accustomed t o .
It is a l s o q u i t e c l e a r
t h a t t r a d i t i o n a l f o r m s o f p r o d u c t i o n a r e n o t j u s t p a s s i v e l y t r a n s f o r m e d by
external forces.
They h a v e a n a c t i v e i n f l u e n c e o n t h e p r o c e s s o f change.
B u t it i s f a l l a c i o u s t o m a i n t a i n t h a t t h e y a r e i n d e p e n d e n t o f o r dominant
vis-2-vis
t h e m a r k e t economy.
I t must b e s t r e s s e d t h a t t h e m a r k e t economy
i n t h e T h i r d World was b r o u g h t i n from t h e o u t s i d e and i s t h u s l i n k e d t o
dominant f o r e i g n c e n t r e s .
I n Europe and J a p a n , f o r i n s t a n c e , i n t e r n a l f a c -
t o r s d e t e r m i n e d t h e t r a n s i t i o n from f e u d a l i s m t o c a p i t a l i s m .
This is a
fundamental d i f f e r e n c e .
The
t h i r d o f t h e d e t e r m i n i n g mechanisms o f change ( o r s t a g n a t i o n ) , t o b e
m e n t i o n e d , which f o l l o w s from t h e a b o v e , i s t h a t a l t h o u g h c l a s s e s a r e formed,
q u i t e a s u b s t a n t i a l number o f p e o p l e r e g a r d t h e m s e l v e s t o b e l o n g t o d i f f e r e n t
" p r e s s u r e groups".
" Pressure group" w i l l be used i n s t e a d of c l a s s , because
i t i s a t a r e l a t i v e l y l e s s g e n e r a l l e v e l , and t h u s a l l o w s f o r more e m p i r i c a l
d e t a i l of study.
An example o f t h i s mechanism i s a worker i n town w i t h a
wife i n r u r a l production.
h i g h e r p r i c e s on food.
He w i l l , f o r i n s t a n c e , b e a m b i v a l e n t t o w a r d s
He may a l s o f i n d it d i f f i c u l t t o a c c e p t s u b s t a n t i a l
rises in wages if that implies less subsidies on agricultural inputs.
In
the same way the traditional elite with large landholdings cultivated by
tenants may, when they have the political power, not react as one group
regarding the question of agricultural technology.
Some will favour a
rapid change and an increased degree of national food production, whereas
others will try to keep the old society from changing because a
change would deprive them of their source of profit.
The result
is likely to be a society consisting of various forms of production among sectors and internal to a sector.
What then do form of production and socio-economic formation refer to?
Fomn of production includes the following three dimensions: The l e v e l of
technology in a wide sense (simple, intermediate, advanced);
the r e l a t i o n
between Land, Labour and c a p i t a l (individual, collective and other types
of ownership of production factors and patterns of surplus appropriation);
and t h e aim of production (consumption mainly, consumption and reinvestment of approximately equal value and reinvestment mainly).
duction can be
Forms of pro-
established for all kinds of production sectors and be
found at different times in different areas.
A formulation of a typology
of forms of production generally will not be made.
It is important, how-
ever, to be aware of the risk of expanding the number of forms of production which in the end would give only unique cases.
Socio-economic
formation must be located in time and space.
It contains
the combination of forms of production prevailing in a society.
The point
in using the concept socio-economic formation is that it provides an opportunity to study a society more in its totality.
Such a study may give
a specific understanding grasped at one moment in a society's evolution,
and thereby enable a better prediction of the further development of this
society as a whole.
The reason for not using the term "social formation"
is that this concept is composed of "modes of production".
To avoid con-
ceptual confusion, socio-economic formation is therefore used when referring
to compositions of forms of production.
AGRARIAN TRANSITION
In traditional societies the decisive factor regarding rural people's level
of living was the relationship between people and nature.
called an "ecologicaz s i t u a t i o n " .
This may be
In modern societies exchange between
p e o p l e h o l d s t h e main e x p l a n a t i o n f o r i n e q u a l i t y .
rreconomic s i t u a t i o n " .
T h i s may b e l a b e l l e d an
The p r o c e s s of a g r a r i a n change from t h e former t o
the l a t t e r s i t u a t i o n is called agrarian t r a n s i t i o n .
During t h e a g r a r i a n
t r a n s i t i o n a g r i c u l t u r e may be s a i d t o be t r a n s f o r m i n g i n a more fundament a l way t h a n t h e changes o c c u r r i n g
situations.
i n e i t h e r t h e e c o l o g i c a l o r economic
I n t h e a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n t h e r e i s a mix of t h e s e two s i t u a -
t i o n s , n o t p r i m a r i l y t h e one o r t h e o t h e r .
The c o n t e n t o f t h i s mix may of
c o u r s e v a r y from p l a c e t o p l a c e .
Before c o l o n i a l i s m , h u n t i n g f o r s l a v e s by Europeans, Arabs and A f r i c a n s themselves was mot d i s r u p t i v e t o t h e w e l l e s t a b l i s h e d and o f t e n
h i g h l y o r g a n i z e d s o c i e t i e s and t r a d e r o u t e s i n A f r i c a .
Barber (1960)
may s t a n d a s an example of t h e w e l l - e s t a b l i s h e d myth t h a t :
" Before t h e coming of t h e Europeans, it was g e n e r a l l y t h e c a s e i n t h e Rhod e s i a ~t h a t t h e economic l i f e o f t h e A f r i c a n p e o p l e s was based on s e l f c o n t a i n e d a g r i c u l t u r a l and p a s t o r a l systems."
T h i s view h a s been adequately
c o u n t e r e d by, f o r i n s t a n c e , Rodney (1972) and A r r i g h i (1973)
.
I n other
p a r t s of t h e world c o l o n i a l i s m had t h e same impact a s s l a v e - h u n t i n g i n
Africa.
I n s h o r t , t h e economy i n p a r t i c u l a r and s o c i e t y i n g e n e r a l i n t h e
now T h i r d World became "outward o r i e n t e d " , and t h e i n t e r a c t i o n and i n t e g r a t i o n between neighbouring a r e a s d e c l i n e d o r were stopped a l t o g e t h e r .
A t
t h e time t h e market economy had expanded t o become t h e main o r g a n i z i n g
p r i n c i p l e of l a r g e p a r t s of t h e economies i n t h e T h i r d World, even v i l l a g e based s o c i e t i e s became fragmented.
Economic r e l a t i o n s h i p s became i n d i v i -
d u a l i z e d and a l a b o u r supply was c r e a t e d f o r f u r t h e r market economy expansion.
I t i s a myth t h a t t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r e was i n e f f i c i e n t .
I n Southern
A f r i c a , f o r i n s t a n c e , l a r g e ploughed f i e l d s i n European s e t t l e m e n t a r e a s
had a lower p r o d u c t i v i t y of a u n i t of l a n d ( l a n d p r o d u c t i v i t y ) t h a n hoe c u l t i v a t i o n of s e l e c t e d s o i l s (Palmer and P a r s o n s 1 9 7 7 ) .
Although c o l o n i a l i s m
paved t h e way f o r t o d a y ' s p o v e r t y i n t h e T h i r d World, economic o p p o r t u n i t i e s
were s i m u l t a n e o u s l y c r e a t e d , f o r i n s t a n c e , through a g r i c u l t u r a l i n n o v a t i o n s
b o t h r e g a r d i n g t y p e s of c r o p s and p r a c t i c e s of c u l t i v a t i o n .
t i o n s have n o n e t h e l e s s n o t become u n i v e r s a l l y adopted.
Such innova-
I f Boserup's t h e s i s
(1965) of p o p u l a t i o n p r e s s u r e a s t h e c a u s e of a g r i c u l t u r a l change on a l a r g e
s c a l e i s c o r r e c t , A f r i c a w i t h i t s low p o p u l a t i o n d e n s i t y i n most p l a c e s
might have t o w a i t a long time f o r change t o t a k e p l a c e .
A t t h e beginning o f n a t i o n a l economic development low c o s t of l a n d , s p a r s e
s e t t l e m e n t and r e l a t i v e l y h i g h p r i c e s f o r c a p i t a l goods l e d t o an e x t e n s i v e
form of farm operation. After the industrial revolution wages increased
far more than other inputs (Andreae 1981).
sive production in the developed countries.
This led to a capital intenIndustrial growth may not
have the same effect inpopulous Third World countries today.
The direc-
tion of the agrarian transition has in fact proved to be multitudinous.
There are a number of different agricultural structures in the world, and
hence different possible paths for Third World countries to follow.
None-
theless, one may make a dichotomy on a general level between t h e Kulak
( o r American) path (Roxborough 1979) and t h e peasant path.
The former
leads through the formation of state or private farms to increased labour
productivity due to rises in inputs of machinery and energy.
may, if not always, result in higher land productivity.
The latter
In cases where
new land is available for cultivation, land productivity seldom improves
much.
When land is in short supply, a process of involution (Geertz 1963)
often takes place.
Involution refers to that more and more people work on
the same land without any change in the technology of operation.
The total
production increases in places where soils and water are favourable.
relative increases will be gradually smaller.
The
The production in the early
phases of this process may be large enough to allow quite substantial sales.
Later higher percentages of the harvests have to be used for consumption.
The result is a typical peasant form of production. The significance of a
stagnant or only slowly increasing productivity per worker is, among other
things, that few opportunities will exist for local entrepreneurship based
on agriculture. Thus a dynamic capital accumulation at the village level
is limited.
The unilinear perspective on agricultural change usually implies that in
the t r a n s i t i o n period between fairly specialized traditional agriculture
and highly specialized commercial farming, agricultural production is mixed.
A number of crops are grown on each holding, food crops as well as cash
crops, and in addition livestock is often kept ("simple animal husbandry",
according to Todaro 1981)
National economic improvements and population
growth stimulate in this phase both intensification and diversification.
The increasing food demand in urban centres makes land more expensive, paving
the way for private landholdings where land is not already a commodity.
When land becomes a commodity, the labour which is applied to a unit of land
usually increases.
Some labour-saving equipment may be adopted, and crop
rotation becomes normal.
When the use of inputs bought from outside increa-
s e s , i t becomes i m p o r t a n t t o s p r e a d t h e r i s k of f a i l u r e by growing a
v a r i e t y of c r o p s .
Thus, i f t h e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s have a c c e s s t o c r e d i t ,
f e r t i l i z e r s and o t h e r e s s e n t i a l i n p u t s and t o m a r k e t s , and have a f e e l i n g
t h a t t h e y w i l l b e n e f i t from improved p r o d u c t i v i t y , t h e y w i l l g r a d u a l l y
s p e c i a l i z e and become f a r m e r s .
A s Todaro s t a t e s , e v i d e n c e from many T h i r d
World c o u n t r i e s shows t h a t under proper c o n d i t i o n s s m a l l c u l t i v a t o r s a r e
responsive:
"Lack of i n n o v a t i o n i n a g r i c u l t u r e
...
i s u s u a l l y due n o t t o
poor m o t i v a t i o n o r f e a r of change per se b u t t o i n a d e q u a t e o r u n p r o f i t a b l e
opportunities."
I n a "mature" i n d u s t r i a l market economy d i v e r s i f i c a t i o n i s t h u s r e p l a c e d
by s p e c i a l i z a t i o n a t t h e farm l e v e l .
The f a m i l y farm have an a r e a o n l y
l a r g e enough f u l l y t o mechanize t h e c u l t i v a t i o n of one o r two c r o p s .
fact,
In
t h e s p e c i a l knowledge i n v o l v e d makes it d i f f i c u l t f o r a f a r m e r t o
have a thorough i n s i g h t i n t o more t h a n a few c r o p s .
I n c o l l e c t i v e forms
of a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n a c o n t i n u o u s m o d e r n i z a t i o n t a k e s p l a c e b e c a u s e
of economy of s c a l e .
I n t h e t r a n s i t i o n from l a b o u r t o c a p i t a l i n t e n s i v e
a g r i c u l t u r e l a b o u r c o r i s i d e r a t i o n s according1.y f o r c e an e l i m i n a t i o n of d i v e r s i f i c a t i o n and a s w i t c h from a j o i n t t o a s p e c i a l i z e d o p e r a t i o n .
In
a d d i t i o n , r i s k i s more and more reduced t h r o u g h i n s u r a n c e a r r a n g e m e n t s .
The c r i t i q u e of t h e above model of a g r i c u l t u r a l change i s t h a t i t i s
too limited.
but
I t d e p i c t s p a s t change i n a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n c o r r e c t l y
it does no!: i n c l u d e t h e important f a c t t h a t many a g r i c u l t u r a l producers
combine a g r i c u l t u r e w i t h work i n o t h e r s e c t o r s .
To f u l l y understand agri-
c u l t u r a l chmgc? or stagnation, i t i s e s s e n t i a l t o broaden t h e a n a l y s i s t o
cover other a s p ~ c t so f r e a l i t y as w e l l .
The c o n t e n t i o n h e r e i s t h a t an
improvement i n a g r i c u l t u r e r e a c h i n g t h e m a j o r i t y of t h e p e a s a n t s i n t h e
T h i r d World, n e c e s s i t a t e s a n i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of t h e f o r c e s t h a t " p e r p e t u a t e "
the t r a n s i t o r y stage.
Below some of t h e a s p e c t s and f o r c e s a r e touched
upon.
M~zcizan7~srns
o f a-jrarian t r a n s i t i o n
,i,and tenurr and dd,k't burden a r e o f t e n mentioned a s r e a s o n s f o r non-improvement of p r o d u c t i v i t y i n a s i t u a t i o n where a l l n e c e s s a r y i n p u t s a r e a v a i l a b l e
and an e f f e c t i v e demand f o r t h e o u t p u t e x i s t s .
The l a n d l o r d may t a k e a
l a r g e p a r t of t h e o u t p u t and/or t h e m o n e y l e n d e r / t r a d e r t h e p r o f i t .
In
most of A f r i c a t h e r e a r e n o b i g l a n d l o r d s and t h e c u l t i v a t i o n i s n o t
highly capitalized.
T h i s mechanism of s t a g n a t i o n i s t h e r e f o r e l e s s p r e -
v a l e n t i n A f r i c a i n c o n t r a s t t o A s i a and L a t i n America.
The mechanism t h a t s h o u l d b e u n d e r l i n e d i s r a t h e r t h e pric62 a8queeze, t.he
f a c t t h a t a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n f o r s a l e now i s l i n k e d i n one way o r
a n o t h e r t o t h e world market.
P r i c e s on i n p u t s such a s equipment, f e r t i -
l i z e r e t c . t e n d t o i n c r e a s e a t a h i g h e r r a t e t h a n p r i c e s on a g r i c u l t u r a l
output.
In addition,
T h i r d World governments a r e l e s s i n c l i n e d t h a n
governments i n developed c o u n t r i e s t o s u b s i d i z e a g r i c u l t u r e .
i s t h a t a u n i t of o u t p u t buys l e s s and l e s s i n p u t s .
The r e s u l t
The p e a s a n t s a r e
o f t e n a l s o compelled t o s e l l t h e i r p r o d u c t s j u s t a f t e r h a r v e s t when p r i c e s
a r e r e l a t i v e l y low, and t o buy "back" food l a t e r when p r i c e s a r e h i g h .
F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e manufactured goods which p e a s a n t s (and modern a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s ) have become accustomed t o , become r e l a t i v e l y more expensive than t h e products they s e l l .
T h i s i s enhanced by t h e r e p l a c e m e n t
o f v i l l a g e c r a f t s by imported goods.
Thus, t h e n e c e s s a r y c o n t i n u o u s pro-
d u c t i v i t y i n c r e a s e i n a g r i c u l t u r e become r e l a t i v e l y h i g h , s q u e e z i n g some
p e a s a n t s o u t of p r o d u c t i o n and o t h e r s back t o s u b s i s t e n c e a g r i c u l t u r e , and
f o r c i n g f a r m e r s t o i n c r e a s e t h e i r p r o d u c t i o n by " grabbing" l a n d and
stea-
d i l y r a i s i n g t h e machine i n t e n s i t y of o p e r a t i o n and/or t h e u s e of f e r t i lizers.
I n many T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s t h e gap between p e a s a n t a g r i c u l t u -
r a l technology and t h e t e c h n o l o g i c a l l e v e l of modern a g r i c u l t u r e i s v a s t .
I n t h e developed c o u n t r i e s t h e m o d e r n i z a t i o n o f a g r i c u l t u r e was more l i n k e d
t o a g r a d u a l m o d e r n i z a t i o n of o t h e r s e c t o r s and c o u n t r i e s .
Agricultural
development i n t h e T h i r d World, on t h e o t h e r hand, meets c o m p e t i t i o n from
a h i g h l y o r g a n i z e d a g r i c u l t u r e , o f t e n m a r k e t i n g t h e p r o d u c t s through t r a n s n a t i o n a l companies.
T r a n s n a t i o n a l companies may, however, a l s o i n d u c e
a g r i c u l t u r a l development i n t h e T h i r d World t h r o u g h , f o r i n s t a n c e , c o n t r a c t
farming.
T h i s may improve t h e income of t h e p e a s a n t s (and modern a g r i c u l -
t u r a l p r o d u c e r s ) b u t seldom s o l v e t h e problems of n a t i o n a l food s h o r t a g e .
Furthermore,
such companies a r e n o t a b l e t o i n v a l i d a t e t h e p r i c e squeeze.
The c o n c l u s i o n i s t h a t t h e lower c a p a c i t y t o o b t a i n an " a c c e p t a b l e " l e v e l of
s a t i s f a c t i o n of goods from o u t s i d e , c o r n p e l s m a n y t o m i g r a t e t o urban c e n t r e s
i n o r d e r t o s e c u r e p a r t o f t h e i r l i v e l i h o o d . The e f f e c t of t h i s h a s i n
many p l a c e s been a s h o r t a g e of l a b o u r a t ploughing and h a r v e s t i n g t i m e .
This again leads t o disinvestment i n peasant agriculture.
Today t h e d e t e r i o -
r a t i o n of t h e p r o d u c t i v i t y i n a g r i c u l t u r e i s b o t h a c a u s e and an e f f e c t of
m i g r a t i o n . A t t h e o r i g i n o f m i g r a t i o n it was most o f t e n a c a u s e o n l y .
Why a r e n o t a l l p e a s a n t s s q u e e z e d o u t o f a g r i c u l t u r e ?
There a r e f o r c e s
p r e s s i n g t o w a r d s t h e c r e a t i o n o f f a r m e r s , o n t h e o n e h a n d , and w o r k e r s ,
t r a d e r s e t c . , on t h e o t h e r .
However, d o u n t e r v a i l i n g f o r c e s e x i s t , s u c h
a s o p p o r t u n i t i e s a l t h o u g h l i m i t e d f o r c a s h c r o p p r o d u c t i o n a n d c a s u a l and
low- paid work p a r t i c u l a r l y i n u r b a n c e n t r e s .
A survival is thus possible
o n a s m a l l h o l d i n g and w i t h low p r o d u c t i v i t y i f t h e h o u s e h o l d i s u s e d a s
To combine income s o u r c e s i s becoming i n c r e a s i n g l y
t h e u n i t of livelihood.
common i n L a t i n America ( B r i g n o l and C r i s p i 1 9 8 2 ) .
This process is called
s e m i - p r o l e t a r i a n i z a t i o n i n t h e L a t i n American d e b a t e .
H a r r i s (1978) r e -
p o r t s t h a t o n e - t h i r d o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s i n Mexico h a v e non-agric u l t u r a l incomes a s w e l l .
I n Cajamarean ( P e r u ) 55% o f t h e p e a s a n t house-
h o l d s h a d a t l e a s t one member who p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e l a b o u r m a r k e t ( D e e r e
I n S r i Lanka t h e r e i s e v i d e n c e o f a more c l a s s i c a l a g r a -
and J a n v r y 1 9 8 1 ) .
rian transition:
I t h a s become more common f o r l a r g e r c u l t i v a t o r s
(those
w i t h 20-40 d e c a r s o f w e t paddy l a n d ) t o h a v e n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l incomes
(Wickramasekara 1 9 8 3 ) .
A t t h e o t h e r e n d , many p o o r e r p e a s a n t s r e n t o r l e a s e
o u t t h e i r s m a l l p l o t s and become wage w o r k e r s ( d a i l y p a i d ) o n t h e l a r g e r
c u l t i v a t o r s land.
I t h a s o b v i o u s l y become more r e w a r d i n g f o r t h e " s m a l l
p e a s a n t s " t o work f o r money o n o t h e r p e o p l e ' s l a n d t h a n c u l t i v a t i n g t h e i r
own p l o t s m a i n l y f o r consumption.
I n l 9 7 5 f i v e d a y s o f t h i s k i n d o f work
g a v e a b u s h e l o f paddy, w h e r e a s t h e e q u i v a l e n t amount c o u l d b e o b t a i n e d
o n l y 2.3 d a y s ' work i n 1982.
for
I n developed c o u n t r i e s " part- time farming"
h a s become a g e n e r a l p h e n o m e n o n ( B u t t e 1 1 9 8 2 ) .
An example from C e n t r a l
Kenya (Freeman and N o r c l i f f e 1984) i l l u s t r a t e s t h e p r o c e s s m e n t i o n e d
above:
4 2 % o f t h o s e o p e r a t i n g n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l e n t e r p r i s e s a l s o owned
a smallholding.
I n t e r e s t i n g l y , a s i g n i f i c a n t p r o p o r t i o n of Kenya's "small-
h o l d e r s " have u s e d p r o f i t s from a g r i c u l t u r e t o l a u n c h a v a r i e t y o f e n t e r p r i s e s .
T h i s may b e a l e a d i n g r e a s o n why, a c c o r d i n g t o C l i f f e ( 1 9 7 7 ) , t h e l i m i t e d
c a s h c r o p p i n g i n E a s t e r n A f r i c a d u r i n g and s h o r t l y a f t e r t h e c o l o n i a l p e r i o d
t e n d e d t o c r e a t e some " r i c h " p e a s a n t s r a t h e r t h a n f a r m e r s .
Today it seems
t h a t agribusiness and casuaZ wage employment strengthen r a t h e r than weaken
small f m i Z y based c u Z t i v a t i o n .
til:. u n i Linear mod6
c---'
T h i s i s contrarg t o what i s prescribed by
n,rr.,'..r.: r:?z'c.
, mentioned above.
Erought i s a mechanism o f a g r a r i a n change which i s of p a r t i c u l a r r e l e v a n c e
t o Africa.
A much w i d e r i n t e r e s t t h a n h a s b e e n shown i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e s o
f a r , ought t o be p a i d t o t h i s f a c t o r .
I n t h e e x t r e m e c a s e when d r o u g h t l e a d s
t o f a m i n e , p e a s a n t r e s i s t a n c e t o change h a s b e e n d e m o n s t r a t e d t o b r e a k down
(Klein 1980).
Due to internal differentiation of the peasant category,
a drought may affect well-off agricultural producers to a lesser degree
than poor ones.
The poor may be compelled to leave agriculture because
the system of redistribution inside kin groups has lost much of its former
matter of course.
In fact, even to share resources in time of crisis is
no longer a certainty in the contemporary more individualized society in
rural areas of the Third World.
The well-off may experience a loss of
investable capital and/or they may due to the experiences of recurrent
droughts become less willing to take the risk of adopting less well-known
practices of cultivation.
The exhaustion of the soil may in some cases be a factor squeezing peasants
out of agriculture, especially if still more distant land is the only alternative.
To some extent drought contains an element of fallow because the
crops are not using much, if any, of the soil nutrients.
the soil does not regain any of its fertility.
On the other hand,
The point is that with re-
current droughts (and bad harvests generally), the length of the time cultivation is possible on one plot is longer than it would otherwise have been.
Bernstein (1979) includes the exhaustion of the soil and the price squeeze
in his concept "simple reproduction squeeze".
The generality of the deteri-
orating terms of exchange for peasant agriculture and the particularity of
the shortened fallow period make it inadequate to combine both in a single
concept.
Bernstein is, however, correct when he says that:
"The low level
of development of the productive forces in peasant agriculture means that
the household is extremely vulnerable to failure in any of its material elements of production".
PEASANT DIFFERENTIATION
The differentiation of the peasantry consists of two related dimensions:
The rich
-
poor and the multiactivity dimensions.
The rich - poor dimension
Socio-economic stratification among peasants becomes more marked and takes
on new forms when market relations expand.
the opportunity to increase their assets.
Chiefs and merchants seize then
They develop land and practice
v a r i o u s forms of l e n d i n g .
I n s h o r t , t h e y a r e a b l e t o accumulate c a p i t a l .
I n s e v e r a l p l a c e s q u i t e a number of p e o p l e g r a d u a l l y o r more r a p i d l y
( b e c a u s e of s p e c i a l c i r c u m s t a n c e s f o r i n s t a n c e s e v e r e d r o u g h t ) l o s e
t h e i r l a n d o r c a t t l e and become l a b o u r e r s .
Most of t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l
p r o d u c e r s , however, remain more o r l e s s a s b e f o r e r e g a r d i n g s u b s i s t e n c e .
The p r o c e s s of t r a n s i t i o n t h u s b o t h c r e a t e s an income and w e a l t h s t r a t i f i c a t i o n among p e a s a n t s and r e s u l t s i n t h a t many p e a s a n t s a r e n o t a b l e t o
f e e d themselves from own p r o d u c t i o n , and hence a r e f o r c e d t o become e i t h e r
combined peasant- workers o r l a n d l e s s l a b o u r e r s .
There a r e a c c o r d i n g l y d i f f e r e n t
s t r a t a among t h e p e a s a n t s when r e f e r r i n g
t o income and w e a l t h , t h a t i s , l e v e l of l i v i n g .
This s t r a t i f i c a t i o n im-
p l i e s , among o t h e r t h i n g s , a r a n g e of p r i v i l e g e and d e p r i v a t i o n .
Few would
s a y t h a t p e a s a n t s c a n belong t o d i f f e r e n t s o c i a l c l a s s e s b e c a u s e t h e y , acc o r d i n g t o t h e d e f i n i t i o n , c o n t r o l some of t h e i r means of l i v e l i h o o d .
There
i s even a d e b a t e a s t o whether p e a s a n t s s h o u l d b e t r e a t e d a s a c l a s s i n a m a t e r i a l i s t sense a t a l l .
I n p o l i t i c a l a n a l y s e s , p a r t i c u l a r l y d i s c u s s i o n s of
t h e r e v o l u t i o n a r y p o t e n t i a l among p e a s a n t s (Wolf 1 9 6 9 ) , i t i s u s e f u l t o look
upon p e a s a n t s a s c o n s t i t u t i n g a c l a s s by i t s e l f , i f n o t f o r i t s e l f .
To r e -
g a r d p e a s a n t s t o d a y a s " a sack of p o t a t o e s " (Marx 1850) i s f a r f r o m t h e t r u t h .
I t is common t o d i s t i n g u i s h between p o o r , middle and r i c h p e a s a n t s .
Poor
peasants a r e u n a b l e t o r e p r o d u c e t h e m s e l v e s t h r o u g h household p r o d u c t i o n i n
a g r i c u l t u r e , and must s e l l p a r t of t h e i r l a b o u r on a r e g u l a r b a s i s ( B e r n s t e i n
1979).
Middle peasants a r e a b l e t o r e p r o d u c e t h e m s e l v e s through f a m i l y l a -
bour on a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n a l o n e .
S t i l l , t h e y o f t e n choose t o combine
s e v e r a l income s o u r c e s , sometimes t o t h e n e g l e c t of a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n .
I n t h e c a s e of peasant- worker h o u s e h o l d s , women a r e o f t e n p u r e p e a s a n t c u l t i v a t o r s and men workers.
I t i s q u i t e common t h a t s o n s and d a u g h t e r s
work i n urban c e n t r e s and send money home.
accumulate w e a l t h .
Rich peasants
a r e able t o
Rich p u r e p e a s a n t s w i l l seldom be found t o d a y because
most of them w i l l have i n v e s t e d i n s h o p s , b a r s o r o t h e r t y p e s of t r a d e .
The
r e t u r n on such i n v e s t m e n t s a r e u s u a l l y b e t t e r t h a n i n v e s t m e n t s i n a g r i c u l ture.
They become p e a s a n t - t r a d e r s .
The above socio- economic s t r a t i f i c a t i o n
i s w i t h minor v a r i a t i o n s common i n most e m p i r i c a l a n a l y s e s o f p e a s a n t d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n ( f o r i n s t a n c e Bundy 1979, Howard 1980, Deere and J a n v r y 1981,
Mishra 1982, B r a s s 1 9 8 3 ) .
The m u l t i a c t i v e dimension
I n most o f A f r i c a t h e p r o c e s s o f socio- economic s t r a t i f i c a t i o n o f t h e
p e a s a n t r y i s s t i l l g o i n g on.
I n Asia t h i s process has through shrinking
h o l d i n g s and t h e mechanisms d e s c r i b e d a b o v e , a l r e a d y f o r c e d many p e a s a n t s
t o s e l l t h e i r l a n d and become t e n a n t s .
Furthermore, t h e production has
o f t e n f a l l e n below t h e f o r m e r s u b s i s t e n c e f l o o r a t t h e h o u s e h o l d l e v e l .
P o v e r t y h a s become a way o f l i f e ,
I n L a t i n America t h e t y p i c a l s i t u a t i o n
i s t h a t b y b e i n g f o r c e d t o t a k e p a r t i c u l a r l y consumption l o a n s from moneyl e n d e r s and t r a d e r s w i t h i n t e r e s t r a t e s from 50 t o 200% a y e a r , many peas a n t s h a v e become l a n d l e s s a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s .
b o u r e r s have even s e t t l e d i n urban c e n t r e s .
An example i s t h e c a n e c u t t e r s
A c c o r d i n g t o T o d a r o ( 1 9 8 1 1 , p e a s a n t s h a v e no s o u r c e s
i n Peru ( S c o t t 1976).
o f e x t e r n a l income;
A number o f t h e s e l a -
t h e y a r e t r a p p e d i n c h r o n i c p o v e r t y from which no
escape is p o s s i b l e s h o r t of major r u r a l r e c o n s t r u c t i o n .
Although A f r i c a
h a s a lower p o p u l a t i o n s i z e r e l a t i v e t o l a n d and o t h e r r e s o u r c e s t h a n A s i a
and L a t i n America, t h e r e i s e v i d e n c e o f t h e same p r o c e s s .
However, more
t y p i c a l i n A f r i c a i s p r o b a b l y t h e i n c r e a s i n g number o f p e o p l e who combine
own c u l t i v a t i o n w i t h wage work i n a g r i c u l t u r e o r o t h e r s e c t o r s .
The s t a t e -
ment b y T o d a r o i s e v i d e n t l y f a l l a c i o u s regarding A s l a and L a t i n America, a s
shown p r e v i o u s l y , and becoming more and more s o i n t h e c a s e o f A f r i c a .
The p r o c e s s d e a l t w i t h a b o v e h a s b e e n l a b e l l e d d i f f e r e n t l y i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e .
I n t h e m o d e r n i z a t i o n t r a d i t i o n , t h e t y p i c a l words u s e d a r e c o m m e r c i d 1 i z ~ ~ t i o n and c o m m o d i t i z a t i o n .
Among more r a d i c a l s c h o l a r s , t h e t e r m s o f t e n
a p p l i e d a r e p r o l e t a r i a n i z a t i o n , m a r g i n a l i z a t i o n and p a u p e r i z a t i o n .
l a t t e r words r e f e r t o t h e f o l l o w i n g p r o c e s s :
opportunities f o r s a l e of products.
The two
The m a r k e t economy o p e n s up
T h i s i n f l u e n c e s p e o p l e ' s wants.
Sooner
o r l a t e r s a l e o f own p r o d u c t s i s n o t s u f f i c i e n t t o s a t i s f y t h e a c q u i r e d
w a n t s , and s a l e o f l a b o u r becomes a n e c e s s i t y .
D i f f i c u l t i e s i n obtaining
r e g u l a r work p a r t i c u l a r l y i n r u r a l a r e a s l e a d e v e n t u a l l y t o s a l e o r abandonment o f t h e l a n d owned.
lihood.
T h i s l e a v e s many n e a r l y w i t h o u t a n y means o f l i v e -
The e x p a n s i o n o f t h e m a r k e t economy h a s , a c c o r d i n g t o S t a v e n h a g e n
( 1 9 7 7 ) , become a n o b s t a c l e t o " a u t h e n t i c development f o r m i l l i o n s of peas a n t s i n t h e T h i r d World" t h r o u g h i t s e n t a i - l i n g growing economic and s o c i a l
inequality.
I n one s e n s e d e v e l o p m e n t and underdevelopment a r e t a k i n g p l a c e
simultaneously.
Which o f t h e s e p r o c e s s e s t h a t w i l l b e t h e s t r o n g e s t i n t h e
s h o r t , medium and l o n g r u n , r e m a i n s a m a t t e r o f q u a l i f i e d b e l i e f .
moment b o t h c a n b e p r o v e d .
A t the
The o n g o i n g p r o c e s s o f d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n and p o l a r i z a t i o n c r e a t e s a l s o o t h e r
c a t e g o r i e s t h a n f a r m e r s a n d " p r o l e t a r i a n s " , s u c h a s t r a d e r s a n d shopowners.
F u r t h e r m o r e , a most s i g n i f i c a n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t h e p r o c e s s i s t h a t
q u i t e a l a r g e g r o u p manages t o r e m a i n a s a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r h o u s e h o l d s
by o b t a i n i n g c a s u a l wage work, t h a t i s t h e y become m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t
households.
By m u l t i a c t i v i t y (FAO 1982a
u s e s t h e term p l u r i a c t i v i t y ) i s
n o t t o b e u n d e r s t o o d t h e many d i f f e r e n t a c t i v i t i e s h o u s e h o l d s u n d e r t a k e
By a c t i v i t i e s f o r d i r e c t consumption i s meant work
f o r d i r e c t consumption.
p e r f o r m e d and g o o d s p r o d u c e d t h a t a r e n e i t h e r s o l d n o r b a r t e r e d b u t u s e d by
t h e household i t s e l f .
" P a r t - t i m e f a r m i n g " , a commonly u s e d t e r m , i s n o t
s u i t a b l e i n a n a l y s e s o f T h i r d World a g r i c u l t u r e b e c a u s e t h e d e f i n i t i o n i s
often referring t o the individual level.
The point here i s t o h i g h l i g h t
t h e multitudinous income-sources t y p e of economy a t ho,r.sehold Zq-oel.
Ana-
l y s e s s h o u l d t o d a y b e t u r n e d t o w a r d s t h e m u l t i a c t i v e peasants and t h o s e who
drop o u t of a g r i c u l t u r e .
Drop-out encompasses a l l g r o u p s t h a t l e a v e a g r i -
c u l t u r e , n o t o n l y t h o s e who a r e l e f t w i t h o u t a n y p r o p e r t y , means o f product i o n and employment,
the destitutes.
"Semi- proletarian" is not used a s a
t e r m b e c a u s e t h a t would n e c e s s i t a t e d a t a on t h e r e l a t i v e m a g n i t u d e s o f t h e
v a r i o u s income s o u r c e s t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s h a v e .
available.
No such d a t a a r e
To b e l a b e l l e d a " s e m i - p r o l e t a r i a n " , t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r
must h a v e wage income a s t h e p r i n c i p a l b a s e o f r e p r o d u c t i o n .
Furthermore,
t h e t e r m " p r o l e t a r i a n " i s n o t a d e q u a t e b e c a u s e many o f t h o s e who l e a v e a g r i c u l t u r e accumulate c a p i t a l i n urban c e n t r e s .
In addition t o multiactive
p e a s a n t s and t h e d r o p - o u t s , s l o w l y c h a n g i n g p u r e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s and
p u r e p e a s a n t - h e r d s m e n m a y s t i l l h e f o u n d i n most T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s .
An
. < r.; : ~ ~ - i n t h e Third World i s t h a t t h e r e i s o f t e n a drop-out of
~ ~ . ; r . ~ i > ~.:eit:~:e
a g r i c u l t u r e without a simultaneous expansion of c o m e r c i a l i z e d farming i n
the same country.
commons i n England.
T h i s d e v e l o p m e n t i s d i f f e r e n t from t h e e n c l o s u r e o f t h e
However, t h e growing u r b a n c e n t r e s w i l l s e c u r e a home
market f o r peasants f o r " a t l e a s t a generation."
(Shanin 1 9 7 4 ) .
Nonetheless,
t h e y w i l l unavoidably disappear because " t h e d e s t r u c t i v e f o r c e of c a p i t a -
l i s m would f a r o u t w e i g h a n y c o n s e r v i n g t e n d e n c i e s . " (Warren 1 9 8 0 ) .
viewpoint i s challenged here.
The above
The huge and i n c r e a s i n g number o f unenployed
p e o p l e i n t h e T h i r d World t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e s t r o n g f o r c e b e h i n d more a u t o m a t i o n i n i n d u s t r y and s e r v i c e s ( e . g . c h i p t e c h n o l o g y ) w i l l r e n d e r few opt i o n s o f f o o d s e c u r i t y b u t own p r o d u c t i o n f o r a p o r t i o n o f t h e e a r t h ' s i n h a b i t a n t s a l s o i n ( i f n o t t h e d a y a f t e r tomorrow) t o m o r r o w ' s economic world
order.
The d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n among p e a s a n t s i s n o t a smooth a n d c o n t i n u o u s p r o c e s s .
P e r i o d s o f r e d u c e d i n e q u a l i t y and t i m e s w i t h l i t t l e o r no change i n c a t e g o r i e s o f a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s may b e f o u n d .
N o n e t h e l e s s , when change
f i r s t h a v e o c c u r r e d i n t r a d i t i o n a l s o c i e t i e s w i t h some d e g r e e o f e c o l o g i c a l equilibrium, t h e r e is a tendency towards d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n .
versal.
The outcome i s g e n e r a l l y t h e f o l l o w i n g c a t e g o r i e s o f p e o p l e i n
rural areas:
worker
T h i s i s uni-
Workers, p e a s a n t s , f a r m e r s , t r a d e r s and d e s t i t u t e s .
The
c a t e g o r y c o n s i s t s o f p e r m a n e n t l y a n d c a s u a l l y employed p e o p l e and
of labour migrants and s h u t t l e r s .
A
Labour migrant i s
here defined a s a
p e r s o n who i s employed o r s e l f - e m p l o y e d i n a n o t h e r n a t i o n a l t e r r i t o r y t h a n
where h i s c l o s e s t f a m i l y i s l i v i n g and w h o p r o v i d e s w h o l l y o r i n p a r t f o r
t h e up- keep o f t h i s f a m i l y .
A
shuttLer i s
a p e r s o n who i s employed o r s e l f -
employed o u t s i d e t h e home a r e a b u t n o t i n a n o t h e r n a t i o n .
The p e r s o n h a s
t o come b a c k home n o t e v e r y d a y b u t a t l e a s t o n c e e v e r y s i x t h month.
As
t h e l a b o u r m i g r a n t , t h e s h u t t l e r must c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e h o u s e h o l d economy
i n t h e home a r e a (Wikan 1 9 8 1 ) .
The p e a s a n t c a t e g o r y c o n s i s t s o f
a g r i c u l t u r e o n l y ) and
pure peasants
muLtiactive peasants
( t h o s e who a r e o c c u p i e d w i t h
( t h o s e who h a v e o t h e r s o u r c e s of
l i v e l i h o o d i n a d d i t i o n t o own a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n ) .
t o t h e farmer category.
Destitute
The same a p p l i e s
r e f e r s t o t h o s e who d o n o t r e g u l a r l y
f i n d s e a s o n a l work i n a g r i c u l t u r e b u t s t i l l e k e o u t a meager e x i s t e n c e i n
rural areas.
These c o n c e p t s c a n b e u s e d a t t h e i n d i v i d u a l a s w e l l a s t h e
household l e v e l .
It i s s u r p r i s i n g on t h e background o f t h e commonness of
m u l t i a c t i v i t y i n t h e T h i r d World t h a t s o l i t t l e s c h o l a r l y work h a s b e e n d i r e c t e d e x p l i c i t l y t o t h i s phenomenon.
An example o f t h i s i n a d e q u a t e con-
c e p t u a l i z a t i o n o f a g r a r i a n r e a l i t i e s i s a r e c e n t r e a d e r e d i t e d by H a r r i s s
(1982).
M u l t i a c t i v i t y i s n e v e r m e n t i o n e d i n t h i s book o n p e a s a n t s and a g r a -
r i a n change.
The r e s e a r c h i n t e r e s t i n t h e m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t c a t e g o r y f o r
a g r a r i a n p o l i c y - m a k i n g i n p a r t i c u l a r and d e v e l o p m e n t s t r a t e g y i n g e n e r a l
l i e s f i r s t and f o r e m o s t i n t h e f a c t t h a t t h i s c a t e g o r y o f p e a s a n t s c o n s t i t u t e a l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n of t h e worlds food producers.
They a r e n e i t h e r
f u l l y workers, s p e c i a l i z e d c u l t i v a t o r s nor d e s t i t u t e s .
I t may b e c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t - modern a g r i c u l -
t u r a l p r o d u c e r d i m e n s i o n d o e s n o t r e v e a l one o f t h e most f u n d a m e n t a l economic and d e v e l o p m e n t a l a s p e c t s o f s o c i e t a l e v o l u t i o n a t t h e l e v e l of d e v e l o p ment o f t h e p r o d u c t i v e f o r c e s d e a l t w i t h h e r e .
A l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n of t h e
p e o p l e i n t h e T h i r d World c a n n o t l i v e a d e q u a t e l y a n d w i t h a c e r t a i n minimum
o f s e c u r i t y i n t h e s h o r t o r t h e l o n g r u n by i n d i v i d u a l e f f o r t s a l o n e .
This
g r o u p m u s t r e l y on o t h e r p e o p l e a s w e l l , and h e n c e t h e h o u s e h o l d becomes t h e
r e l e v a n t economic u n i t o f a n a l y s i s i n s u c h c a s e s .
This sub- subsistence
n a t u r e o f p e a s a n t p r o d u c t i o n i s common i n A f r i c a ( K o h n e r t 1979, 1 9 8 2 ) .
It
i s a l s o o f t e n m e n t i o n e d i n s t u d i e s o n A s i a ( B a h a r u d d i n 1979) and L a t i n Amer i c a (Durston 1982) .
The v a r i e t y o f f o r m s o f p r o d u c t i o n o f a socio- economic f o r m a t i o n i n a soc i e t y i n t r a n s i t i o n i s o f t e n r e f l e c t e d i n t h e r e l a t i v e d i s t r i b u t i o n of t y p e s
o f work ( f i g u r e 3 ) .
The f i g u r e i s n o t i n c l u d e d a s a h y p o t h e s i s t o b e t e s t e d
b u t a s a p e r s p e c t i v e i n which t h e e m p i r i c a l f i n d i n g s c a n b e viewed.
The
f i g u r e shows t h a t t h e t y p i c a l p r e - c o l o n i a l and p r e - m a r k e t s o c i e t y c o n s i s t e d
o f a m a j o r i t y of t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t i v a t o r s , some a r t i s a n s and p e o p l e of o t h e r
o c c u p a t i o n s and " c h i e f s " and t h e i r k i n .
When m a r k e t s a l e s o f p r o d u c t s and
i n a d d i t i o n e i t h e r l a n d o r l a b o u r became common, p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s c o n s t i tuted t h e majority.
I n a t h i r d s t a g e ( A ) , t h e p r e s e n t one i n many T h i r d
World c o u n t r i e s , p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s , m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s , f a r m e r s a n d a few m u l t i a c t i v e f a r m e r s e x i s t .
The c a t e g o r y " o t h e r " c o n s i s t s
m o s t l y o f t h e t e r t i a r y s e c t o r i n t h e T h i r d World.
T h i s does n o t imply t h a t
it i s u s e f u l t o term such c o u n t r i e s " peasant s t a t e s " , a s S p i t t l e r
(1983) d o e s ,
b e c a u s e t h e d o m i n a n t f o r c e s o f change d o e s n o t p r o b a b l y l i e w i t h t h e peas a n t r y b u t i n t h e f o r m a l s e c t o r o f t h e economy a n d t h e a t t e n t i o n t h i s s e c t o r
r e c e i v e s from t h e p o l i t i c a l e l i t e .
I n a f o u r t h stage a g r i c u l t u r a l producers
c o n s t i t u t e a s m a l l p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e t o t a l nuvber employed o r s e l f - e m p l o y e d .
I n t h i s s t a g e m u l t i a c t i v e f a r m e r s a r e a b o u t e q u a l l y numerous a s p u r e f a r m e r s .
(The r e l a t i v e m a g n i t u d e s w i l l o f c o u r s e v a r y among c o u n t r i e s . )
This i s the
t y p i c a l s i t u a t i o n i n t h e developed c o u n t r i e s today.
Mu Ztiactivity in deve Loped countries
The p r i c e s q u e e z e i s o p e r a t i v e a l s o i n d e v e l o p e d c o u n t r i e s .
Q u i t e a number
o f modern a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s h a v e b e e n f o r c e d by a d e c l i n i n g l e v e l o f
l i v i n g t o t a k e p a r t - t i m e o r f u l l - t i m e employment i n o t h e r s e c t o r s , m o s t l y
i n urban c e n t r e s .
Weekend and h o l i d a y f a r m i n g a r e t h e r e f o r e phenomena on
t h e increase (Strode 1982).
I t i s d i f f i c u l t t o compare t h e f i g u r e s f o r d i f -
f e r e n t c o u n t r i e s because t h e d e f i n i t i o n s of " part- time farming" d i f f e r .
In
t h e USA 1 2 % o f " f a r m o p e r a t o r s " worked 100 d a y s o r more i n " o f f - f a r m " a c t i -
Figure 3 .
Flgure 3.
Model of Societal Evolution and Agrarian Transition.
Relative number of persons in different categories
of "work-position" and cultivators.
Model of Socleta1 Evolution and Agrarian Transition.
Relative number of persons ~n drfferent categories of "work-pos~tlon" and of cultzvators.
loo?
Chlefs arid k ~ n
L a n d l a r B s , ,wealthy business men, p
Crafts, other
Traditional
""1tl"ator~
Prasant~"Ltlvators
o
l
~
t
~
~
~
~
~
~
v i t i e s i n 1929.
The f i g u r e f o r 1978 was 44% ( B u t t e l 1 9 8 2 ) .
t h e f a r m e r s i s no l o n g e r t o s u p p l e m e n t farm incomes.
The aim o f
I n s t e a d , it i s com-
mon f o r " p a r t - t i m e f a r m e r s " t o work f u l l - t i m e o f f t h e farm.
Now more t h a n
h a l f of t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l households w i t h a market production have non-agric u l t u r a l incomes s u p e r i o r t o t h e i r a g r i c u l t u r a l incomes.
I n Europe t h e
"worker- peasant" i s a dominant c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of t h e a g r a r i a n s t r u c t u r e
(Goodman and R e d c l i f t 1 9 8 1 ) .
(The p e a s a n t c o n c e p t h a s a l s o b e e n f r e q u e n t l y
u s e d i n t h e d e b a t e o n a g r i c u l t u r a l development i n Turkey.
Margulies 1983.)
(FAO 1982 a ) .
Seddon and
I n Cyprus 51% o f t h e f a r m e r s h a v e j o b s o u t s i d e a g r i c u l t u r e
I n Norway t h e husband and w i f e a r e i n c l u d e d i n t h e d e f i n i t i o n
of " part- time farming".
I n 1979 56% o f t h e f a r m s had l e s s t h a n h a l f o f t h e
income from t h e farm (Symes 1 9 8 2 ) .
Even t h e l a r g e r f a r m s now t u r n i n t o t h e
c a t e g o r y where f a r m i n g i s " n o t t h e most i m p o r t a n t s o u r c e o f income".
mon income s o u r c e s w i t h which f a r m i n g i s combined i n Norway a r e :
p l o y m e n t , t o u r i s m and s o c i a l s e c u r i t y payments.
Con;-
Wage em-
I n Japan a household d e f i -
n i t i o n i n c l u d i n g s o n s , d a u g h t e r s and g r a n d p a r e n t s s t a y i n g a t home i s u s e d .
The h i g h f i g u r e s f o r " p a r t - t i m e f a r m i n g " i n J a p a n i s a l s o a consequence of
t h e e x i s t i n g small farm s t r u c t u r e .
I n t h e 1 9 3 0 s a p p r o x i m a t e l y 50% of t h e
f a r m f a m i l i e s i n J a p a n had some n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l employment,
25% d e r i v e d
more income from employment t h a n from a g r i c u l t u r e ( J o h n s o n 1 9 7 4 ) .
50% o f t h e f a r m s had more income from o t h e r s o u r c e s .
87% (Kada 1 9 8 2 ) .
I n 1950
The f i g u r e i n 1980 was
E n y e d i (1982) c a l c u l a t e s t h e m a g n i t u d e o f " p a r t - t i m e f a r -
ming" i n Hungary i n a n o t h e r way.
The p r o p o r t i o n o f g r o s s a g r i c u l t u r a l pro-
d u c t i o n i n 1980 p r o v i d e d by " p a r t - t i m e f a r m i n g " was 34%.
The e x p e r i e n c e s
i n developed c o u n t r i e s can g e n e r a l l y b e explained by t h e i n c r e a s i n g d i f f i c u l t i e s f a r m e r s s e e i n r e a l i z i n g a n " a d e q u a t e " income from f a r m i n g .
T h i r d World i t i s f o r many a q u e s t i o n o f b a r e s u r v i v a l .
In the
N e i t h e r t h e wage
o b t a i n e d i n town, n o r t h e o u t p u t o f t h e farm s u f f i c e t o r e p r o d u c e t h e f a m i l y .
T ~ rich
P
- poor dimension and multiactivitg
The r e l a t i v e numbers o f r i c h and p o o r c u l t i v a t o r s ( i n a r e l a t i v e s e n s e ) v a r y
t h r o u g h t h e t r a n s i t i o n from t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t i v a t o r t o f a r m e r ( f i g u r e 4 ) .
(The f i g u r e i s i n c l u d e d f o r t h e s a k e o f p e r s p e c t i v e o n l y . )
Among t h e t r a -
d i t i o n a l c u l t i v a t o r s , t h e r e a r e , due t o p r i n c i p l e s o f e q u a l i t y , few i f any
r e a l l y poor c u l t i v a t o r s .
When p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s a r e t h e n e a r l y e x c l u s i v e
c a t e g o r y o f c u l t i v a t o r s , b o t h t h e r e l a t i v e numbers o f r i c h a n d poor c u l t i -
vators rise.
This i n e q u a l i t y i n c r e a s e s when it becomes p o s s i b l e t o o b t a i n
wage employment and s a l e of cash crops becomes more common.
t i t i o n f o r f a c t o c s of production sharpens i n t h i s p e r i o d .
The compeIn the situation
where t h e number of p u r e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s d e c l i n e s and combination of
c u l t i v a t i o n with n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l jobs i s becoming more normal, t h e r e l a t i v e number of r i c h c u l t i v a t o r s i n c r e a s e s , whereas t h e number of poor ones
declines.
This c o n s t i t u t e s , however, a s h o r t p e r i o d b e f o r e r i c h peasant-
c u l t i v a t o r s become farmers and " l a n d grabbing" o c c u r s l e a v i n g l e s s land o r
l e s s e a s i l y a c c e s s i b l e land t o t h e remaining middle p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s and
smallholder farmers.
The pure farmers suddenly f i n d themselves h e a v i l y
caught i n t h e p r i c e squeeze, and hence t h e number of r i c h pure c u l t i v a t o r s
i s reduced.
The same s i t u a t i o n w i l l e x i s t when m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i -
v a t o r s a r e turned i n t o m u l t i a c t i v e farmers.
When work i n n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l
s e c t o r s i s common, t h e number of poor c u l t i v a t o r s i s very low.
(This s i -
t u a t i o n i s normally accompanied w i t h government s u b s i d i e s t o r e t a i n a cert a i n amount of n a t i o n a l f o o d p r o d u c t i o n . )
The number of r i c h pure farmers
c o n t r a c t s and probably s t a b i l i z e s a t a p o i n t approximately corresponding t o
t h e number of pure c u l t i v a t o r s who have acquired l a r g e landholdings.
The
f i g u r e i s l i m i t e d t o a marked economy type of s o c i e t y .
CONCLUSION
The two dominant p r o c e s s e s of change a r e t h e expansion of t h e market economy
and population growth.
They a r e i n t e r c o n n e c t e d , a s a r e t h e o t h e r p r o c e s s e s
included i n f i g u r e 5.
Numerous f a c t o r s with v a r i a b l e weights and i n changing
combinations a r e involved i n t h e s e p r o c e s s e s .
The h i s t o r i c a l s p e c i f i c i t y
of a s o c i a l phenomenon must t h e r e f o r e be e s t a b l i s h e d ,
t h a t i s , the consti-
t u e n t elements and t h e r e l a t i o n s between them must be i d e n t i f i e d .
In social
s c i e n c e t h i s i m p l i e s drawing a n a l y t i c a l boundaries, of s e l e c t i n g elements.
The u n i t of study does n o t g i v e i t s e l f p e r se a s i s o f t e n t h e c a s e i n n a t u r a l
science.
Herein l i e s a v a l u e judgement i n s o c i a l science.
The changes o c c u r r i n g r e g a r d i n g l a n d , a g r i c u l t u r e and people, explained a t
l e n g t h i n t h e p r e v i o u s c h a p t e r s , a r e summarized i n t h e f i g u r e .
should n o t be read i n a t e l e o l o g i c a l way.
The f i g u r e
A s has been underlined b e f o r e , no
h i s t o r i c a l n e c e s s i t y i s involved i n a s h i f t from one category t o t h e o t h e r .
A s o c i e t y may be "permanently" a t t h e middle ( p e a s a n t l s t a g e i n t h e s e dimen-
sions.
There i s , however, most probably an i r r e v e r s i b i l i t y concerning t h e
Figure 4.
Model of differentiation among cultivators.
Relative number of cultivators with different
levels of living.
Rich
Traditional
cultivators
1
Peasantcultivators
Middle
Middle
l
Rich
Rich
Rich
Rich
l
Peasantcultivators
Multiactive
peasantcultivators
and
peasantcultivators
Middle
Middle
Middle
Middle
Middle
Poor
Poor
poor
Poor
Poor
Farmers
l
and
m u l t ~ a c t ~ v e multiactive
farmers
peasantj
cultivators
Farmers
and
Multiactir
farmers
and
farmers
Time
Figure 5.
Model of Agrarian Transition.
People
Traditional agriculturalists
Peasants
Modern aqr. producers
Process of
population growth
Process of
differentiation
Multiactive ',,
Multiactive
peasants
'- mod. agr. prod.
Agriculture
Land
Traditional
Peasant
Modern
subsistence
specialized
extensive
sub-subsistence
diversified
labour intensive
market
specialized
capital intensive
Communal
Communal and
private/state
Private or collective
Process of
commercialization
Process of
privatisation/
collectivization
Process of
market economy
penetration
Time
s h i f t from t h e t r a d i t i o n a l t o t h e p e a s a n t s t a g e .
This i s n o t t h e c a s e
f o r t h e s h i f t from t h e p e a s a n t t o t h e modern form of production.
q u i t e conceivable t h a t farmers may become p e a s a n t s .
I t is
The f i g u r e d e p i c t s
t h e g e n e r a l and common experience of t h o s e c o u n t r i e s t h a t have developed
a modern a g r i c u l t u r a l s e c t o r .
Such c o u n t r i e s may i n times of high unem-
ployment o r s p e c i f i c f a s h i o n s w i t n e s s a migration of people t o marginal
a r e a s , and t h u s a r e l a t i v e i n c r e a s e i n t h e category m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t s .
E a r l i e r i n t h i s and p r e v i o u s c h a p t e r s s e v e r a l mechanisms of poverty creat i o n have been touched upon.
poverty a r e shown.
I n f i g u r e 6 some of t h e l e a d i n g causes of
Although some f a c t o r s have been included t h a t have
n o t been d i s c u s s e d e a r l i e r , t h e f i g u r e does n o t p r e t e n d t o be exhaustive.
Generally, p o v e r t y i s c r e a t e d both by s o c i e t a l p r o c e s s e s which a r e n o t rel a t e d t o a g r i c u l t u r e and by p r o c e s s e s d i r e c t l y connected t o a g r a r i a n
changes.
I n t h e l a t t e r c a s e t h e p r i c e squeeze i s t h e main mechanism re-
garding A f r i c a .
I n Asia, L a t i n America and p a r t s of A f r i c a l a c k of s u i t -
a b l e land f o r t h e p e a s a n t s i s another important mechanism.
To understand
t o d a y ' s poverty i n t h e Third World, i t i s furthermore e s s e n t i a l t o be aware
of t h e i n i t i a l
i n e q u a l i t y which e x i s t e d i n most t r a d i t i o n a l s o c i e t i e s .
The p e n e t r a t i o n of t h e market economy has i n most c a s e s " b u i l t on" and
widened t h i s i n i t i a l
i n e q u a l i t y through i t s own uneven development.
The
market economy expansion a s an o v e r a l l process works through a number of
l e s s encompassing p r o c e s s e s of which some of t h e most important and r e l e vant
i n t h e p r e s e n t c o n t e x t a r e included.
Drought r e p r e s e n t s furthermore
an element of p a r t i c u l a r importance i n many African c o u n t r i e s .
Drought
c r e a t e s p o v e r t y d i r e c t l y by k i l l i n g c a t t l e and f o r c i n g people t o abandon
a g r i c u l t u r e , and r e s u l t s i n d i r e c t l y i n wider d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n through t h e
l e s s e r a b i l i t y of middle p e a s a n t s ( t h a n r i c h p e a s a n t s ) t o withstand minor
droughts.
CHAPTER 5
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND RURAL
SETTLEMENT PATTERN
T h i s c h a p t e r c o n s i s t s o f two p a r t s e v i d e n t from t h e t i t l e o f t h e c h a p t e r .
I n t h e f i r s t p a r t , t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l production t r e n d s primarily i n Africa
a r e given together with p o t e n t i a l s .
Reasons o f f e r e d b y s c h o l a r s f o r l a c k
of a g r i c u l t u r a l d e v e l o p m e n t a r e t h e n d i s c u s s e d .
The c a s e s o f t h e I v o r y
C o a s t and T a n z a n i a a r e u s e d t o i l l u m i n a t e t h e r a n g e o f p r e s e n t l y a d o p t e d
agrarian policies.
T h e r e a f t e r some v i e w p o i n t s o n s t r a t e g i e s f o r a g r i c u l -
t u r a l development a r e a l b e i t b r i e f l y o u t l i n e d .
I n t h e second p a r t , changes
i n r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n s a r e e l a b o r a t e d upon.
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
The T h i r d World c a n d o u b l e i t s a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n b e f o r e y e a r 2 000
w i t h o u t a n y new s t a r t l i n g t e c h n o l o g i c a l b r e a k t h r o u g h (FAO 1 9 8 1 a).
This
w o u l d , however, n o t end h u n g e r u n l e s s t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n becomes more e q u a l .
A f a i n t hope.
S i m i l a r l y , t h e "overproduction" of c e r e a l s i n p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e
USA ( i n 1982 e s t i m a t e d t o b e 1 2 5 m i l l i o n t o n s , a f t e r e x p o r t s .
Aftenposten
8 . August 19821, c a n n o t h e l p T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s u n a b l e t o p a y .
There is
e v i d e n t l y no o t h e r o p t i o n a v a i l a b l e t o most T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s t h a n t o
improve t h e i r own a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n .
To e n v i s a g e a g r a n d i n t e r n a -
t i o n a l scheme o f f o o d d i s t r i b u t i o n would moreover c r e a t e a d a n g e r o u s b a s i c
f o o d dependence which f e w , i f a n y , g o v e r n m e n t s would a c c e p t .
Except f o r
n a t u r a l c a t a s t r o p h e s , t h e food supply ought mainly t o be self- produced a t a
national level.
I n t e r n a t i o n a l t r a d e i n food p r o d u c t s w i l l s t i l l b e essen-
t i a l t o a l l o w f o r f u r t h e r development o f t h e comparative advantage regarding
t y p e s o f a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t s a s w e l l a s t o s u p p l y t h o s e c o u n t r i e s which d o
n o t h a v e t h e p h y s i c a l r e s o u r c e s t o p r o d u c e t h e m a j o r p a r t o f t h e i r own r e quirements.
A f r i c a i s today t h e onZy l a r g e r area w i t h an average dscZine i n food prod u c t i o n per person
( - 0 . 9 % a n n u a l a v e r a g e i n t h e 1 9 7 0 s , World Bank l 9 8 1 a ) .
I n t h e 1 9 6 0 s f o o d p r o d u c t i o n i n Sub- Saharan A f r i c a i n c r e a s e d w i t h 2 % ( a n n u a l
average).
I n t h e 1 9 7 0 s t h e f i g u r e was 1 . 5 % .
t h e g r o w t h o f p o p u l a t i o n (FAO 1 9 8 1 a ) .
Both f i g u r e s a r e w e l l belcw
T h i s d e c l i n e i s c a u s e d b o t h by
l o w e r l a n d and l a b o u r p r o d u c t i v i t y (Mkandawire 1 9 8 3 ) .
A c c o r d i n g t o Holmberg
( 1 9 8 2 ) , S u b - S a h a r a n A f r i c a m a y become one o f t h e b i g t r a g e d i e s of t h e 20.
century.
The g l o b a l a g r i c u l t u r a l o u t p u t h a s i n c o n t r a s t i n c r e a s e d t r e -
mendously s i n c e 1950.
1980 ( G r i g g 1983)
The f o o d o u t p u t a t l e a s t d o u b l e d b e t w e e n 1950 and
( t h e w o r l d p o p u l a t i o n i n c o m p a r i s o n i n c r e a s e d w i t h 85%
i n t h e same p e r i o d ) .
The a g r i c u l t u r a l g r o w t h was m a i n l y d u e t o a n i n t e n s i -
f i c a t i o n o f p r o d u c t i o n and n o t p r i m a r i l y t o a n e x t e n s i o n i n a r e a c u l t i v a t e d .
I n t h e p e r i o d 1950- 71 f o o d p r i c e s w e r e f a i r l y s t a b l e .
A c c o r d i n g t o Brown
( 1 9 8 3 ) , t h e S o v i e t wheat p u r c h a s e s i n 1972 ended t h i s good p e r i o d .
The
i d l e i n g o f c r o p l a n d i n t h e USA i n c r e a s e d t h e p r i c e s f u r t h e r , a s d i d t h e
h i g h e r o i l p r i c e s from 1973 onwards.
The outcome was and i s a d e c l i n i n g
g l o b a l f o o d s e c u r i t y , f a m i n e i n I n d i a and A f r i c a and a w o r s e n i n g s o i l e r o s i o n i n many T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s .
The need t o p r o d u c e more f o o d i n t h e
T h i r d World g e n e r a l l y i s w e l l documented.
FAO ( 1 9 8 1 a ) e s t i m a t e s t h a t i n
8 6 T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s 435 m i l l i o n p e o p l e (1974- 76 a v e r a g e ) w e r e undernourished.
I f t h e t r e n d c o n t i n u e s , t h e r e w i l l b e 510 m i l l i o n s i n 1990 ( 9 0
T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s i n c l u d e d ) and 590 i n y e a r 2 000.
Imports of food,
which i n t h e 1 9 7 0 s i n c r e a s e d w i t h 9% a n n u a l l y o n a v e r a g e f o r Sub- Saharan
A f r i c a , h a s become a heavy c o n s t r a i n t on t h e a b i l i t y t o i m p c r t t e c h n o l o g y
n e c e s s a r y t o improve t h e p r o d u c t i v i t y o f p r o d u c t i o n p r o c e s s e s .
To become
more s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t i n b a s i c f o o d s t u f f t h r o u g h a " s m a l l h o l d e r " s t r a t e g y
was t h e n e x p e c t e d l y made a p r i m e o b j e c t i v e i n t h e OAU's "Lagos P l a n of
A c t i o n " (1981). FAO r e c k o n s t h a t A f r i c a n e e d s t o d o u b l e i t s f o o d product i o n d u r i n g t h e 1 9 8 0 s t o h a v e enough t o f e e d i t s e l f .
Viewed a g a i n s t t h e
p o t e n t i a l , t h a t i s , land a v a i l a b i l i t y and y i e l d s obtained elsewhere, t h i s
should not b e t o o d i f f i c u l t .
For i n s t a n c e , t h e maize y i e l d average f o r
t h e T h i r d World (1974- 76 a v e r a g e ) was 1 . 4 t o n s / h a , whereas t h e F i g u r e f o r
t h e d e v e l o p e d c o u n t r i e s was 4.3.
I n a moderately p o s i t i v e scenario t h e
T h i r d World w i l l i n y e a r 2 000 h a v e a n a v e r a g e y i e l d o f 2.0 t o n s / h a .
f i g u r e f o r sorghum a r e 0 . 8 ,
2.0 and 1 . 2 r e s p e c t i v e l y .
The
In Africa the agri-
c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n c o u l d a t l e a s t b e 100 t i m e s more t h a n p r e s e n t l y (Econom i s t 10/9-83).
The i r r i g a t i o n p o t e n t i a l i n A f r i c a i s , f o r i n s t a n c e , 290
m i l l i o n h e c t a r s ( i n c l u d i n g double cropping).
are irrigated
(Revelle 1983).
Today o n l y 9 m i l l i o n h e c t a r s
More i m p o r t a n t , however, i s R e v e l l e ' s e s t i -
m a t e t h a t even w i t h a low l e v e l o f i n p u t i n a g r i c u l t u r e , A f r i c a c o u l d f e e d
1 . 5 b i l l i o n p e o p l e , a p o p u l a t i o n f i g u r e p r o b a b l y r e a c h e d i n 2 025.
(With
a h i g h l e v e l o f i n p u t t h e f i g u r e would b e 1 0 b i l l i o n p e o p l e . )
Evidently,
t h e p h y s i c a l resources f o r adequate food production a r e n o t lacking i n
I t should b e mentioned t h a t l a r g e a r e a s of A f r i c a a r e n o t s u i t -
Africa.
a b l e f o r wheat p r o d u c t i o n , b u t f o r t h e more d r o u g h t r e s i s t a n t sorghum and
millet,
T h i s may p r o v e a problem i n f u t u r e b e c a u s e t h e g a p b e t w e e n l o c a l
p r o d u c t i o n and t h e a b i l i t y o f g o v e r n m e n t s t o i m p o r t f o o d i s o f t e n c l o s e d
by f o o d a i d , t h a t i s , w h e a t a n d m a i z e p r o d u c e d i n t h e USA.
I n Botswana
sorghum p o r r i d g e i s g i v i n g way t o w h i t e b r e a d ( a n d t o a l e s s e r e x t e n t t o
rice).
T h i s c h a n g e i s w o r r i s o m e and p r o b a b l y i r r e v e r s i b l e a s l o n g a s
people have a choice.
I n Tanzania a n o f f i c i a l r e p o r t ( S t r u c t u r a l Adjust-
mentprogramme 1 9 8 1 ) s t a t e s t h a t t h e need f o r i m p o r t e d f o o d h a s c o n t r i b u t e d
t o t h e s u b s t i t u t i o n a s w e l l a s i n c r e a s e d p r e f e r e n c e f o r m a i z e , wheat a n d
r i c e i n p l a c e of t r a d i t i o n a l lower c o s t s t a p l e s .
Abalu ( 1 9 8 2 ) s a y s t h a t
t h e r e i s a g e n e r a l t r e n d o f i n c r e a s i n g p r e f e r e n c e by A f r i c a n consumers f o r
wheat and r i c e .
The l e s s o n t o l e a r n r e g a r d i n g f o o d a i d i s t h a t it s h o u l d
b e c o n n e c t e d t o s u p p o r t i n g improvements i n l o c a l f o o d p r o d u c t i o n .
This has
b e e n r e c o g n i z e d by EEC a t l e a s t a t t h e l e v e l o f r h e t o r i c ( C l a y 1 9 8 3 ) .
The r e a s o n s f o r t h e b a d p e r f o r m a n c e o f a g r i c u l t u r e i n A f r i c a a t p r e s e n t and
i n t h e l a s t d e c a d e a r e many a n d v a r y i n d e t a i l from c o u n t r y t o c o u n t r y .
The key f a c t o r ( s ) a l s o d i f f e r s w i t h l o c a l c i r c u m s t a n c e s .
Among s c h o l a r s
a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s t h e r e seems t o e x i s t a n a g r e e m e n t o n s e v e r a l
explanatory f a c t o r s .
p u t s it:
"...
Below t h e main r e a s o n s a r e g i v e n why, a s L i p t o n (1983)
A f r i c a h a s now o v e r t a k e n S o u t h A s i a i n t h e g r i s l y r a c e f o r
t h e t i t l e of hungriest region."
Thereafter t h e suggested s o l u t i o n s a r e dis-
cussed.
A t t h e g e n e r a l l e v e l L i p t o n m a i n t a i n s t h a t t h e c o n s i s t e n t n e g l e c t by govern-
m e n t s o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l s e c t o r , i n h i b i t e d them from m e e t i n g t h e o i l c r i s i s
with adequate p o l i c y responses.
J a n v r y (1977) and
L e l e ( 1 9 8 3 ) , among
o t h e r s , u n d e r l i n e t h a t fundamental a t t i t u d e s and group i n t e r e s t s
at nutional
level a r e t h e main o b s t a c l e s f o r improvements i n a g r i c u l t u r e i n A f r i c a .
Bates (1983) s a y s i t a s s t r o n g l y a s t h i s :
viewed a s a b y - p r o d u c t o f g o v e r n m e n t s '
" A g r i c u l t u r a l p o l i c y can t h u s be
e f f o r t s t o maintain peaceful p o l i t i -
c a l r e l a t i o n s with urban p o l i t i c a l f o r c e s . "
The World Bank ( 1 9 8 1 a ) and t h e
B r a n d t r e p o r t s (1980, 1983) s t r e s s p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h , t h e p h y s i c a l e n v i r o n ment, g l o b a l " s t a g f l a t i o n " a f t e r 1974 and a p e r s i s t e n t b i a s a g a i n s t a g r i c u l t u r e i n p r i c e s , t a x e s and e x c h a n g e - r a t e p o l i c i e s .
For i n s t a n c e , t h e terms
of t r a d e f o r farmers i n developed c o u n t r i e s a r e twice a s advantageous
t h a n i n t h e Third World on average (Janvry 1980).
Moreover, r e a l p r i c e s
p a i d f o r most African producers' crops f e l l d u r i n g t h e p e r i o d 1970 1982 (Green 1 9 8 3 ) .
I n Tanzania, f o r i n s t a n c e , producer p r i c e s f o r export
crops a r e lower i n t h e e a r l y 1980s i n r e a l terms t h a n i n t h e beginning of
t h e 1970s.
According t o Abalu (1982):
"Quite o f t e n , e x i s t i n g i n p u t and
o u t p u t p r i c e s a r e such t h a t p r o f i t maximizing behaviour would be expected
t o l e a d t o r e j e c t i o n of recommended ( a g r i c u l t u r a l ) p r a c t i c e s . "
In parti-
c u l a r , t h e p r i c e s o f f e r e d by p a r a s t a t a l marketing boards i n A f r i c a a r e too
low (Economist 10/9-83).
I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e r e a s o n s g i v e n above, many
s c h o l a r s mention p o l i t i c a l i n s t a b i l i t i e s and wars (Hinderink and Sterkenburg
1983).
The normal land t e n u r e system i n A f r i c a i s regarded t o be a problem
i n a d i f f e r e n t way than i n o t h e r r e g i o n s of t h e world.
The widespread
e x i s t e n c e of commonage i s s a i d t o hinder banks t o g i v e l o a n s t o c u l t i v a t o r s
without c a t t l e a s s e c u r i t y .
Cooperatives f o r i n p u t s and marketing, which
were important i n t h e a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n of t h e now developed c o u n t r i e s ,
seem t o be unable i n most Third World c o u n t r i e s t o surmount t h e two fundamental d i f f i c u l t i e s of untimely i n p u t s and delayed payments.
~ l t h o u g h ,a s
mentioned, t h e combination of causes d i f f e r from country t o country, t h e
outcome i s o f t e n t h e f a m i l i a r p r o c e s s of reduced f e r t i l i t y of t h e s o i l and
hence d e c l i n i n g o u t p u t .
An example of t h i s p r o c e s s i s Russia.
In the
beginning of t h i s c e n t u r y t h e Russian p e a s a n t s ' response t o market and popu l a t i o n p r e s s u r e was mainly t o reduce t h e a r e a and d u r a t i o n of f a l l o w
( P a l l o t 1984).
Without a change t o a use of f e r t i l i z e r s o r manure food
production i n e v i t a b l y goes down.
Examples o f agrarian p o l i c i e s :
The Ivory Coast and Tanzania compared
A comparison of t h e Ivory Coast and Tanzania p r o v i d e s a u s e f u l i l l u s t r a t i o n
of t h e arguments above.
THE I V O R Y COAST
The Ivory Coast i s o f t e n l a b e l l e d t h e country with an a g r i c u l t u r a l e x p o r t
success.
Manufacturing of a g r i c u l t u r a l goods accounts f o r more than h a l f of
t h e v a l u e added and a s t i l l h i g h e r p r o p o r t i o n of manufactured e x p o r t s (Lee
1980).
The government has through an a g r a r i a n p o l i c y of p r i v a t e producers
and p r i v a t e l o c a l t r a d e r s b u t an o f f i c i a l c e n t r a l i z e d marketing board f o r
e x p o r t crops
encouraged production of cocoa and c o f f e e .
The producer
p r i c e s have been well below world market p r i c e s f o r t h e s e products.
The
important p o i n t i s , however, t h a t t h e producer p r i c e s have s t e a d i l y increased over t h e l a s t 20 y e a r s .
t i o n on b a s i c consumer goods.
Moreover, t h e y have kept pace with i n f l a Land was t r a d i t i o n a l l y communal b u t acquired
g r a d u a l l y a v a l u e beyond t h e mere p r o v i s i o n of s u b s i s t e n c e , and it came t o
be viewed a s p r i v a t e p r o p e r t y .
Land was a l s o a v a i l a b l e f o r t h o s e who wanted
t o s t a r t a g r i c u l t u r a l production on a smallholder s c a l e .
The main govern-
ment e f f o r t s b e s i d e s f i x i n g t h e producer p r i c e s and organizing t h e export
marketing a r e cash bonuses f o r high q u a l i t y p r o d u c t s and s u b s i d i e s on i n p u t s .
Labour i s e a s i l y a v a i l a b l e from neighbouring c o u n t r i e s a t t h e peak season.
The small p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s and farmers, who produce n e a r l y a l l t h e cocoa
and c o f f e e i n t h e Ivory Coast, have, however, n o t improved t h e i r l e v e l of
living.
The government has a p p r o p r i a t e d a high percentage of t h e b e n e f i t s
from t h e e x p o r t growth.
According t o Hecht (19831, t h e producers have become
a lower middle- class segment of s o c i e t y , valued h i g h l y a s t h e motor of t h e
Ivorian "miracle".
Most o t h e r African c o u n t r i e s have a l s o taxed t h e i r pea-
s a n t s h e a v i l y f o r c a p i t a l accumulation and reinvestment elsewhere i n t h e
economy.
Almost a l l t h e s e c o u n t r i e s have ended up i n " c r i p p l i n g " t h e a g r i -
cultural sector.
The main r e a s o n f o r t h i s d i f f e r e n c e l i e s probably i n t h e
continued e x p e c t a t i o n of an improved l e v e l of l i v i n g t h a t e x i s t e d among peas a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s and farmers i n t h e Ivory Coast.
This was achieved by iden-
t i f y i n g t h e " r i g h t " balance between t a x e s , s u b s i d i e s and producer p r i c e s .
This s t r a t e g y h a s , however, n o t p r i m a r i l y l e d t o i n c r e a s e d p r o d u c t i v i t y
through new technology i n production b u t through more p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s
c u l t i v a t i n g more l a n d .
TANZANIA
The Ujamaa p o l i c y , t h a t i s pooled a g r i c u l t u r a l labour on s o c i a l i s t p r i n c i p l e s l o c a t e d i n v i l l a g e s , l a s t e d i n p r a c t i c e only about 5 y e a r s .
The Tan-
zanian government's commitment t o t h e p o l i c y was never very s t r o n g (Payer
1983).
However, 13 m i l l i o n people were moved, mostly by f o r c e during t h e
f i r s t h a l f of t h e 1970s.
A s d e s c r i b e d elsewhere i n t h i s work, a g r i c u l t u r a l
production i n Tanzania s u f f e r e d .
I n t h e s t r a t e g y of "development v i l l a g e s "
adopted i n 1975 p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s were allowed t o have small p r i v a t e p l o t s
f o r t h e i r own consumption and s a l e .
Due t o i n a d e q u a t e a g r a r i a n p o l i c i e s
and marketing systems, a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n f o r e x p o r t s and home consumption i n Tanzania i s s t i l l today a major u n r e s o l v e d problem, and p o v e r t y
is pervasive i n r u r a l areas.
B e r n s t e i n (1981) remarks t h a t t h e f a s t ex-
p a n s i o n of t h e s t a t e (and t h e subsequent need t o f i n a n c e i t ) l e d t o an
a t t e m p t n o t o n l y t o monopolize t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l o u t p u t of t h e p e a s a n t s
through p a r a s t a t a l b o a r d s b u t a l s o t o an " a t t e m p t t o c o n t r o l t h e c o n d i t i o n s
of e x i s t e n c e and u s e s of p e a s a n t l a b o u r i t s e l f " .
Kjarby (1983) r e p o r t s t h a t
t h e r e i s an i n c r e a s i n g i n t e r e s t i n animal t r a c t i o n among p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s
i n Tanzania.
T h i s shows a w i l l i n g n e s s t o change.
The government h a s , how-
e v e r , n e g l e c t e d a l s o t h i s s i d e of p e a s a n t a g r i c u l t u r a l development.
Instead
f u n d s have been c o n c e n t r a t e d on s t a t e farms which a r e demanding on f o r e i g n
exchange, f o r i n s t a n c e , r e g a r d i n g t r a c t o r s .
a c c o r d i n g t o Kjaerby, a t an economic l o s s .
Most of t h e s t a t e farms r u n ,
I n f a c t , t h e e x p o r t volume of
a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t s have d e c l i n e d i n a b s o l u t e terms.
To sum up, p e a s a n t s
i n Tanzania have been moved t o new and o f t e n unknown a r e a s r e g a r d i n g l o c a l
weather and s o i l s .
exports.
There t h e y have been t o l d t o grow s p e c i f i c c r o p s f o r
They h a v e a l s o b e e n " s t a r v e d " of f i n a n c i a l r e s o u r c e s (Hanak ( 1 9 8 3 ) .
Most a u t h o r s w r i t i n g on Tanzanian
a f f a i r s a g r e e t h a t t h e dismal a g r i c u l t u r a l
performance i s caused mainly by a d e c l i n e i n p r i c e s i n r e a l terms of a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t s ( r e l a t i v e t o p r o d u c e r i n p u t s and consumer goods purchased
by t h e p e a s a n t s ) .
I t should t h e r e f o r e n o t s u r p r i s e anyone t h a t t h e peasant-
c u l t i v a t o r s have g i v e n p r i o r i t y t o growing t h e i r own food.
They have been
a b l e t o do s o through t h e p a r t c o n t r o l t h e y s t i l l have o v e r l a n d .
Viewpoints on strategies for agricuZturaZ deveZopment
The a g r i c u l t u r a l work f o r c e i n A f r i c a w i l l grow w i t h a t l e a s t 1.3% a
y e a r i n t h e r e s t of t h i s c e n t u r y .
i s 1.1% (FAO 1981 a ) .
The f i g u r e f o r t h e whole T h i r d World
I t i s t h e n r e a s o n t o m a i n t a i n t h a t machinery ought
t o be i n t r o d u c e d i n such a way t h a t it adds t o employment.
In addition
t o improved methods of c u l t i v a t i o n , a d e q u a t e p r i c e s a r e n e c e s s a r y t o
reach higher labour productivity.
I n t h e absence of expected h i g h e r
incomes, p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s w i l l n o t make an e x t r a e f f o r t , b e a r a d d i t i o n a l
r i s k s and be p r e p a r e d t o s a v e and i n v e s t more.
I n market economies where
l a n d i s s t i l l communally h e l d , it i s d i f f i c u l t t o o b t a i n c r e d i t b u t f o r
t h o s e with o t h e r means of wealth ( e . g . c a t t l e ) .
The government must i n
such c a s e s d e v i s e combined c r e d i t and insurance schemes.
Although
government planning i s necessary t o b r i n g about a g r i c u l t u r a l development
i n most p l a c e s , no government can achieve economic o p t i m i z a t i o n on every
farm.
T h i s depends on t h e c u l t i v a t o r s .
I n , f o r i n s t a n c e , t h e c o n t e x t of
I n d i a Nair (1979) f a v o u r s n e g a t i v e i n c e n t i v e s because t h e r a t i o n a l i t y of
c u l t i v a t o r s v a r i e s enormously.
The high number of bundels of i n d i v i d u a l
( o r household) s a t i s f a c t i o n s makes a p r e d i c t a b i l i t y of a d m i n i s t r a t i v e
e f f o r t s extremely d i f f i c u l t .
I n t h e Third World g e n e r a l l y t h e conventional
economic concept of u t i l i t y has l i m i t e d e m p i r i c a l r e l e v a n c e .
In f u l l -
f l e d g e d market economies t h e p r o f i t motive s e c u r e s p r e d i c t a b i l i t y .
The
o p t i o n a v a i l a b l e t o Third World governments regarding optimal use of
a g r i c u l t u r a l r e s o u r c e s i s , according t o Nair, t o make it uneconomic n o t
t o sow on time, n o t t o d i g w e l l s , n o t t o use f e r t i l i z e r s e t c .
If the
c u l t i v a t o r s a r e n o t maximizing y i e l d s , t h e y would l o s e t h e p o s s e s s i o n of
t h e land.
Such a harsh method would be p o l i t i c a l s u i c i d e i n a democracy.
Moreover, it would d e p r i v e a huge number of people of t h e i r only means
of l i v e l i h o o d .
The method may, however, be s u c c e s s f u l i n i n c r e a s i n g
national a g r i c u l t u r a l output.
I n f a c t , it i s nothing b u t an extreme form
of t h e p r i c e squeeze.
China, Japan and Taiwan a r e important examples of t h e p e a s a n t p a t h t o
a g r i c u l t u r a l development.
They have through a r e l a t i v e l y low c o s t type
of system, b u t with high labour i n p u t , reached high l e v e l s of both land
the smallhoZder strategy
did not have to compete with large internal commercial farms, neither
private nor coZZective ones. The success of a p e a s a n t p a t h t o agricultural
and labour p r o d u c t i v i t y .
In these countries
development r e s t s , i n my o p i n i o n , on t h e q u e s t i o n of a p p r o p r i a t e a g r a r i a n
p o l i c i e s and on p o l i t i c a l w i l l .
I n some c o u n t r i e s where n e i t h e r t h e
market mechanism nor government e f f o r t s a r e a b l e t o " c a p t u r e " t h e
p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s f u l l y , t r a n s n a t i o n a l a g r i b u s i n e s s i s asked t o
organize " p e a s a n t - p l a n t a t i o n s " ( i . e . c o n t r a c t farming i n s p e c i f i c a r e a s ) .
The aim of p r i v a t e companies i s , however, t o e x t r a c t s u r p l u s i n t h e s h o r t run r a t h e r than t o b u i l d a s t r o n g and modern e i t h e r p r i v a t e or c o l l e c t i v e
farm s t r u c t u r e .
Government planning i s t h u s a must f o r independent
a g r i c u l t u r a l development In t h e long- run.
I f n e i t h e r a form of c o l l e c t i v e a n d / o r s t a t e farm s t r u c t u r e nor a c o n t r a c t
farming s t r a t e g y b u t a p e a s a n t p a t h t o g r a d u a l l y more modern a g r i c u l t u r e
i s p e r s u e d , i t i s e s s e n t i a l t o p l a n on a thorough u n d e r s t a n d i n g of e x i s t i n g
r e a l i t i e s of p e a s a n t p r o d u c t i o n i n s p e c i f i c e m p i r i c a l s e t t i n g s .
G e n e r a l l y , two l e a d i n g f a c t o r s s h o u l d b e a n a l y z e d :
First, t h e f a c t t h a t
t h e farms i n many T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s a r e o f t e n n o t s e l f - s u f f l c l e n t u n i t s .
The b a s i c economic u n i t i s t h e h o u s e h o l d , and i t s members a r e compelled
t o i n c l u d e n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l s o u r c e s of income i n o r d e r t o s u r v i v e a t t h e
accustomed l e v e l of need s a t i s f a c t i o n .
Casual and p a r t - t i m e j o b s p r o v i d e
i n Eany i n s t a n c e s f u n d s f o r i n v e s t m e n t i n a g r i c u l t u r e .
Agricultural
development p l a n n e r s s h o u l d t h u s r e a l i z e t h e importance i n t h a t urban
workers have h o l i d a y s i n peak a g r i c u l t u r a l s e a s o n s .
do n o t c o n s t i t u t e a homogeneous group.
Second, t h e p e a s a n t s
The s p e c i f i c s of t h e p r o c e s s of
peasant d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n i n an area a r e therefore e s s e n t i a l inputs i n t h e
planning process.
I n concZusion, t h e fundamental problem i n a g r i c u l t u r a l development i s t h a t
change i s n e c e s s a r y on many a s p e c t s i n and o u t s i d e of t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l sect o r a t t h e same t i m e .
Capital investments alone a r e , f o r instance, not suf-
f i c i e n t f o r a g r i c u l t u r a l improvement.
I n a d d i t i o n , methods of c u l t i v a t i o n
must b e a l t e r e d , new c r o p s i n t r o d u c e d , m a r k e t i n g f a c i l i t i e s expanded and a
supply i n d u s t r y e s t a b l i s h e d .
Moreover, t h e "packaged" t e c h n o l o g y ( P e a r s e
1980) must b e f i t t e d t o a p a r t i c u l a r environment, i t must b e of agronomic
s u i t a b i l i t y a s w e l l a s i n harmony w i t h economic c i r c u m s t a n c e s .
There does
not. seem t o 5 e any l e a d i n g f a c t o r which can p u l l t h e r e s t of t h e n e c e s s a r y
aspects i n a positive direction.
i s needed.
This implies planning.
prime i m p o r t a n c e .
Thus a c e r t a i n d e g r e e of b a l a n c e d growth
The r o l e o f t h e s t a t e i s a c c o r d i n g l y of
Obviously, t h e "packaged" t e c h n o l o g y approach c a n n o t b e
a p p l i e d i n a s i t u a t i o n w i t h s m a l l l a n d h o l d i n g s , low s u r p l u s and h i g h r i s k s .
Without s t a t e - s u b s i d i e s , e q u i t y w i t h urban i n d u s t r i a l wages w i l l remain a
remote dream f o r p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s and f a r m e r s a l i k e .
The c h o i c e of agra-
r i a n p o l i c y i s of c o u r s e l a r g e l y a v a l u e judgement t h a t depends on which
g r o u p ( s ) t h e p o l i t i c a l e l i t e w i s h e s o r i s bound t o f a v o u r .
The socio-econo-
mic s t r a t i f i c a t i o n and p r o c e s s o f d i s s o l u t i o n (drop- out from a g r i c u l t u r e )
existing i n r u r a l areas a r e essential starting points i n the specification
of t a r g e t g r o u p s - t o p l a n from t h e p o p u l i s t n o t i o n o f a homogeneous peas a n t r y s h o u l d , a s mentioned, b e abandoned.
RURAL SETTLEMENT PATTERN
I n developed c o u n t r i e s u r b a n i z a t i o n was a r e s u l t of a s u c c e s s f u l a g r a r i a n
t r a n s i t i o n and of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n .
I n most Third World c o u n t r i e s t h e
degree and r a t e of urbanizationarecomparably low.
S t i l l urban migration
may be s u b s t a n t i a l .
The l a r g e p o p u l a t i o n and i t s r a p i d i n c r e a s e i n r u r a l
areas explain t h i s .
However, i n some p l a c e s i n A f r i c a t h e r a t e of urbani-
z a t i o n i s high.
The reason i s t h e o r i g i n a l low percentage of people l i v i n g
i n a d m i n i s t r a t i v e l y d e f i n e d towns.
Thus, i n t h e Third World an a b s o l u t e
d e c l i n e of p o p u l a t i o n i n r u r a l a r e a s i s only found i n e x c e p t i o n a l c a s e s .
Basic s e r v i c e p r o v i s i o n does t h e r e f o r e n o t s t a n d a t a jeopardy, a s it does
i n some p e r i p h e r a l a r e a s of developed c o u n t r i e s .
Nonetheless, government
s e r v i c e s viewed t o be e s s e n t i a l a s p e c t s of a w e l f a r e s t a t e may a l s o i n t h e
Third World reduce t h e r a t e of o u t m i g r a t i o n , and i n some c a s e s s t a b i l i z e
t h e p o p u l a t i o n o f , f o r i n s t a n c e , a s e r v i c e - c e n t r e and i t s h i n t e r l a n d .
The
s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n i n r u r a l a r e a s i n t h e p e r i o d of a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n may
t a k e d i f f e r e n t forms according t o p r i o r p a t t e r n and governmental regulations.
In f i g u r e 7 t h e main f e a t u r e s of t h e r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n i n s i t u a t i o n s
w i t h d i f f e r e n t c a t e g o r i e s of c u l t i v a t o r s a r e presented.
A s a starting point,
t h r e e d i f f e r e n t r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n s - d i s p e r s e d , small v i l l a g e s and
l a r g e v i l l a g e s - have been included.
In most c a s e s a combination of a t l e a s t
two of t h e s e c a t e g o r i e s may have e x i s t e d .
The i n t e n t i o n i s , however, f o r
h e u r i s t i c purposes t o d e p i c t t h e main p a t t e r n s only.
T r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s , when s e d e n t a r y , l i v e d i n small groupings of
c l o s e l y r e l a t e d k i n a s w e l l a s sometimes i n l a r g e r v i l l a g e s , b u t t h e n with
the f i e l d s i n the vicinity.
The l a c k of adequate t r a n s p o r t f a c i l i t i e s made
c l o s e n e s s t o f i e l d s and l i v e s t o c k e s s e n t i a l .
When p e a s a n t production became
more common, c l o s e n e s s t o markets took on importance a s w e l l .
The somewhat i m -
proved means of t r a n s p o r t a t i o n ( s l e d g e , wagon) made a choice between v i l l a g e
and f i e l d s p o s s i b l e .
F i e l d s could now l i e a t a d i s t a n c e from t h e v i l l a g e .
I n t h e words of Chisholm (1962):
"The s u b s t i t u t i o n of r e l a t i v e l y i n t e n s i v e
labour systems of a g r i c u l t u r e f o r t h e ( e x i s t i n g ) e x t e n s i v e t y p e s would be
p r o h i b i t i v e l y expensive were t h e p e a s a n t r y t o continue l i v i n g i n t h e agrotowns, f a r from t h e i r lands."
Only when i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n of a g r i g u l t u r a l pro-
d u c t i o n made it p o s s i b l e t o p u t e a r l i e r unproductive time t o p r o d u c t i v e use,
t h e time l o s t i n t r a v e l l i n g between home and f i e l d became an e s s e n t i a l point.
Figure 7.
Model of shifts in rural settlement patterns.
Traditional cultivators
Peasant-cultivators
Multiactive
peasant-cultivators
Farmers
Multiactive farmers
1.
Large villages
Large villages
wlth satellites
Hierarchy of
villages
Dispersed
settlements
Dispersed
settlements
2.
Small villages
Small villages
Hierarchy of
v~llages
Dispersed
settlements
2
Dispersed
settlements
Dispersed settlements and villages
Villages
Dispersed
settlements
Dlspersed2
settlements
I
I
I
I
3.
Dispersed settlements
1
2
,I
l
'
lncludlng groupings of 5-15 closely
relatcd kin households. No division
of labour.
Some multlactive farmers will live
iri villages.
Figure 8.
Model of migration of cultivators.
Multiactlve
peasant-cultivators
Traditional cultivators
Peasant-cultivators
1.
Large villages
Small migration
£run large villages
No migration
Medium migration
No mrgratlon
from large villages
2.
Small villages
No migration
small migration
to large villages
Large migration
from villages
Small migration
up the village/
urban hierarchy
Small migration
to villages
Large migration
to villages
No migration
Small mrgration
to vlllages and
urban centres
1
'
Farmers
M~ltlactlvefarmers
l
I
I
3.
Dispersed settlements
Note.
'
:
The t a b l e s s h o u l d o n l y b e r e a d h o r i s o n t a l l y .
R e g a r d i n g European a g r i c u l t u r e , a c c o r d i n g t o Chisholm, f a r m s 3 k i l o m e t r e s
o r more away from t h e v i l l a g e became o c c u p i e d , w h e r e a s f a r m s c l o s e r t o
t h e v i l l a g e c o n t i n u e d t o b e o p e r a t e d from t h e v i l l a g e .
Thus a c e n t r a l
v i l l a g e w i t h a number o f o u t l y i n g f a r m s t e a d s became t h e t y p i c a l p a t t e r n .
F u r t h e r m o r e , i n t h o s e c o u n t r i e s i n which economic growth c r e a t e d enough
j o b s a n d p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e slowed down, a c o n t r a c t i o n i n t h e o v e r a l l r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n occurred.
M a r g i n a l a r e a s c r o p p e d e a r l i e r were con-
v e r t e d back t o p a s t u r e s , and a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n i n c r e a s e d t h r o u g h
h i g h e r p r o d u c t i v i t y i n t h e more f e r t i l e a r e a s .
I t may b e c o n c l u d e d t h a t
i n a commercial i n d i v i d u a l farm form o f a g r a r i a n s t r u c t u r e t h e l a r g e v i l l a g e s o o n became uneconomic i n most p l a c e s .
c o n s c i o u s l y c r e a t e d a more dispersed p a t t e r n ,
I n Europe some governments
w h i l e t h i s was n o t n e c e s -
sesary i n other countries lacking a v i l l a g e t r a d i t i o n .
I n c o l l e c t i v e agra-
r i a n s t r u c t u r e s v i l l a g e s of a r e l a t i v e l y small s i z e have been t h e chosen
p a t t e r n (e.g. China, Tanzania).
For Southern A f r i c a it i s of p a r t i c u l a r
i m p o r t a n c e t h a t t h e s p o n t a n e o u s t e n d e n c y o f some p e a s a n t s was t o s e t t l e a t
t h e i r f i e l d s when p o l i t i c a l c o n s t r a i n t s o n t h e s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n were r e moved.
The dilemma w i t h d i s p e r s e d f a r m s , a s m e n t i o n e d e a r l i e r , i s t h a t
w h l l e t h e c o s t o f r u n n i n g t h e f a r m s may b e r e d u c e d , t h e c o s t o f p r o v i d i n g
infrastructure increases.
T h i s dilemma c o n s t i t u t e s a s o u r c e o f c o n f l i c t s
between p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s a n d g o v e r n m e n t s .
I n f i g u r e 8 various hypothesized d i r e c t i o n s of migration - v i l l a g e t o f i e l d
a r e a s and v i c e v e r s a - c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o d i f f e r e n t c a t e g o r i e s o f c u l t i v a t o r s ,
can b e s e e n .
By m i g r a t i o n i s h e r e i m p l i e d a change of main p l a c e of l i v i n g
f o r a household.
O b v i o u s l y , t h e r e w i l l i n most c a s e s e x i s t m i g r a t i o n i n
b o t h d i r e c t i o n s and between a v a r i e t y of c l a s s e s o f v i l l a g e s and towns.
The f i g u r e d o e s n o t p r e t e n d t o b e e x h a u s t i v e b u t t o p o i n t a t t h e l i k e l y main
d i r e c t i o n s of m i g r a t i o n .
A s f o r t h e p r e v i o u s s i m i l a r f i g u r e s , a compre-
h e n s i v e t e s t of t h e h y p o t h e s e s i n h e r e n t i n t h e f i g u r e w i l l n o t b e u n d e r t a k e n .
The main r e a s o n f o r t h e f o r m a t i o n of v i l l a g e s i n e a r l i e r t i m e s was t h e want
o f c o n t r o l by l e a d i n g g r o u p s .
I n g e n e r a l t h e s p a t i a l l a n d s c a p e w i l l b e do-
m i n a t e d w i t h t h e i n t e r e s t o f t h e dominant e l i t e ( J o h n s o n 1 9 7 4 ) .
Badly d i s -
t r i b u t e d v i l l a g e s make economic development d i f f i c u l t when t h e m a r k e t economy " n e e d s " a h i e r a r c h y o f m a r k e t p l a c e s and u r b a n c e n t r e s .
The m a r k e t i n g
hinterlands a r e o f t e n too small t o s u s t a i n b u t small e n t e r p r i s e s .
To choose
c e r t a i n v i l l a g e s a s t h e c o r e of " f u n c t i o n a l a r e a s " s h o u l d a c c o r d i n g l y b e t h e
s t r a t e g y of i n f r a s t r u c t u r e p r o v i s i o n (Hansen 1 9 7 7 ) .
A t t h e s t a g e when t h e
w e l f a r e s t a t e h a s been e s t a b l i s h e d ( t h e dominant e l i t e i s n o t any l o n g e r
c o n s i s t i n g s o l e l y of t h e economic e l i t e b u t t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n
can forward demands i n d i r e c t l y through t h e b a l l o t ) , v i l l a g e s which i n a
p u r e economic s e n s e would n o t r e c e i v e i n f r a s t r u c t u r e , may n o n e t h e l e s s obt a i n it. Furthermore, t h e f a s h i o n of n a t i o n a l s e l f - s u f f i c i e n c y i n food
makes f o r i n v e s t m e n t s
also i n r e l a t i v e l y small holdings, thus representing
a f o r c e towards a more d i s p e r s e d s e t t l e m e n t .
A s p e c i a l f e a t u r e i n many
T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s today i s t h a t development a i d e n t a i l i n g p r e s s u r e exc e r t e d on T h i r d World governments by developed c o u n t r i e s , t e n d s t o c r e a t e
a s i t u a t i o n resembling t h e w e l f a r e s t a t e r e g a r d i n g i n f r a s t r u c t u r e .
One may
t h e r e f o r e s a y t h a t such c o u n t r i e s have "jumped" over t h e s t a g e of more p u r e
market economy domination, b e c a u s e , among o t h e r t h i n g s , i n f r a s t r u c t u r e i s
p r o v i d e d t o a s e t o f v i l l a g e s t h a t have n o t been "made i n t o a h i e r a r c h y "
by t h e market economy t o a d e g r e e comparable w i t h t h e developed c o u n t r i e s
when t h o s e c o u n t r i e s were b u i l d i n g t h e i r b a s i c modern i n f r a s t r u c t u r e .
A
l a r g e r number of v i l l a g e s a r e t h e n " maintained" t h a n would o t h e r w i s e have
been n e c e s s a r y i n a more g r a d u a l l y developed c a s e .
I n t h e d e b a t e on r u r a l B r i t t a i n , f o r i n s t a n c e , t h e r e i s now a f a s h i o n swing i n g away from t h e n o t i o n of key s e t t l e m e n t s t o v i l l a g e c l u s t e r s ( o r o t h e r
k i n d s of
d i s p e r s e d forms of r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t ) i n o r d e r t o m a i n t a i n t h e v i a -
b i l i t y of s m a l l - s c a l e r u r a l communities
(Cloke 1 9 8 2 ) .
The r e a s o n f o r t h i s
f a s h i o n can be found i n t h e f a i l u r e of growth impulses t o " t r i c k l e o u t " from
key s e t t l e m e n t s t o t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e h i n t e r l a n d s .
The i m p l i c a t i o n s of a s p e c i f i c a t i o n of t h e p e a s a n t concept f o r t h e space economy g e n e r a l l y and t h e r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n p a r t i c u l a r l y a r e i m p o r t a n t .
Some l i k e l y v i e w p o i n t s r e g a r d i n g t h e l a t t e r a r e i n c l u d e d below:
t i v a t o r s may p r e f e r t o s t a y c l o s e t o t h e i r f i e l d s .
Peasant-cul-
I t i s p a r t i c u l a r l y ad-
vantageous f o r t h e s e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s who c a r r y o u t mixed farming ( b o t h
c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n and animal husbandry) t o l i v e a t t h e f i e l d s b e c a u s e then
t h e y w i l l normally be c l o s e t o t h e g r a z i n g a r e a s a s w e l l .
T h i s i s n o t of
e q u a l importance t o peasant- herdsmen who may a f f o r d t o h i r e h e r d e r s .
c h e r s w i l l u s u a l l y l i v e i n l a r g e r v i l l a g e s o r urban c e n t r e s . )
(Ran-
For t h e mul-
t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s a v i l l a g e l o c a t i o n may be p r e f e r r e d i n o r d e r
t o b e c l o s e r t o n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l work o p p o r t u n i t i e s .
Multiactive peasant-
c u l t i v a t o r households w i t h l a b o u r m i g r a n t s o r s h u t t l e r s p r o b a b l y p r e f e r a
v i l l a g e l o c a t i o n because it e n a b l e s t h o s e s t a y i n g elsewhere t o come home more
often.
The v i l l a g e r e p r e s e n t s i n such c a s e s a "compromise" l o c a t i o n among
t h e r e s o u r c e s t h e households e x p l o i t .
Decisive government s t r a t e g i e s may i n f l u e n c e t h e above i n f e r e n c e s .
Moderni-
z a t i o n of a g r i c u l t u r e can, f o r i n s t a n c e , t a k e p l a c e simultaneously wlth vlllagization, e.g.
China.
t h e Kibbuts i n I s r a e l and t h e former P e o p l e ' s Communes i n
F a i l i n g such a s p e c i f i c a g r i c u l t u r a l p o l i c y , a country may g i v e
support t o m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s i n o r d e r t o t r y t o improve t h e i r
p r o d u c t i v i t y and p r o v i d e t h e f i e l d a r e a s w i t h i n f r a s t r u c t u r e p u l l i n g t h e
p e a s a n t s o u t of t h e v i l l a g e s and s e r v i c e c e n t r e s .
The b a s i c dilemma of t h e
space economy a t t h e p r e s e n t s t a g e of development i n most of t h e Third World
i s t h a t t h o s e primary s e r v i c e s people want - w a t e r , education and h e a l t h cannot be provided economically b u t t o c e r t a i n p o i n t s i n space.
One of t h e
main d i f f e r e n c e s between t h e now i n d u s t r i a l i z e d world b e f o r e and t h e Third
World r e g a r d i n g a s o l u t i o n of t h i s dilemma, i s t h e problem of geographical
mobility i n r u r a l areas.
a r e commonly l a c k i n g .
Rural roads connecting f i e l d a r e a s w i t h markets
The number of t r a c t o r s ( f o r t r a n s p o r t ) and v e h i c l e s
a r e low and t h e " e f f e c t i v e d i s t a n c e " between f i e l d s and s o c i a l s e r v i c e s (and
markets) remains long.
The o v e r a l l economic d i f f i c u l t i e s experienced by
most Third World c o u n t r i e s make a f a i r l y balanced growth of i n f r a s t r u c t u r e
and o t h e r s e c t o r s of t h e economy u n l i k e l y .
Furthermore, t h e "one" farm one
l o r r y " s i t u a t i o n seems t o be f a r away i n most Third World c o u n t r i e s .
In
A f r i c a t h i s i s a major problem of a g r i c u l t u r a l development i n a p r i v a t e i n i t i a t i v e type of s o c i e t y .
T h i s will have a b e a r i n g on t h e c r e a t i o n of poverty
and a l s o i n f l u e n c e t h e s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n .
I n conclusion, t h e aims of s p a t i a l planning i n t h e p r e s e n t c o n t e x t a r e
i n c r e a s e d a g r i c u l t u r a l production and t h e a l l e v i a t i o n of poverty.
The
s p a t i a l d i s t r i b u t i o n of people and economic a c t i v i t i e s i s n o t t h e focus or
end-product of t h e a n a l y s i s b u t c o n s t i t u t e s r a t h e r an i n p u t i n t o t h e discus s i o n of poverty c r e a t i o n and of planned change towards a more productive
and equal s o c i e t y .
T h i s approach r e p r e s e n t s a d e p a r t u r e from t h e t r a d -
i t i o n a l geographical approach which emphasizes t h e forms of t h i n g s r a t h e r
than t h e i r formation.
Formation r e f e r s t o t h e s o c i a l dynamics through
which forms a r e c r e a t e d , changed o r maintained (Santos 1 9 7 7 ) .
CHAPTER 6
THE PEASANT CONCEPT,
QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES
T h i s c h a p t e r i n c l u d e s t h e d e f i n i t i o n of p e a s a n t adopted and t h e q u e s t i o n s
and hypotheses r e l e v a n t f o r t h e v a r i o u s a s p e c t s of t h i s work.
THE PEASANT CONCEPT
In t h e l i t e r a t u r e on p e a s a n t s i t i s , a s mentioned, seldom d i s c u s s e d o r exp l i c i t l y s t a t e d how t o o p e r a t i o n a l i z e t h e concept.
This a p p l i e s p a r t i c u -
l a r l y t o t h e a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l and/or Marxist l i t e r a t u r e .
This i s u n f o r t u n a t e
because t h e e m p i r i c a l v a l i d i t y of t h e t h e o r e t i c a l d e f i n i t i o n s o f f e r e d a r e
thus not assessed.
I n o r d e r t o d i s t i n g u i s h p e a s a n t s from modern a g r i c u l -
t u r a l producers e a s i l y observable c r i t e r i a should be used.
d~dior-;
measured by
such c r i t e r i a .
market s a l e s and t h e
The
aim of pro-
technology of production r e p r e s e n t
I t i s furthermore e s s e n t i a l t h a t t h e c r i t e r i a adopted a r e
judged q u a l i t a t i v e l y i n each e m p i r i c a l s e t t i n g regarding t h e correspondence
with t h e t h e o r e t i c a l d e f i n i t i o n .
In t a b l e 1 t h e c r i t e r i a used h e r e i n t h e case of Botswana a r e given regarding
cultivators.
Since t h e number of pure herdsmen i s low i n Botswana and t h e
d e f i n i t i o n of d i f f e r e n t c a t e g o r i e s of herdsmen does n o t have t h e same gener a l i n t e r e s t a s t h a t of c u l t i v a t o r s , t h e c r i t e r i o n used r e g a r d i n g herdsmen
i s only included i n t h e e m p i r i c a l p a r t .
A farmer i s a c u l t i v a t o r who g e t s
a modern s c o r e on a t l e a s t one of t h e c r i t e r i a i n t h e t a b l e e i t h e r under t h e
aim o r technology dimension of production.
I f t h e s c o r e i s i n t e r m e d i a t e on
any of t h e c r i t e r i a and none modern, t h e c u l t i v a t o r i s a p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r .
The c u l t i v a t o r i s a t r a d i t i o n a l p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r when t h e s c o r e i s t r a d i t i o n a l on a l l t h e c r i t e r i a .
I n a pre- market socio-economic formation t h e
term used i s t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t i v a t o r .
Table 1.
C a t e g o r i e s o f aim and technology o f p r o d u c t i o n .
Form of p r o d u c t i o n
Traditional
Peasant
Modern
Aim
Consumption
mainly
Consumption/
investment
Investment
mainly
No s a l e a t
market f o r
money
l- 49% s o l d
of t o t a l
production
a t market
f o r money
250% sold
of t o t a l
production
a t market
f o r money
Technology
Note.
Simple
Intermediate
Advanced
Hoe
Plough, animal
draught- power
Mechanical
draught- power
Compost
Fertilizers
non- regularly
Fertilizers
regularly
Traditional
varieties
Improved farmer
varieties
High y i e l d i n g
varieties
To q u a l i f y as modem form of production on s a l e , t h e minimwn
amount harvested must be enough t o support t h e household w i t h
crops throughout t h e year.
The boundaq between t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t i v a t o r
and peasant- cultivator i s
iden-
t i f i e d a t t h e l e v e l o f socio- economic f o r m a t i o n , t h a t i s , i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e
market economy p e n e t r a t i o n of pre- market socio- economic f o r m a t i o n s .
But
when do market r e l a t i o n s become more dominant t h a n t r a d i t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s of
production?
Since q u a n t i t a t i v e d a t a a r e impossible t o obtain regarding, f o r
i n s t a n c e , p e r c e n t a g e of households t h a t s e l l a t m a r k e t s and buy from shops,
t h e " d a t e " a s o c i e t y moves from t h e pre- market socio- economic f o r m a t i o n i n c l u d i n g b o t h t r a d i t i o n a l and modern forms of p r o d u c t i o n must be e s t a b l i s h e d
qualitatively.
The i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of t h e " d a t e " must r e f e r t o t h e e x i s t e n c e
of markets and of p r o f i t a s a motive of p r o d u c t i o n i n one o r more s e c t o r s of
t h e economy and s a l e of l a b o u r a g a i n s t payment i n money.
One should d i s -
t i n g u i s h between a socio- economic f o r m a t i o n where o n l y goods a r e exchanged
and one i n which a l s o l a b o u r and l a n d a r e o b j e c t s of economic t r a n s a c t i o n s .
I n a t r a n s i t o r y socio-economic f o r m a t i o n one o r more f a c t o r s of p r o d u c t i o n
may n o t b e f r e e l y exchangeable ( f o r i n s t a n c e l a n d ) b u t some ( u s u a l l y l a bour) a r e .
I t i s i n such "combined" s i t u a t i o n s t h a t p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s
a r e found.
The " d a t e " when t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t i v a t o r s become p e a s a n t - c u l t i -
v a t o r s i s t h e moment t h e economy change c h a r a c t e r and e i t h e r l a b o u r o r l a n d
become an o b j e c t of exchange, o r when l a b o u r and l a n d a r e subsumed by modern
socialist principles.
The
boundary between peasant-cuZtivator and farmer i s
h e r e d e f i n e d a t t h e l e v e l of form of p r o d u c t i o n .
An a g r i c u l t u r a l producer
w i l l move from t h e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r t o t h e farmer c a t e g o r y when e i t h e r t h e
aim of p r o d u c t i o n changes from consumption and r e i n v e s t m e n t i n p r o d u c t i o n
of a p p r o x i m a t e l y e q u a l v a l u e t o r e i n v e s t m e n t m a i n l y , o r from i n t e r m e d i a t e
t o advanced t e c h n o l o g y , o r b o t h .
Examples:
A c u l t i v a t o r who
owns
a tractor
i s p l a c e d i n t h e farmer c a t e g o r y , a l t h o u g h he o r s h e i s n o t s e l l i n g any s u r p l u s a t t h e time of d a t a c o l l e c t i o n .
A p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r may i n v e s t some
o f t h e s u r p l u s i n improved c u l t i v a t i o n .
However, when 50% o r more of t h e
p r o d u c t i o n i s used f o r i n v e s t m e n t , t h e c u l t i v a t o r would b e a f a r m e r , a l t h o u g h
t h e technology used i s simple o r i n t e r m e d i a t e .
Although a c u l t i v a t o r s e l l s most of t h e h a r v e s t , t h e money o b t a i n e d may n o t
b e i n v e s t e d i n a g r i c u l t u r e b u t i n o t h e r more r e m u n e r a t i v e
sectors.
However,
i f a s u s t a i n e d s a l e of 50% o r more of t h e h a r v e s t i s t o be a c h i e v e d , r e i n vestment i n a g r i c u l t u r e mustoccur.
I t i s t h e r e f o r e acceptable t o use s a l e s
a s an i n d i c a t o r on r e i n v e s t m e n t when t h e h a r v e s t i s n o t an e x c e p t i o n a l bump e r c r o p due t o s p e c i a l l y f a v o u r a b l e weather.
T h i s l a t t e r p o i n t may e a s i l y
be checked.
The r e l a t i o n s between l a b o u r , l a n d and c a p i t a l have n o t been i n c l u d e d i n t h e
definition.
The r e a s o n i s t h e want of c o n c e p t s t h a t may b e used f o r d i f -
f e r e n t c o n d i t i o n s of l a n d t e n u r e .
I n d i v i d u a l ownership, v a r i o u s t e n a n t a r -
rangements and c o l l e c t i v e a g r i c u l t u r e should a l l be p o s s i b l e t o s t u d y w i t h
t h e above proposed concepts.
The market economy (and i n a few c a s e s modern
s o c i a l i s t p r i n c i p l e s ) h a s been a b l e t o p e n e t r a t e a g r i c u l t u r e w h i l e o f t e n
p r e s e r v i n g e x i s t i n g p r o p e r t y forms.
T h i s p o i n t was observed a l s o by Marx,
who u n d e r l i n e d t h a t t h e market economy was t h e l e a d i n g f o r c e of change.
To-
day i n t e r n a l f a c t o r s which may v a r y from s o c i e t y t o s o c i e t y a r e g i v e n due
r e c o g n i t i o n a s f o r c e s of change and p r e s e r v a t i o n .
Concepts a b l e t o encompass
t h e above m e n t i o n e d v a r i e t y o f l a n d t e n u r e a r e t h u s needed t o i d e n t i f y
g e n e r a l mechanisms o f change.
I t i s e s s e n t i a l t o i d e n t i f y how modern
f o r m s o f a g r i c u l t u r e a r e b r o u g h t a b o u t e i t h e r b y t h e m a r k e t economy o r
by s o c i a l i s t planning.
When s t u d y i n g a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n s , it i s impos-
s i b l e t o c o n c e i v e o f a modern a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r i n a m a r k e t economy
c o n t e x t o n l y a t t h e moment t h e s o c a l l e d r e a l s u b s u m p t i o n o f l a b o u r b y c a p i t a l i s a c h i e v e d b e c a u s e t h a t would imply a n e x t r e m e s i t u a t i o n where o n l y
a r u r a l c a p i t a l i s t c l a s s a n d a r u r a l p r o l e t a r i a t o f a g r i c u l t u r a l wage l a b o u r e r s c o m p l e t e l y s e p a r a t e d from o w n e r s h i p o f l a n d and c a p i t a l e x i s t e d .
The t y p i c a l European f a m i l y f a r m , e i t h e r o f t h e p u r e o r m u l t i a c t i v e t y p e
must b e s a i d t o b e modern.
The p e a s a n t c o n c e p t would l o s e a n a l y t i c a l
meaning i f European medium a n d s m a l l machine i n t e n s i v e f a r m s were t o b e
l a b e l l e d p e a s a n t farms.
T h i s c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n i s d i f f e r e n t from t h a t
a d o p t e d b y Goodman and R e d c l i f t ( 1 9 8 1 ) who m a i n t a i n t h a t p e a s a n t s a r e found
i n "backward r e g i o n s " i n Europe t o d a y .
t h e c o n t e n t of t h e t e r m .
I d i s a g r e e w i t h t h i s b r o a d e n i n g of
A s i m i l a r view i s , f o r i n s t a n c e , h e l d by Buch-
Hansen ( 1 9 8 4 ) .
H i r e d l a b o u r i s n o t u s e d i n t h e d e f i n i t i o n s o f t h e c o n c e p t s b e c a u s e i n many
c a s e s even poor p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s have t o h i r e a s s i s t a n c e f o r c e r t a i n a g r i cultural tasks.
T h i s i s m a i n l y d u e t o i n s u f f i c i e n t male l a b o u r i n r u r a l
a r e a s d u r i n g a g r i c u l t u r a l peak seasons.
H i r e d l a b o u r would t h u s n o t b e a
good i n d i c a t o r i n d i s t i n g u i s h i n g p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s from f a r m e r s .
Tradi-
t i o n a l c u l t i v a t o r s d o n o t p e r d e f i n i t i o n h i r e l a b o u r a g a i n s t money.
When t h e a b o v e d e f i n e d c a t e g o r i e s o f a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s a r e u s e d a t t h e
h o u s e h o l d l e v e l , i t may, f o r i n s t a n c e , e i t h e r i m p l y t h a t t h e man i n t h e
h o u s e h o l d i s a m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r o r t h a t t h e man i s a worker
a n d t h e women a p u r e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r .
It is thus
e s s e n t i a l , lo make m
a n a l y s i s a t both t h e household and i n d i v i d u a l l c i ~ u ! . . T h e r e may a l s o b e c a s e s
where t h e f a t h e r i s a p u r e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r and t h e s o n / d a u g h t e r a worker.
I f t h e s o n / d a u g h t e r s e n d s money o r g o o d s home r e g u l a r l y , t h e h o u s e h o l d f a l l s
i n t o t h e m u l t i a c t i v e peasant- cultivator category.
A problem o f c a t e g o r i z a -
t i o n e x i s t s when a p e r s o n o r h o u s e h o l d f a l l s i n t o d i f f e r e n t c a t e g o r i e s o v e r
a p e r i o d of y e a r s .
The p r e s e n t d a t a d o n o t s u f f i c e t o u n d e r t a k e a c o m p l e t e
a n a l y s i s o f t h e work h i s t o r y o f h o u s e h o l d s .
The p o i n t i n t i m e method w i l l
a c c o r d i n g l y c o n s t i t u t e t h e main p e r s p e c t i v e , a n d t h e o s c i l l a t i o n between
economic s e c t o r s o f i n d i v i d u a l s , which i s o f i n t e r e s t , c a n n o t b e t r e a t e d comprehensively.
QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES
Agrarian transition
The main e x p e c t e d e l e m e n t s o f t h e a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n i n t h e c o n t e x t o f
Botswana a r e summarized below:
- Both communal a n d p r i v a t e / s t a t e l a n d e x i s t a t t h e n a t i o n a l
Land
level (figure 5).
A g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s may u s e b o t h
types of r i g h t s i n land.
Inputs
- The method o f c u l t i v a t i o n / h e r d i n g i s l a b o u r i n t e n s i v e .
Few o t h e r i n p u t s t h a n l a b o u r a n d a n i m a l draught- power a r e
u s e d by t h e m a j o r i t y .
A m i n o r i t y c a r r y o u t machine i n t e n -
s i v e production.
Types o f
crops/animals
- The 5 r o d u c t i o n i s m a i n l y d i v e r s i f i e d a t t h e f a r m l e v e l ,
t h a t i s , s e v e r a l t y p e s o f c r o p s a r e u s e d and d i f f e r e n t a n i mals kept.
Output
- Land p r o d u c t i v i t y i s low on a v e r a g e .
Some a g r i c u l t u r a l
p r o d u c e r s h a v e s u b s t a n t i a l l y h i g h e r t h a n normal y i e l d s .
The y i e l d s s t i l l v a r y s u b s t a n t i a l l y from y e a r t o y e a r according t o weather conditions.
S a l e s a r e undertaken.
Lo-
c a l s a l e s a r e important, while s a l e s t o t h e n a t i o n a l market
a r e l e s s so.
E x p o r t s may e x i s t .
I n t h e a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n p e a s a n t s c o n s t i t u t e a t l e a s t t h e m a j o r i t y of t h e
a g r i c u l t u r a l producers.
Some modern a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s
and m u l t i a c t i v i t y may e x i s t .
tification.
may b e f o u n d ,
T h e r e i s a l s o a p r o c e s s o f socio- economic s t r a -
Some f i n d it h a r d t o c o n t i n u e w i t h a g r i c u l t u r e , and a t a c e r t a i n
s t a g e i n the a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n drop- out w i l l occur.
No a t t e m p t w i l l b e made t o p l a c e Botswana i n a n e a r l y , m i d d l e o r l a t e p h a s e
of t h e a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n .
hue
The objective is to determine whether agricul-
in Botswann con be said to be w e l l into such a transition. Then a l l o f
t h e f o l l o w i n g p o i n t s must b e c o n f i r m e d :
1.
Risk a v e r s i o n i s s t i l l a n e s s e n t i a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c .
T h i s i s measured
by frequency of c r e d i t and l o a n s t a k e n f o r a g r i c u l t u r a l p u r p o s e s and
by d e g r e e o f farm l e v e l d i v e r s i f i c a t i o n of p r o d u c t i o n .
2.
The form of p r o d u c t i o n i s slowly modernizing.
T h i s i s measured by t h e
r e l a t i v e number o f t r a c t o r s used f o r l a n d p r e p a r a t i o n .
( Y i e l d s could
n o t be used because t i m e - s e r i e s d a t a f o r t h e s t u d y v i l l a g e s a r e n o t
available. )
3.
M u l t i a c t i v i t y i s on t h e i n c r e a s e among t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s .
4.
Drop-out from a g r i c u l t u r a l p u r s u i t s i s becoming more common.
Inequality and poverty
The r i c h
-
poor dimension can be determined on any l e v e l of w e a l t h .
In the
s t u d y v i l l a g e s t h e households were d i v i d e d i n t o 3 l e v e l of l i v i n g groups.
T h i s k i n d of s t r a t i f i c a t i o n i s e s s e n t i a l t o i d e n t i f y d i f f e r e n t a d a p t a t i o n s
r e g a r d i n g t h e environment, p r o d u c t i o n p r o c e s s e s and m i g r a t i o n .
The method
used t o e s t a b l i s h an i n d e x and t h e groups i s d e s c r i b e d i n Hesselberg
(1982 a , 1 9 8 4 ) .
on S r i Lanka.
The method h a s proved t o b e u s e f u l a l s o i n t h e a u t h o r ' s work
Here it s u f f i c e s t o mention t h a t o n l y m a t e r i a l i n d i c a t o r s ,
t h a t i s d u r a b l e consumer goods i n g e n e r a l demand i n t h e l o c a l a r e a s , have
been used.
To s t r e s s m a t e r i a l needs i s j u s t i f i e d i n t h i s s o c i e t y a t t h e
p r e s e n t l e v e l o f development and i n view of t h e r e s e a r c h o b j e c t i v e s .
The
c a t e g o r i e s e s t a b l i s h e d e n a b l e a comparison of l e v e l of l i v i n g i n s p a c e and
o v e r time.
N a t i o n a l l y , income d i s t r i b u t i o n and ownership of c a t t l e give
useful insights.
Rather t h a n p a s s i n g a judgement on " a c c e p t a b l e " degree of
i n e q u a l i t y , t h e i n t e r e s t l i e s i n i d e n t i f y i n g changes through t i m e .
Observed
changes i n i n e q u a l i t y and p o v e r t y p r o v i d e o b j e c t i v e i n f o r m a t i o n because t h e y
t a k e t h e f i r s t s t u d y i n 1976 a s t h e point of d e p a r t u r e , no s u b j e c t i v e s t a n dard i s then necessary.
Changes i n t h e index- values of l e v e l of l i v i n g w i l l
b o t h show a n o v e r a l l improvement o r d e c l i n e and a widening o r narrowing gap.
As mentioned p r e v i o u s l y , t h e r e i s a c e r t a i n amount of a r b i t r a r i n e s s i n sel e c t i n g c u t - o f f p o i n t s when d e f i n i n g t h o s e who a r e poor.
There i s no ob-
j e c t i v e way i n which t o d e c i d e what a n a c c e p t a b l e n a t i o n a l o r i n t e r n a t i o n a l
s t a n d a r d s a t i s f a c t i o n of b a s i c needs and c u l t u r a l wants s h o u l d be."Absolute,
p o v e r t y " i n t h e s e n s e of b a s i c p h y s i c a l n e e d s w i l l a c c o r d i n g l y n o t b e measured.
Some people i n t h e s t u d y v i l l a g e s a r e undoubtedly a t t i m e s " a b s o l u t e
poor".
G e n e r a l l y , p e o p l e have a house, t h e y have c l o t h e s and g e t s u f f i c i e n t
q u a n t i t i e s of food b u t seldom a n adequate v a r i e t y e v e r y day.
I n Botswana a t
l a r g e t h e number of " a b s o l u t e poor" i s , i f n o t overwhelming, p r o b a b l y substantiaL
No d a t a e x i s t on t h i s p o i n t .
Due t o t h i s l a c k of d a t a , a c a t e g o r y
of d e s t i t u t e i ~ o u s e h o l d sh a s been e s t a b l i s h e d .
By d e s t i t u t e households i s
i m p l i e d households w l t n o u t a n y v l s ~ b l es o u r c e of income and households with
The p o i n t i s t o i d e n t i f y t h o s e
e s p e c i a l l y low remunerative income s o u r c e s .
households t h a t a r e r e a l l y poor by inost s t a n d a r d s of measurement.
I n addi-
t i o n , r e g a r d i n g t h e s t u d y v i l l a g e s b l a n k e t s have been chosen a s a n i n d i c a t o r
f o r , i f n o t " a b s o l u t e p o v e r t y " , t h e n a v e r y b a s i c need.
w i t h below one b l a n k e t
poor.
Those households
p e r mernber s t a y i n g a t home i s s a i d t o be b a s i c l y
R e l a t i v e p o v e r t y r e f e r s t o a g i v e n b u t n o t minimum r e q u i r e m e n t s t a n -
d a r d of needs s a t i s f a c t i o n .
I n t h e s t u d y v i l l a g e s t h i s s t a n d a r d h a s been
t a k e n t o be t h e p o o r e s t of t h e t h r e e l e v e l of l i v i n g g r o u p s .
Those f a l l i n g
i n t o t h i s group a r e l i v i n g under t r y i n g c o n d i t i o n s and l a b o u r hard t o s a t i s f y
t h e i r needs f o r f o o d , c l o t h e s and s h e l t e r .
thing t o spare.
They seldom o r never have any-
Accordingly, whenever t h e c o n c e p t poor household i s used I n
t h i s r e p o r t , ~t r e f e r s t o a l l t h e households i n l e v e l of l i v i n g group t h r e e .
The f o l l o w i n g o b s e r v a t i o n s a r e expected:
1.
B a s i c and r e l a t i v e p o v e r t y e x i s t and a r e i n c r e a s i n g a l s o r e l a t i v e l y .
2.
I n e q u a l i t y i s becoming more pronounced.
3.
I n e q u a l i t y i s a by- product of i n c r e a s e d economic a c t i v i t i e s a t t h e l e v e l
of development of t h e p r o d u c t i v e f o r c e s p r e s e n t l y found i n Botswana.
The f o l l o w i n g two hypotheses w i l l be t e s t e d :
l.
P o v e r t y i s p r i m a r i l y c r e a t e d i n d i r e c t l y from s o c i e t a l e v o l u t i o n v i a t h e
a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n ( s e e f i g u r e 2).
2.
P o v e r t y stems o n l y t o a minor d e g r e e d i r e c t l y b o t h from s o c i e t a l evolut i o n and from c o n d i t i o n s f o r a g r i c u l t u r e .
Rural s e t t lement p a t i e r i i
The i n t e r e s t h e r e i s t o i d e n t i f y whether a s h i f t i n p r e f e r e n c e of p l a c e of
s t a y is occurring.
Do t h e s o c i e t a l e v o l u t i o n and a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n r e s u l t
i n net migration t o the f i e l d s o r the v i l l a g e s ?
The h y p o t h e s i s i s t h a t t h e r e
a r e m i g r a t i o n f l o w s i n b o t h d i r e c t i o n s b u t t h a t t h e n e t e f f e c t i s i n favour
of the villages.
CONCLUSION
From t h e f i n d i n g s on t h e above q u e s t i o n s and hypotheses it should be poss i b l e t o a s s e s s t h e r e l a t i v e m e r i t s of t h e two opposing views on t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between p e a s a n t s and t h e l a r g e r s o c i e t y , t h e p e a s a n t c o n t r o v e r s y .
I t s h o u l d be u n d e r l i n e d t h a t t h i s assessment i s c a r r i e d o u t i n a c o u n t r y
w i t h a market economy.
The q u e s t i o n asked i s whether t h e g e n e r a l market
p e n e t r a t i o n i n Botswana h a s o n l y l e d t o a p a r t - d i s s o l u t i o n of t h e t r a d i t i o n a l form of a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n w i t h o u t showing s i g n s of t r a n s c e n d i n g
it totally.
And f u r t h e r m o r e t h a t such a p o s s i b l e s t a g n a t i o n i n t h e agra-
r i a n t r a n s i t i o n i s p r i m a r i l y e x p l a i n e d by s o c i e t a l e v o l u t i o n and n o t by i n h e r e n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of p e a s a n t s and t h e i r l o c a l communities.
PART Ill
BOTSWANA
2 . - . - . -.
-
BOTSWANA
ZIMBABWE
SOUTH AFRICA
-
Area:
2
5 8 1 7 3 0 km.
Constitution:
Government:
Employment:
Language:
H i g h l a n d p l a t e a u o f mean a l t i t u d e 1 0 0 0 m e t r e s a b o v e s e a l e v e l .
9 4 1 0 2 7 d e f a c t o , 1981 c e n s u s .
Population:
Economy:
Road
Rate o f p o p u l a t i o n growth
3.2%, q u e s t i m a t e .
P a r l i a m e n t a r y d e m o c r a c y . B r i t i s h P r o t e c t o r a t e f r o m 1 8 8 5 t o 1966.
B o t s w a n a D e m o c r a t i c P a r t y . S o c i a l d e m o c r a t i c , i.e.
w i t h m i x e d economy.
M a i n s e c t o r s - m i n i n g a n d c a t t l e . GDP p e r p e r s o n $ 8 7 4 ( 1 9 8 0 ) .
accrue t o foreigners.
20% o f t h e GDP
F o r m a l 19% o f t h e l a b o u r f o r c e ( 1 9 8 0 ) . S e l f - e m p l o y e d i n a g r i c u l t u r e 52% o f
t h e l a b o u r f o r c e . The b a l a n c e w o r k a s c a s u a l l a b o u r e r s b o t h i n u r b a n a n d
r u r a l a r e a s . Many o f t h e m a r e u n e m p l o y e d f o r s h o r t e r o r l o n g e r p e r i o d s .
Setswana.
Parliamentary language i s English.
Map
2.
Population distribution,
Map
3.
L a n d use.
!4ap
4.
Map
5.
B s l n f a l l and main areas o f a r a b l e
agriculture.
V e g e t a t i o n zones.
1981 census.
Source: C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s O f f i c e ,
1983.
S o u r c e ; J o n e s , 1981.
S o u r c e : Cooke, 1982.
Source: M i n i s t r y o f Finance and
D e v e l o p m e n t P l a n n i n g , 1980.
All maps a r e d r a w n on t h e b a s i s o f maps a n d d a t a i n t h e a b o v e c i t e d s o u r c e s .
CHAPTER 7
APPROACH AND DATA
I n t h i s c h a p t e r t h e a p p r o a c h a d o p t e d and method o f f i e l d work u s e d a r e d i s cussed.
A b r i e f p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h e study v i l l a g e s i s then provided.
F i n a l l y , a n o t e on t h e p e a s a n t and r e l a t e d concepts found i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e o n Botswana i s i n c l u d e d .
This l a s t p o i n t is placed h e r e because it
amply d e m o n s t r a t e s t h e need t o a r r i v e a t common c o n c e p t s f o r s c h o l a r l y
usage.
The approach
Few, i f a n y , A f r i c a n c o u n t r i e s h a v e a d e q u a t e d a t a t o p e r m i t a r i g o r o u s ,
q u a n t i t a t i v e a n a l y s i s of t h e dimensions and t r e n d s i n r u r a l poverty.
o v e r , d a t a t h a t may e x i s t seldom i n c l u d e t h e p o o r e s t g r o u p s .
More-
In the late
1960s and 1 9 7 0 s m e r e l y t o l e a r n s o p h i s t i c a t e d s t a t i s t i c a l methods a l l o w e d
scholars t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e quantitative revolution.
Now it i s a l s o
n e c e s s a r y t o a p p l y s u c h methods t o r e l e v a n t r e s e a r c h o b j e c t i v e s .
r e l e v a n c e o f t h e methods i s o f t e n l o s t .
Then t!ie
For i n s t a n c e , t h e d i f f u s i o n approach,
i n which s o p h i s t i c a t e d q u a n t i t a t i v e methods a r e u s e d , c a n n o t e x p l a i n why
p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s may h a v e " o b j e c t i v e " r e a s o n s
of c u l t i v a t i o n under t h e p r e s e n t c o n d i t i o n s .
not t o change t h e i r s y s t e m s
I t i s i r r e l e v a n t t o know t h e
communication c h a n n e l s t h r o u g h which news a b o u t i n n o v a t i o n s c a n most e f f i c i e n t l y b e s p r e a d , when t h e e n v i r o n m e n t u n d e r which p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s
s t r i v e f o r a l i v i n g d o n o t a l l o w them t o a d o p t new s y s t e m s o f p r o d u c t i o n .
I n s h o r t , i n development s t u d i e s i t i s g e n e r a l l y more i m p o r t a n t t o a n a l y s e
i n t e r a c t i o n than diffusion.
To me, a s t u d y c o n t a i n i n g a d e d u c t i v e c o r e t o g e t h e r w i t h a w i d e r i n d u c t i v e s t a t i s t i c a l a p p r o a c h b a s e d o n c a s e s t u d i e s i s deemed r a t h e r more f r u i t f u l
a s a p r a g m a t i c a p p r o a c h t o improve r u r a l l e v e l s of l i v i n g by s e e k i n g t h e
fundamental combinations o f c a u s e s of poverty.
is useful in t h i s respect.
The " v i l l a g e s t u d y " a p p r o a c h
I t i s a p p l i e d h e r e b e c a u s e it p r o v i d e s s t a t e -
m e n t s o f t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f s p e c i f i c s i t u a t i o n s o f dependency.
To ge-
n e r a l i z e from a number o f v i l l a g e s t u d i e s , i s n o t a c c e p t a b l e .
There i s
l i t t l e d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n t h e random s e l e c t i o n o f two o r t w e l v e v i l l a g e s
among t y p i c a l o n e s f o r t h e a r e a i n q u e s t i o n .
Twelve v i l l a g e s would n o t
g i v e a h i g h e r degree of g e n e r a l i t y , of s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e of f i n d i n g s
b e c a u s e o f t h e low a b s o l u t e number.
One w i l l t h u s n o r m a l l y b e a b l e t o f i n d
some s u p p o r t and some i n v a l i d a t i o n w i t h o u t any c r i t e r i a t o judge t h e o v e r a l l p r e v a l e n c e o f v a l i d a t i o n o f t h e dependency argument.
C a s l e y a n d Lury
( 1 9 8 1 ) i l l u s t r a t e t h i s p o i n t w i t h a n example from I n d i a :
By t a k i n g a r a n -
dom sample o f 1 9 4 i n d i v i d u a l l y s t u d i e d v i l l a g e s , a s much a s 33% were found
t o b e s i t e d o n main r o a d s .
An e s t i m a t e o f t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f v i l l a g e s on
main r o a d s would c e r t a i n l y b e below 1 0 % .
The i d e a l s t a t i s t i c a l p r o c e d u r e
would h a v e b e e n t o c h o o s e a sample from a n e x h a u s t i v e i n v e n t o r y o f r e c o r d e d
villages.
Such i n v e n t o r i e s d o n o t e x i s t .
A n o t h e r example o f t h e problem o f
generalization t h i s time i n t e r n a l t o a v i l l a g e i s provided i n t a b l e 2.
t a b l e i s b a s e d on few r e s p o n d e n t s .
The
T h e r e seems t o b e no need f o r a l a r g e
sample r e g a r d i n g t h e q u e s t i o n of r a i n f a l l through t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l season
(October
-
However, i t i s i m p o s s i b l e t o judge w h e t h e r t h i s i s i n f a c t
May).
c o r r e c t a t l a r g e i n t h i s a r e a before a thorough f a m i l i a r i z a t i o n with t h e
I f t h e r e i s no t i m e f o r s u c h a f a m i l i a r i z a t i o n , a
a r e a h a s been achieved.
l a r g e sample i s a must t o s e c u r e a d e g r e e o f p r o b a b i l i t y t h a t t h e f i n d i n g s
correspond t o r e a l i t y .
sible.
To g e n e r a l i z e t o o t h e r a r e a s , i s o f c o u r s e n o t f e a -
A t t h e o t h e r end,
i t i s a n e r r o r o f method t o a p p l y t h e f i n d i n g s f o r
an a r e a t o an individual f i e l d .
T h i s i s amply d e m o n s t r a t e d i n t h e t a b l e by
b a g s h a r v e s t e d o f sorghum and m a i z e f o r 5 p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s between 1976
a n d 1980.
N o p a t t e r n i s e v i d e n t b u t a g r e a t v a r i a t i o n from y e a r t o y e a r i n
t o t a l production.
(The " bad" r a i n f a l l y e a r 1977/78 g a v e f a i r l y good r e t u r n s
a l t h o u g h t h e r a i n f a l l i n b o t h O c t o b e r a n d November was o n l y 5 mm.
The o t h e r
y e a r s had more ample r a i n f a l l i n t h e two f i r s t months o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l
season.
Much r a i n f a l l may n o t b e i d e a l .
stressed this:
A multiactive peasant- cultivator
"Not much r a i n f a l l b u t a l i t t l e e a c h week-end i s t h e b e s t " . )
To g e n e r a l i z e a b o u t r a i n f a l l and y i e l d s from a v a i l a b l e s t a t i s t i c s and a few
r e s p o n d e n t s e a s y t o come i n c o n t a c t w i t h i s e v i d e n t l y n o t a c c e p t a b l e .
d o u b t e d l y , v i l l a g e s t u d i e s a r e good a v e n u e s t o h y p o t h e s i s f o r m u l a t i o n .
UnSpe-
c i a l i z e d r e s e a r c h may t h e n s e e k t o g e n e r a l i z e s e l e c t e d h y p o t h e s e s t h r o u g h
more e x t e n s i v e s u r v e y s .
The p r e o c c u p a t i o n o f most dependency t h e o r i s t s w i t h exchange r e l a t i o n s have
h e r e been s u b s t i t u t e d w i t h a f o c u s on t h e p r o d u c t i o n p r o c e s s .
The a p p r o a c h
111
Table 2.
A.
R a i n f a l l and y i e l d .
Letlhakeng.
R a i n f a l l g e n e r a l l y f o r f i e l d a r e a s around Letlhakeng, a s p e r c e i v e d
by a few randomly s e l e c t e d p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s i n each a r e a .
Field area
1975/76
1976/77
1977/78
1978/79
1979/80
Bolothe
G
M
B
M
G
Gantsweng
G
M
B
M
G
Sesung
G
M
B
M
G
Kgesakwe
G
M
B
G
G
Maratswane
G
M
B
G
G
~Mmone
G
M
B
G
G
Ditshegwane
G
G
B
G
G
Metsibotloko
G
G
B
G
G
Mean
G
M/G
B
G/M
G
1
R a i n f a l l mm
570
650
503
306
510
R a i n f a l l from
October t o March
442
528
482
278
458
Note.
G = good,
M = middle,
B = bad
l ~ e t l h a k e nv~i l l a g e (from October t o September).
B.
Number of bags h a r v e s t e d by 5 randomly s e l e c t e d p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s
i n Letlhakeng.
B
13 S
13 m
20 S
10 m
D
20 S
4 m
Little
Note.
s
=
sorghum,
m
=
maize
10 S
3 m
10
-
S
Little
15 S
4 m
9 S
l m
35 S
2 m
A bag e q u a l s 90 k i l o s
may b e d e s c r i b e d a s " bottom- up" , t h a t i s , l o o k i n g a t t h e w o r l d c a p i t a l
a c c u m u l a t i o n p r o c e s s from t h e v a n t a g e p o i n t o f s e l e c t e d v i l l a g e s and
emphasizing
t h e c o n s t r a i n t s " o u t s i d e " f o r c e s h a v e on t h e s e v i l l a g e s .
I t is t h u s p o s s i b l e t o c o n t r i b u t e b i t s o f knowledge t h a t may b e u s e d by
p l a n n e r s and p o l i t i c i a n s .
Moreover, b y p l a c i n g t h i s p a r t i c u l a r s t u d y
w i t h i n a w i d e r e x p l a n a t o r y framework, i t i s p o s s i b l e t o weigh a l t e r n a t i v e
development s t r a t e g i e s .
A l t h o u g h t h e i n f l u e n c e o f s u c h i n f o r m a t i o n may
b e n e g l i g e n t , and i s p r o b a b l y m o s t o f t e n n i l , t h e r e e x i s t s a p o t e n t i a l
use of a l l t h a t is published.
This is obvious b u t s t i l l important t o re-
p e a t , and it s h o u l d l e a d t o g r e a t c a r e t o s e c u r e r e l i a b i l i t y , v a l i d i t y
and h o n e s t a n a l y s i s , t h a t i s , s c i e n t i f i c i n t e g r i t y .
The r e s e a r c h e r must
c o n t i n u a l l y a s k h i m s e l f t o whom h e f e e l s bound b y s o l i d a r i t y .
Is t h e f i e l d
work m a i n l y c a r r i e d o u t a s a way o f " mining" d a t a t o promote a p r o f e s s i o n a l
c a r e e r a t home?
T h e r e i s , however, a l s o a d a n g e r r e g a r d i n g r e s e a r c h ob-
j e c t i v e s a n d q u e s t i o n s t o u s e i n " o v e r - i d e n t i f y i n g " w i t h t h e poor r e s p o n dents.
T h i s may r e d u c e t h e o b j e c t i v i t y o f o b s e r v a t i o n .
The i n t e n s i v e na-
t u r e o f a v i l l a g e s t u d y e n a b l e s t h e u s e o f b o t h o b j e c t i v e methods o f meas u r e m e n t a n d d e t a i l e d p r o b i n g o f a t t i t u d e s and background.
T h i s i s why
t h i s method was c h o s e n t o a t t a c k t h e r e s e a r c h o b j e c t i v e a t hand.
Further-
more, t h e i n t e g r a t i v e n a t u r e a n d o f t e n i n v i s i b i l i t y o f r u r a l p o v e r t y f a v o u r an i n - d e p t h s t u d y .
A v i l l a g e study i s a l s o f l e x i b l e and t h u s s u i t -
a b l e i n e a r l y s t a g e s of inquiry.
The q u e s t i o n o f o b j e c t i v i t y i n r e s e a r c h
i s p r i m a r i l y r e l a t e d t o t h e t h e o r e t i c a l framework, o r l a c k o f f r a m e , i n
which t h e c o l l e c t e d d a t a a r e p l a c e d .
The c h o i c e o f v a r i a b l e s w i l l always
r e s t on and p i c t u r e c e r t a i n a s s u m p t i o n s , t h a t i s , v a l u e s e n t e r t h e r e s e a r c h
process.
The q u e s t i o n t o p u t t o o n e s e l f i s t h u s :
i s needed f o r d e v e l o p m e n t i n Botswana?
may b e d e c i d e d upon.
What k i n d o f knowledge
Then t h e a p p r o p r i a t e method o f s t u d y
S i n c e p r a c t i c a l a p p l i c a b i l i t y i s a c h o s e n v a l u e , so-
c i a l r e s e a r c h i n t h e T h i r d World s h o u i d g i v e t h i s p r i o r i t y .
course t h e u l t i m a t e g o a l o f a l l s c i e n t i f i c endeavour.
T h i s i s of
I n t h e T h i r d World
t h e immediate n e e d s p r e s s f o r a s t r o n g e r p r i o r i t y among t y p e s o f r e s e a r c h .
B a s i c r e s e a r c h w i l l most o f t e n r i g h t l y l o s e i n t h i s c o m p e t i t i o n .
must b e t o a c h i e v e a c o m b i n a t i o n .
The p o i n t
Here b a s i c q u e s t i o n s a r e a s k e d a t t h e
same t i m e a s t h e c o l l e c t e d m a t e r i a l i n a m a i n l y d e s c r i p t i v e form h a s b e e n
given t o planning a u t h o r i t i e s .
I n an i n d u c t i v e - s t a t i s t i c a l a p p r o a c h t h e
s t u d y v a r i a b l e s a r e n o t p r e d e t e r m i n e d by a r i g i d g e n e r a l t h e o r y e s t a b l i s h e d
on d a t a f o r o t h e r p l a c e s and h i s t o r i c a l p e r i o d s .
The t h e o r e t i c a l f o u n d a t i o n
o f s t u d i e s u s i n g t h e inductive-statistical approach i s t h u s o f t e n e c l e c t i c .
A combination of approaches i s p r e f e r r e d h e r e because of t h e p r e s e n t l i m i t e d
knowledge o f r u r a l Botswana.
To a c h i e v e an in- depth u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f a v i l l a g e s o c i e t y , s u f f i c i e n t time
i s necessary.
Of c o u r s e , t o l e a r n about a v i l l a g e s o c i e t y i s l i k e p e e l i n g
t h e l a y e r s o f a n e n d l e s s o n i o n , t h e r e i s always more t o d i s c o v e r .
I t was
decTded t o s e t t l e f o r what may b e termed a n "intermediate long" f i e l d work
with repeated v i s i t s .
T h i s t y p e of f i e l d work l i e s between t h e "quick and
d i r t y " ( a c o u p l e of weeks) and t h e " a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l f i e l d work" ( a y e a r o r
I n each s t u d y v i l l a g e 2 months were s p e n t .
more).
A r e t u r n - v i s i t was made
a f t e r 2 y e a r s and a s i m i l a r s t u d y conducted a f t e r 4 y e a r s .
Relatively in-
t i m a t e l o c a l knowledge was t h u s achieved over time a s w e l l a s p l a n n i n g r e levance i n t h e short- run.
Aid a g e n c i e s , i n need of q u i c k answers, u s u a l l y
a r g u e t h a t i t i s p o s s i b l e t o l e a r n much a b o u t a v i l l a g e s o c i e t y i n two weeks.
T h i s i s c o r r e c t b u t viewed from a wrong a n g l e .
A p e r s o n from o u t s i d e may
l e a r n a l o t a b o u t a v i l l a g e s o c i e t y i n a s h o r t t i m e , b u t h e w i l l know v e r y
l i t t l e of what t h e r e i s t o l e a r n ( n o t t o speak of u n d e r s t a n d i n g ) .
"Quick
and d i r t y " i s a t e l l i n g l a b e l which I p r e f e r t o t h e more n e u t r a l " r a p i d
r u r a l appraisal".
The comprehensive knowledge and u n d e r s t a n d i n g most anthro-
p o l o g i s t s reach i n t h e i r s t u d i e s a r e o f t e n d i f f i c u l t t o apply i n planning.
F i r s t , t h e i n f o r m a t i o n becomes d e t d e d and i s seldom d i r e c t l y a p p l i c a b l e f o r
planning purposes.
Second, t h e t i m e it t a k e s t o c o l l e c t , a n a l y z e and pub-
l i s h t h e d a t a r e d u c e s t h e r e l e v a n c e of t h e i n f o r m a t i o n i n a changing world.
I t i s a l s o i n v i l l a g e s t u d i e s i m p o r t a n t t o u s e a sample.
The non-sample s u r -
vey e r r o r s a r e l i k e l y t o be g r e a t e r t h a n sampled o n e s because of p o s s i b l e
s y s t e m a t i c l e a v e - o u t s of r e s p o n d e n t s .
Tutume a r e g i v e n i n t a b l e 3.
Table 3.
The samples t a k e n i n Letlhakeng and
S i n c e no i n v e n t o r y of households e x i s t s , no
Number of i n t e r v i e w e d household.
1976
1980
1
2
3
Total
1
2
3
Total
Lethlakeng
11
46
24
81
22
74
64
160
Tutume
13
51
4
68
39
106
15
160
Total
24
97
28
149
61
180
79
320
Note.
1 - 3 denote l e v e l of l i v i n g groups.
Group 1 i s t h e r i c h e s t and group 3 t h e p o o r e s t .
p r i o r s t r a t i f i c a t i o n of households was p o s s i b l e .
I n Letlhakeng a i r p h o t o s
f o r 1975 were used a s a base and a l l compounds mapped.
added and t h o s e no longer i n u s e dropped.
New compounds were
The r e s u l t i n g map of Letlhakeng
was divided i n t o sub- areas and an equal sample of compounds s e l e c t e d a t
random f o r each sub- area.
T h i s procedure was adopted t o s e c u r e a s i m i l a r
sample from a l l over t h e v i l l a g e .
In Tutume no s u i t a b l e a i r p h o t o s e x i s t e d .
The following procedure, which proved t o be r e l i a b l e and quick t o undertake,
was used:
The v i l l a g e was d i v i d e d i n t o sub- areas around each path i n t h e
The compounds s e l e c t e d were every 7. and every 3. f o r 1976
Mopane f o r e s t .
and 1980 r e s p e c t i v e l y .
I t was t h u s p o s s i b l e t o walk from randomly chosen
p o i n t s a l l over t h e v i l l a g e , and map and i n t e r v i e w a t t h e same time.
compounds i n which nobody was a t home, were r e v i s i t e d .
had e v e n t u a l l y t o be dropped.
Those
Very few households
The i n t e r v i e w s were made during t h e a g r i c u l -
t u r a l off- season, t h u s most of t h e v i l l a g e population were p r e s e n t a l s o
during day- time.
In a d d i t i o n t o t h e above d e s c r i b e d v i l l a g e s t u d i e s , a l i m i t e d survey was
made a t t h e f i e l d a r e a s "belonging" t o t h e two v i l l a g e s a t t h e end of 1980
and beginning of 1981 i n order t o i d e n t i f y changes i n t h e r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t
pattern.
Since t h e r e was no s i g n i f i c a n t migration from Letlhakeng t o s e t t l e
permanently a t t h e f i e l d s , t h e r e was no sense i n conducting a s y s t e m a t i c
survey.
The f i e l d a r e a s were nonetheless v i s i t e d and t h e headmen and people
t a l k e d with.
I n t h e v i l l a g e , those households t h a t had come t h e r e s i n c e t h e
1976-study, were interviewed mainly about t h e r e a s o n s f o r t h e i r migration.
I n Tutume both t h e v i l l a g e and t h e f i e l d a r e a s were s t u d i e d with a formal
questionnaire.
I n t h e v i l l a g e a random sample of 35 households (29%of t h e
u n i v e r s e ) were interviewed.
A t t h e f i e l d s 77 households were included.
Since t h e f i g u r e f o r t h e t o t a l number of households a t t h e f i e l d s i s not
a v a i l a b l e , t h e p r o p o r t i o n ( e s t i m a t e d t o be 20%) of interviewed households
cannot be determined e x a c t l y .
Since no socio-economic d a t a e x i s t f o r t h e households beforehand, it i s imp o s s i b l e t o t e s t t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e n e s s of t h e sample on g e n e r a l c h a r a c t e r i s tics.
Wikan (1981) provides an example which i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e d a t a a r e
representative:
The number of labour migrants i n Letlhakeng based on t h e
sample i n 1980 i s not s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n t from t h e number
a r r i v e d a t by asking every headman i n t h e v i l l a g e ' s sub- areas.
Moreover, by
living inside peasant-cultivators' compounds in adobe houses, we found the
villagers to be homogeneous in most aspects of culture and behaviour.
They
were sufficient homogeneous on other than the analytical variables, e.g.
sources of income, level of living and sex composition for the present
study to work satisfactorily.
Furthermore, the rather homogeneous culture
among the major tribes in Botswana together with the monotoneous physical
features and broadly similar climate throughout most of the country make
for a fairly high degree of confidence when generalizing from village studies on many questions.
However, as pointed out above, some questions may
not be easily generalized and the degree of confidence cannot be decided.
What these questions are may not always be easy to determine.
It is thus
essential when data are presented from the study villages also to provide
national statistical data, where they exist, and to rely on other case studies and more limited surveys.
This has been done here.
The questionnaire
The questionnaire should not be longer than allowing most interviews to last
between 3 / 4 to 1 1/4 hour.
My experience shows this to be preferable.
The
formal questionnaire was systematic and written after a short pilot survey.
It consists mostly of open-ended questions.
To predetermine the range of
possible answers is difficult in an alien setting, and may impose meaning
upon the raw data because the categories used then may be based on professional experiences gathered elsewhere.
Although it is impossible to make a
questionnaire completely without preconceptions, the researcher should be
open-minded about what to observe and what to take as relevant.
open to information other than that which is sought.
He must be
To be involved in
practical problems (as a side effort) as well as more pure research facilitate such an openness.
One should always be ready for the unexpected.
Awareness is, for instance, needed to see the capabilities of the rural poor.
The existence of such capabilities leads to an emphasis in research on constraints to development in the rural poors' environment.
In order to in-
clude the practical dimension, a socio-economic evaluation of the impact of
rural roads built by NORAD to the study villages was included.
This was
also done of a moral conviction that to "mine" for data in the Thlrd World
for professional merit alone, is unacceptable.
On some o f t h e q u e s t i o n s i n t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e p a t t e r n s o f a n s w e r s soon
became e v i d e n t .
The t i m e i n i n t e r v i e w i n g t h u s went down due t o t h e p o s s i -
b i l i t y o f p r e c o d i n g on t h e s e q u e s t i o n s .
were never given t o t h e respondents.
However, t h e o p t i o n s o f a n s w e r s
I t proved u s e f u l during t h e p i l o t
s u r v e y when t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e was f o r m u l a t e d , t o a s k o n e s e l f t h e f o l l o w i n g
three questions:
W i l l t h e respondent understand t h e question?
r e s p o n d e n t know t h e a n s w e r ?
W i l l the
W i l l t h e r e s p o n d e n t r e v e a l t h e c o r r e c t answer?
I t t h e n became q u i t e c l e a r t h a t o n l y r e l a t i v e l y s i m p l e m a t t e r s w e l l w i t h i n
t h e c a p a b i l i t y o f most r e s p o n d e n t s t o answer c o u l d b e i n c l u d e d .
l i e s t h e major shortcoming of t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e type of i n q u i r y .
a more t h o r o u g h u n d e r s t a n d i n g , o t h e r f o r m s o f i n q u i r y ( e . g .
c u s s i o n s ) were u s e d .
To r e a c h
informal dis-
The t o t a l amount o f m a t e r i a l c o l l e c t e d t h u s s p a n w i d e r
t h a n t h a t u s e d i n t h i s work.
ting.
Herein
To p u b l i s h a l l t h e m a t e r i a l one h a s i s temp-
The e x c u s e f o r d o i n g s o c a n b e t h a t i t rnlght b e u s e f u l f o r somebody,
somewhere, sometime.
T h i s i s , however, n o t a s u f f i c i e n t r e a s o n , and one
s h o u l d a l w a y s e x p e c t t o g a t h e r more d a t a t h a n i s i m m e d i a t e l y n e c e s s a r y f o r
s t a t i s t i c a l computation.
T h i s is of course e s s e n t i a l i n a v i l l a g e study, b u t
may a p p l y a l s o t o more e x t e n s i v e s u r v e y s .
The v i l l a g e s t u d y a p p r o a c h c o n t a i n s a problem i n t h a t t h e l a c k o f p r i o r i n f o r m a t i o n on t h e h o u s e h o l d s and t h e r e l a t i v e l y b r o a d s c o p e o f t h e r e s e a r c h
g i v e v a r i o u s t y p e s of households, f o r i n s t a n c e , regarding sources of l i v e l i hood.
The number of u n i t s o b t a i n e d on e v e r y v a r i a b l e t h e n o f t e n becomes
l e s s t h a n t h e ( t o t a l ) sample.
An example i s t h a t p a r t o f t h e h o u s e h o l d s i n
Letlhakeng d i d n o t c u l t i v a t e crops.
The s a m p l e on t e c h n i c a l a s p e c t s of c r o p
c u l t i v a t i o n became c o r r e s p o n d i n g l y l e s s .
A l t h o u g h t h i s r e d u c t i o n i n sample
s i z e on p a r t i c u l a r v a r i a b l e s w i l l have a s i m i l a r d r o p i n t h e u n i v e r s e , t h e
t o t a l number o f r e s p o n d e n t s may become " t o o " l o w , t h a t i s , t h e e r r o r of
e s t i m a t i o n soon becomes l a r g e .
households t h a t c u l t i v a t e crops.
T h i s may b e s o l v e d by a d d i n g more o f t h o s e
T h i s , however, i n c r e a s e s t h e t o t a l number
o f i n t e r v i e w e d h o ~ ~ s e h o l d s .Time a n d money a v a i l a b l e d i d n o t a l l o w me t o a d o p t
such a procedure.
I n s t e a d t h e r a n g e o f t y p e s o f h o u s e h o l d s were l i m i t e d by
i n c l u d i n g o n l y permanent v i l l a g e d w e l l e r s .
f i c i a l s (e.g.
T h i s i m p i i e d t h a t government o f -
t e a c h e r s , policemen, t a x c o l l e c t o r s ) s t a t i o n e d i n t h e v i l l a g e
f o r a c e r t a i n p e r i o d , were e x c l u d e d .
T h e s e o f f i c i a l s l i v e d i n s e p a r a t e go-
vernment q u a r t e r s and were t h u s e a s i l y i d e n t i f i e d .
The q u e s t i o n n a i r e was d i s c u s s e d w i t h s c h o l a r s i n Botswana.
T h i s was u s e f u l ,
a l t h o u g h t h e y have some o f t h e same d i s a d v a n t a g e s a s e x p a t r i a t e r e s e a r c h e r s ,
such a s being t r a i n e d i n w e s t e r n s c i e n t i f i c t r a d i t i o n and b e i n g urban b i a s e d .
The i d e a l would be t o conduct j o i n t r e s e a r c h w i t h somebody who had grown up
i n a s i m i l a r r u r a l a r e a a s t h e one t o be s t u d i e d .
Then h e would n o t be
p a r t of a l o c a l s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l group w i t h i t s v e s t e d i n t e r e s t s i n t h e s t u d y
area.
Such a p e r s o n i s seldom a v a i l a b l e .
The interview
I t 1 s i m p o r t a n t when c o n d u c t i n g a v i l l a g e s t u d y t o approach t h e v i l l a g e i n
a c o r r e c t way.
I n Botswana t h i s meant v i s i t i n g t h e D i s t r i c t O f f i c e i n an-
other v i l l a g e f i r s t .
With a l e t t e r o f i n t r o d u c t i o n , t h e Chief i n t h e s t u d y
v i l l a g e was c o n t a c t e d .
He a r r a n g e d an open " k g o t l a M - m e e t i n g where we ex-
p l a i n e d t o t h e v i l l a g e r s t h e r e a s o n f o r our s t a y t h e r e .
consuming t o be a c c e p t e d i n a v i l l a g e .
I t may prove time-
I n o u r c a s e , i t was h e l p f u l t h a t we
a l s o c a r r i e d o u t a c o n s u l t a n c y f o r NORAD.
To be i d e n t i f i e d w i t h NORAD con-
t r i b u t e d , i n my o p i n i o n , t o t h a t t h e d a t a can be s a i d t o b e r e l i a b l e because
t h e v i l l a g e r s had an
a priori
p o s i t i v e a t t i t u d e towards us.
T h i s , however,
d i d n o t t u r n i n t o a s u b s e r v i e n t b e h a v i o u r , a s i s s u b s t a n t i a t e d by t h e change
t o a l e s s p o s i t i v e o p i n i o n on t h e u s e f u l n e s s of t h e r u r a l r o a d s ( t a b l e 4 ) .
Table 4 .
Respondents' p e r c e i v e d advantage of t h e new r u r a l road
a c c o r d i n g t o l e v e l of l i v i n g . 1976 and 1980. P e r c e n t .
1976
1980
LETLHAKENG
Level of
No
Don't
Advantage
living
advantage know
Total
T o t a l advantage
Don't
No
advantage know
Total
58
33
9
100
19
68
14
101
49
13
38
100
52
26
22
100
TUTUME
Total
We a l s o h e l d m e e t i n g s i n e a c h o f t h e s u b - a r e a s o f t h e v i l l a g e .
There
headmen h a d p e r s o n a l a u t h o r i t y , a l t h o u g h t h e new c o n s t i t u t i o n l e f t them
l i t t l e f o r m a l power.
To b e w h i t e i n r u r a l Botswana d i d n o t c o n s t i t u t e
a problem, r a t h e r on t h e c o n t r a r y .
To c o n d u c t h o u s e h o l d s u r v e y s i n t h e T h i r d World i s s t r e n e o u s .
physical stamina is required.
possible.
Considerable
For i n s t a n c e , t o m a i l q u e s t i o n n a i r e s i s i m -
F u r t h e r m o r e , t o l e t a s s i s t a n t s g a t h e r your d a t a r e d u c e s t h e r e -
l i a b i l i t y a n d y o u r own o v e r v i e w o f n u a n c e s .
Moreover, i t i s n e c e s s a r y con-
t i n u a l l y t o r e v i e w , check a n d c r o s s - c h e c k t h e m a t e r i a l .
A l t h o u g h t h e same
q u e s t i o n s a r e r e p e a t e d day a f t e r day f o r months, an a t t i m e s boring r o u t i n e ,
t o b e p a t i e n t a n d c o n s t a n t l y a l e r t i s n e c e s s a r y t o judge t h e s e r i o u s n e s s of
t h e r e s p o n d e n t a n d t o c r e a t e a good mood d u r i n g t h e i n t e r v i e w .
I t i s much
e a s i e r t o c l e a r i n c o n s i s t e n c i e s a n d c o n t r a d i c t i o n s w h i l e a n i n t e r v i e w i s conducted than t h e day a f t e r .
The r e s e a r c h e r s h o u l d e m u l a t e t h e d e t e c t i v e , h e
must b e a k e e n o b s e r v e r o f t h e r e s p o n d e n t and h i s s u r r o u n d i n g and h a v e a
f i n e e a r f o r nuances i n t h e r e s p o n d e n t ' s r e p l i e s .
The p e r s o n a l o b s e r v a t i o n s
p o s s i b l e d u r i n g i n t e r v i e w s , which we c o n d u c t e d s e a t e d on t h e ground by t h e
r e s p o n d e n t s h o u s e , a r e v a l u a b l e when t h e r e l i a b i l i t y o f t h e f i n d i n g s l a t e r
is t o be assessed.
We w e r e a c c o r d i n g l y p r e s e n t a t e v e r y i n t e r v i e w .
The
i n t e r v i e w s w e r e , i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e a u t h o r , i n 1976 c o n d u c t e d by R e i d a r Dale
and J a r l e H d r s t a d and i n 1980 by Gerd Wikan.
It is normally necessary t o
r e l y on a n i n t e r p r e t e r i n t h e " i n t e r m e d i a t e l o n g " t y p e o f f i e l d work advocated here.
Much may b e a c h i e v e d b y way o f c o n t a c t w i t h p e o p l e t h r o u g h a
good n a t u r e d and a b l e i n t e r p r e t e r .
I t i s f u r t h e r m o r e f a i r l y s i m p l e by r e -
p e a t e d d i s c u s s i o n s t o f i n d t h e r i g h t way t o f o r m u l a t e q u e s t i o n s i n o r d e r t o
c a t c h t h e i n t e n d e d meaning.
general.
This a l s o helps t o scrutinize t h e research i n
Because o f t h e r e l a t i v e l y l i m i t e d t i m e f o r f i e l d work, e f f i c i e n c y
is required.
One must t h e r e f o r e s e e k t o a c h i e v e a b a l a n c e between e f f i c i e n c y
and d e t a i l o f o b s e r v a t i o n , and n o t l e t t h e c o r r e c t need f o r a r e l a t i v e l y
l a r g e sample r e s u l t i n l e s s r e l i a b l e d a t a .
The h e a d s o f t h e h o u s e h o l d s w e r e i n t e r v i e w e d .
a " husband a n d w i f e " h o u s e h o l d ,
When t h e husband was away i n
t h e w i f e was i n t e r v i e w e d .
then n a i n l y e i t h e r i n South A f r i c a a s a labour migrant,
a s a s h u t t l e r o r looking a f t e r c a t t l e .
The husband was
i n t o w n s i n Eotswana
I n Botswana i t proved t o be no s y s t e m a t i c d i f f e r e n c e s regarding t h e response
and r e p l i e s according t o t h e sex of respondents.
s e a r c h e r d i d n o t produce d i f f e r e n t r e s u l t s .
other countries.
swers given:
Also, t h e sex of t h e re-
This may n o t be t h e case i n
There a r e two problems u s u a l l y p o i n t e d a t regarding an-
F i r s t , t h e answers a r e c u l t u r a l l y p r e s c r i b e d and t h u s n o t a l -
ways i n accordance with r e a l i t y .
Second, t h e answers a r e those t h e respon-
d e n t s p e r c e i v e t o be expected by t h e r e s e a r c h e r .
The r e p e a t e d v i s i t s t o t h e
v i l l a g e s and d i s c u s s i o n s w i t h l o c a l r e s e a r c h e r s l e a v e t h e impression t h a t
t h e t y p e of q u e s t i o n s and information sought i n t h i s study d i d n o t engender
such r e a c t i o n s .
The d i s p o s i t i o n of t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e should be made i n such a way t h a t not
only cross- checking of t h e d a t a i s p o s s i b l e b u t a l s o t h a t an amicable atmosphere i s c r e a t e d .
We placed a q u e s t i o n about number of b l a n k e t s (an i n d i -
c a t o r on l e v e l of l i v i n g ) towards t h e end of t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e .
When t h e
respondents a t t h a t s t a g e b e c a m e t i r e d a n d bored, t h i s gave new enthusiasm
and made t h e f i n i s h comfortable.
I n many c a s e s i t was p o s s i b l e t o d i s c u s s
g e n e r a l a s w e l l a s s p e c i f i c m a t t e r s r e l a t e d t o t h e household a f t e r t h e formal
interview.
Often t h e i n t e r v i e w s were made with o t h e r people p r e s e n t .
whole, t h i s improved r a t h e r t h a n r e d u c e d t h e r e l i a b i l i t y .
On t h e
I t may be necessary
i n s t u d i e s with c e r t a i n i n t i m a t e q u e s t i o n s t o a s c e r t a i n p r i v a c y while i n t e r viewing.
questions.
We always s t r e s s e d t h e anonymity of t h e d a t a b e f o r e asking any
Although t h i s p r i n c i p l e was accepted a f t e r c a r e f u l e x p l a n a t i o n ,
it i s d i f f i c u l t t o know t h e p r o p o r t i o n of respondents r e a l l y b e l i e v i n g i n i t .
I n s t u d i e s asking f o r income and o t h e r a s s e t s t h i s i s problematic.
We f e l t
it on t h e q u e s t i o n of number of c a t t l e owned, where we o f t e n had t o labour
hard t o o b t a i n an approximate f i g u r e .
I t must be remembered h e r e t h a t t h e
r e s e a r c h e r should n o t be deceived by an apparant l a c k of c u r i o s i t y on t h e
p a r t of t h e respondents.
Misgivings may e x i s t t h a t w i l l l e a d t o f a l s i f i c a -
t i o n o r concealment of c e r t a i n information.
"courtesy bias" .
One should be aware of t h i s
The i n d i v i d u a l i t y of most o f t e n r e l a t i v e l y small k i n groups
i n Botswana, which i s a t y p i c a l c u l t u r a l t r a i t , l e f t us f r e e t o go about our
own work.
A f t e r some time we l e a r n e d through c l o s e r f r i e n d s h i p s e s t a b l i s h e d
i n t h e v i l l a g e s t h a t people g e n e r a l l y accepted u s , among o t h e r t h i n g s , because we were t h e f i r s t o u t s i d e r s who asked what they thought about t h e i r own
and t h e i r v i l l a g e ' s problems and how they b e s t could be solved.
I n Botswana, a s probably everywhere e l s e , p o l i t e n e s s and h u m i l i t y a r e t h e key
t o mutually b e n e f i c i a l r e l a t i o n s .
To t a k e g r e a t c a r e i n g r e e t i n g s i s , f o r
instance, e s s e n t i a l .
The r e s e a r c h e r ' s goodwill must b e abundantly c l e a r .
But on no account must he imply t h a t he i s a b l e t o p r o v i d e o r promise
assistance directly.
I n s t e a d I o r g a n i z e d p r a c t i c a l a s s i s t a n c e from vo-
luntary a i d agencies t o t h e
v i z z a g e s v i s i t e d a f t e r t h e f i e l d work ended.
I n i t i a t i v e f o r p r a c t i c a l work was t a k e n i n two d i f f e r e n t ways a f t e r t h e
f i r s t and l a s t f i e l d work: R e p o r t s were w r i t t e n a b o u t p o s s i b l e e f f o r t s i n
t h e v i l l a g e s (Dale and Hesselberg 1 9 7 7 ) .
and v a r i o u s a u t h o r i t i e s i n Botswana.
The r e p o r t s were s e n t t o NORAD
The o t h e r way t o c o n t r i b u t e d i r e c t l y
t o p o v e r t y a l l e v i a t i o n was through d i s c u s s i o n s on c o n c r e t e p r o j e c t s t o f i n d
t h e p r i o r i t y of t h e V i l l a g e Development Committee and of c e r t a i n disadvantaged groups.
It is essential
I arranged f o r f u n d s t o Women S o c i e t i e s .
t h a t t h e s e groups a r e a s s i s t e d a c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r own p r i o r i t i e s .
I t does
n e i t h e r t a k e much courage nor h a r d work t o conduct t h i s k i n d of a c t i v i t i e s .
Usually t h e v i l l a g e r s a r e s p l i t i n s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l f a c t i o n s , and t h e y have
l i t t l e power i n s o c i e t y a t l a r g e , few r e s o u r c e s and a low a b i l i t y of w r i t t e n
articulation.
The r e s e a r c h e r may o f t e n be t h e o n l y person w i t h r e l a t i v e l y
i n t i m a t e knowledge of t h e v i l l a g e s o c i e t y and of e f f o r t s with a p o t e n t i a l of
success.
Should he t h e n m a i n t a i n a "pure r e s e a r c h " s t a n d a r d s o t h a t he i s
n o t i n f l u e n c i n g t h e r e a l i t y he i s studying?
A n t i - s o c i a l behaviour of a r e s e a r c h e r may have s e r i o u s consequences n o t only
f o r himself and h i s r e s e a r c h i n p r o g r e s s b u t f o r l a t e r r e s e a r c h by o t h e r s .
Not t o behave a n t i - s o c i a l may n o t be a s easy a s i t looks a t f i r s t hand.
Beer d r i n k i n g , a s an example, i s a t r a d i t i o n i n Botswana.
To a c c e p t and
j o i n i n b e e r p a r t i e s i s one way t o be a c c e p t e d and a c h i e v e i n f o r m a l c o n t a c t .
However, t o a t t e n d b a r s and t o d r i n k imported b e e r may have t h e o p p o s i t e
e f f e c t vis-2-vis
p a r t s of t h e v i l l a g e s o c i e t y .
The d i f f e r e n t o p i n i o n s pre-
v a l e n t i n most v i l l a g e s make it h a r d ( o f t e n i m p o s s i b l e ) t o behave " c o r r e c t "
i n everybody's eyes.
The " demonstration e f f e c t " a f o r e i g n white r e s e a r c h e r
has i n a medium s i z e d v i l l a g e i n A f r i c a can be s t r o n g .
always r e g a r d i t t o e x i s t .
A t l e a s t , one should
The b e s t way t o t a c k l e t h i s problem i s t o t r y t o
be a s unimportant a s p o s s i b l e .
Walk d o n ' t d r i v e , v i s i t t h e p o o r e s t and women,
d o n ' t s o c i a l i z e w i t h t h e e l i t e ( i t may be i m p o r t a n t t o v i s i t them e a r l y ) , e a t
l o c a l food ( p o r r i d g e i n Botswana), t a l k w i t h people a f t e r d a r k , l i s t e n and
d o n ' t t r y t o be w i s e r , ask people about t h e i r problems, abandon o r reduce t o
a minimum t h e consumption of p r o d u c t s n o t i n l o c a l g e n e r a l demand.
I t is
p r o b a b l y a f a i n t hope t h a t our p r e s e n c e i n t h e v i l l a g e s d i d n o t have a "de-
monstration effect" of white, western materialism. The point must be to
diminish this effect as much as possible.
The village study approach, I maintain, is a rewarding mode of research.
By being relatively limited to a small area and well defined population,
it is easier to avoid thedanger of misinterpretation. To be a committed
foreigner helps to see a village society with fresh eyes and uncommitted
loyalties but with a positive bias towards poorer groups.
The a n a l y t i c a l unit:
t h e household
Since the household is the primary economic unit in rural Botswana, this
unit was chosen as the analytical unit in the present work.
A
household
consists of a person or group of persons who claim to belong to a single
compound and who use part of the available resources in common.
in addition answerable to the same head.
They are
Unmarried memhers staying else-
where are included when the respondents lnclude them, and when they send
or bring money and/or goods to the rural home.
for shorter or longer visits.
It is usual to return home
Because of the tradition of labour migra-
tion in Botswana, this way of defining a household is essential.
It may
be maintained that the usefulness of the household as an analytical unit,
may decline as the population moves into towns and/or becomes more reliant
on wages in the informal (urban) sector.
the study of farm populations.
This is not generally correct in
The high proportion of multiactive farmers
in developed countries substantiates this.
There may, however, exist a
period in which farming is the only occupation for most households, as indicated in figure 3.
The development of agriculture in some developed ~ o u n t -
ries show that this may happen.
Other experiences tell that the combina-
tions necessary for multiactive peasant-cultivators, are soon forced on
farmers by the price-squeeze and the want of a comparable level of living
.
with urban populations
The study v i l l a g e s
The choice of Letlhakeng and Tutume as study villages rests on a discussion
between the government of Botswana, NORAD and ourselves.
NORAD wanted some
of a limited number of rural roads built evaluated as to their impact on pro-
duction and income i n t h e v i l l a g e s which became l i n k e d t o main r o a d s .
The
government had p r e f e r e n c e s f o r c e r t a i n roads t o be s t u d i e d , b u t accepted
our argument f o r a t y p i c a l v i l l a g e i n t h e c e n t r a l (Letlhakeng) and one i n
Due t o l a c k of d a t a , i t was n o t
t h e n o r t h e r n p a r t (Tutume) of t h e country.
a priori
p o s s i b l e t o s u b s t a n t i a t e whether t h e v i i l a g e s i n f a c t were t y p i c a l .
Government o f f i c i a l s maintained t h a t t h e v i l l a g e s were t y p i c a l of mediums i z e d v i l l a g e s i n Botswana a s a whole, and my l a t e r experiences a g r e e with
t h i s view.
Moreover, both
metres from a l a r g e town.
v i l l a g e s a r e s i t u a t e d approximately 100 k i l o The r u r a l road t o Letlhakeng was f i n i s h e d i n l a t e
1975 and t h e road t o Tutume a year l a t e r .
On c e r t a i n a s p e c t s , such a s s o i l
f e r t i l i t y and e t h n i c composition, t h e v i l l a g e s r e p r e s e n t t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e
a r e a s of Botswana.
With t h e money and time a v a i l a b l e two v i l l a g e s proved t h e
most we could cover.
LETLHAKENG
Letlhakeng i s s i t u a t e d a 1 3/4 hours d r i v e northwest of Gaborone.
The v i l l a g e
l i e s i n a f o s s i l r i v e r v a l l e y where t h e water t a b l e i s somewhat higher than
u s u a l i n t h i s p a r t of t h e country.
Water i s t h e most important f a c t o r of
l o c a t i o n t o g e t h e r with a c e n t r a l s i t u a t i o n i n t h e western p a r t of Kweneng
District.
The a r e a h a s f a i r l y good g r a z i n g f o r c a t t l e r e l a t i v e t o i t s loca-
t i o n i n t h e t r a n s i t i o n a l zone between t h e more humid e a s t e r n p a r t of t h e
country and t h e Kalahari semi-desert proper.
To t h e south of t h e v i l l a g e t h e
f o s s i l r i v e r v a l l e y narrows, and h e r e one f i n d s a l a r g e number of o l d water
holes.
To t h e n o r t h t h e landscape widens, and t h e r e ,
j u s t a t t h e edge of t h e
b u i l t - u p a r e a , l i e s an a r e a with s u i t a b l e s o i l s f o r crops.
T h i s a r e a i s not
used a t p r e s e n t because of t h e g r e a t number of c a t t l e and smallstock moving
around.
There i s a r e l a t i v e l y l a r g e a r e a s u i t a b l e f o r crops s t r e t c h i n g north-
south about 5 k i l o m e t r e s west of t h e v i l l a g e .
I n addition, crop cultivation
and c a t t l e g r a z i n g a r e found i n many smaller p l a c e s around Letlhakeng.
The
most common type of s o i l i n t h e Letlhakeng a r e a i s Kalahari sands and g r a v e l s .
Most of t h e p a r e n t m a t e r i a l s of t h e s e s o i l s a r e of windblown o r i g i n .
a r e g e n e r a l l y i n f e r t i l e with a v e r y low humus c o n t e n t .
They
T h i s i s p a r t l y due t o
c l i m a t e , t h a t i s r a p i d decomposition of o r g a n i c m a t t e r , b u t a l s o a r e s u l t of
farming p r a c t i c e s , mainly overgrazing and bush f i r e s .
The b e s t s o i l s occur
i n t h e bottom of f o s s i l r i v e r v a l l e y s and o t h e r d e p r e s s i o n s where n u t r i t i e n t s
a r e washed down from t h e s i d e s and accumulated.
Average r a i n f a l l i n t h e a r e a
LETLHAKENG VILLAGE
Khudumelapye
Compound
Road
Post office
Police station
Shop
Bottle store
Sports ground
Cooperative
7
School
Kgotla (Tribal Authority)
9 Church
10 Water tower
11 Clinic
12 Office for the
recruitment of
mine labourers
1 J Government offices
8
-300 m
MAIN FIELD AREAS AROUND LETLHAKENG
LETLHAKENG
Boa
Map
7
amounts t o a b o u t 450 mm p e r y e a r ( t a b l e 2 ) .
This s u f f i c e f o r t h e cultiva-
t i o n o f t h e d r o u g h t r e s i s t a n t sorghum, m a i z e a n d m i l l e t a n d f o r v a r i o u s
kindsof beans.
Due t o t h e c o n v e c t i o n a l n a t u r e o f r a i n f a l l ,
f i e l d s even i n
t h e same a r e a may r e c e i v e v e r y u n e q u a l amounts d u r i n g a s e a s o n .
r a l v e g e t a t i o n of t h e a r e a is a d r y bush savanna.
c o n s i s t s of various grasses.
The n a t u -
The ground v e g e t a t i o n
They form a c o n t i n u o u s c o v e r i n t h e f o s s i l
r i v e r v a l l e y s , where t h e g r o u n d w a t e r i s n e a r t h e s u r f a c e , b u t a r e e l s e w h e r e
more s p a r s e .
The d e j u r e v i l l a g e p o p u l a t i o n was i n 1980 3 231, a n d c o n s i s t e d o f 497 househ o l d s according t o t h e d e l i m i t a t i o n of t h e v i l l a g e used i n t h e survey.
l 9 8 1 c e n s u s may h a v e a p p l i e d a n o t h e r boundary.
The
54 government o f f i c i a l s and
t h e i r dependants n o t l i v i n g permanently i n t h e v i l l a g e a r e n o t included i n
t h e above f i g u r e s .
The p o p u l a t i o n c o n s i s t s m a i n l y o f Bakwena, a Tswana
t r i b e , and B a k g a l a g a d i ( " p e o p l e s o f t h e K a l a h a r i " ) .
I n normal r a i n f a l l y e a r s
L e t l h a k e n g i s a d e q u a t e l y s u p p l i e d w i t h c l e a n w a t e r from b o r e h o l e s .
a r e s e v e r a l water t a p s around i n t h e v i l l a g e .
o t h e r s e r v i c e s (appendix 2 ) .
There
The v i l l a g e h a s a c l i n i c and
T h e r e e x i s t s no m a n u f a c t u r i n g o r o t h e r secon-
d a r y economic a c t i v i t i e s b u t o n e o r two i n d i v i d u a l s c a s u a l l y k n i t t i n g o r
sewing c l o t h e s f o r s a l e .
TUT'JME
Tutume i s s i t u a t e d on a n u n d u l a t i n g p l a i n w i t h o c c a s i o n a l r o c k o u t c r o p s
f o r m i n g s m a l l h i l l s 1 1 / 2 h o u r s d r i v e n o r t h w e s t o f F r a n c i s t o w n , t h e major
town o f n o r t h e r n Botswana.
Tutume c o m p r i s e s s c a t t e r e d compounds on b o t h
s i d e s o f t h e r o a d a n d s a n d r i v e r Tutume f o r a l e n g t h of 1 0 k i l o m e t r e s .
S i n c e i t i s u s u a l t o c a l l Tutume a v i l l a g e , t h i s term w i l l b e a p p l i e d a l though t h e d w e l l i n g h o u s e s a r e s p r e a d o u t o v e r a r e l a t i v e l y l a r g e a r e a .
The
v i l l a g e came i n t o b e i n g by c o e r c i o n on t h e p a r t o f t h e Ngwato C h i e f T s e k e d i
Khamz. i n t h e e a r l y 1 9 4 0 s .
bed.
P e r e n n i a l d r i n k i n g water is found i n t h e r i v e r -
Now b o r e h o l e s a r e a l s o u s e d .
i s poor a r o u n 3 t h e v i l l a g e .
Taps a r e l o c a t e d a l o n g t h e r o a d .
Grazing
The s o i l s , m o s t l y o f t h e F e r r u g i n o u s T r o p i c a l
t y p e a r e f a i r l y good (Venema 19801, and c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n i s c a r r i e d o u t a l most a l l around t h e v i l l a g e o u t s i d e t h e n e a r e s t v i c i n i t y .
s l i g h t l y h i g h e r t h a n i n L e t l h a k e n g , a b o u t 500 mm p e r y e a r .
Rainfall is
The n a t u r a l ve-
Map
8
M A I N FIELD AREAS AROUND TUI'UME
-
Road
n\-r Village
Map
9
g e t a t i o n i s a d r y t r e e (Mopane) s a v a n n a .
Ground v e g e t a t i o n v a r i e s from
r i c h t o t o t a l l y absent b u t i s generally sparse.
The d e j u r e p o p u l a t i o n o f Tutume i n 1980 was 3 884 i n 498 h o u s e h o l d s .
government o f f i c i a l s and d e p e n d a n t s a r e i n t h i s c a s e e x c l u d e d .
p a r t of t h e p o p u l a t i o n a r e Bakalanga.
Setswana.
l o n g among t h e Bakalanga.
close t o non- existent.
The major
T h e i r l a n g u a g e i s d i f f e r e n t from
B a k a l a n g a a r e a l s o f o u n d i n Zimbabwe.
i n Tutume a l s o s p e a k S e t s w a n a .
250
Most o f t h e Bakalanqa
The t r a d i t i o n o f s c h o o l i n g i s r e l a t i v e l y
S e c o n d a r y economic a c t i v i t i e s a r e a l s o i n Tutume
T h e r e i s , however, a s e c o n d a r y s c h o o l c e n t r e which
i n c l u d e s a "Brigade" with s e c t i o n s f o r mechanics, house b u i l d i n g , carpentry,
sewing a n d v e g e t a b l e g a r d e n i n g .
general public.
Tutume.
A l l of these s e c t i o n s s e l l products t o t h e
Labour m i g r a t i o n t o S o u t h A f r i c a i s a t r a d i t i o n a l s o i n
Today a n i n c r e a s i n g number o b t a i n work i n u r b a n c e n t r e s i n Botswana.
The b e t t e r e d u c a t e d p e o p l e from Tutume o b t a i n work more e a s i l y t h a n t h o s e
from L e t l h a k e n g who c o n t i n u e t o r e l y on mine work i n S o u t h A f r i c a .
In short,
t h e g r e a t e r v a r i e t y o f c r o p s p l a n t e d , b e t t e r y i e l d s on s t a p l e f o o d and
h i g h e r l e v e l s o f e d u c a t i o n i n Tutume t h a n L e t l h a k e n g e x p l a i n t h e somewhat
h i g h e r l e v e l of l i v i n g found i n t h a t v i l l a g e .
A NOTE ON PEASANT AND RELATED CONCEPTS I N THE LITERATURE ON BOTSWANA
T a b l e 5 shows e x p l i c i t d e f i n i t i o n s o r f o r some t h e main characteristics o f
t y p e s o f a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s a c c o r d i n g t o a r i c h - p o o r d i m e n s i o n found
t o b e u s e d by i n d i v i d u a l s c h o l a r s i n Botswana.
To a p p l y a d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n
of a g r i c u l t u r a l producers i s n o t u s u a l i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e .
v a r i a t i o n s i n t h e content o f t h e c a t e g o r i e s adopted.
There a r e a l s o
Only r e g a r d i n g c a t t l e
o w n e r s h i p , t h e r e seems t o b e a n a g r e e m e n t on c u t - o f f p o i n t s .
The t e r m pea-
s a n t i s u s e d b y t h e r e s e a r c h e r s i n c l u d e d i n t h e t a b l e , e x c e p t by Opschoor.
These s c h o l a r s a t t a c h t h e i r a n a l y s e s t o t h e p e a s a n t s t u d i e s t r a d i t i o n , a l though none o f them d o t h i s by a d o p t i n g c o n c e p t s d e n o t i n g t h e d i f f e r e n c e
between p e a s a n t s a n d f a r m e r s .
F o r p e o p l e a t t h e p o o r end o f t h e d l m e n s l o n ,
Cooper (1980) makes t h e terrrl'lumpen p e a s a n t r y " when r e f e r r i n g t o t h o s e who
" seldom work own l a n d " , t h a t i s , t h o s e who a r e w o r k e r s , a g r i c u l t u r a l labour e r s o r who r e l y on g i f t s and g a t h e r i n g .
Comaroff
(1S8O;, i n h i s a n a l y s i s o f
t h e B a r o l o n g a r e a , shows c l e a r l y how t h e e x p a n s i o n o f a m i n o r i t y o f f a r m e r s
( " l a r g e farmers") is detrimental t o peasant production.
I n t h i s p r o c e s s of
p o l a r i z a t i o n a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s (" non- farming l a b o u r " ) , s h a r e c r o p p e r s
and poor p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s a r e c r e a t e d .
The mechanisms a r e p r i m a r i l y i n -
c r e a s i n g l a n d p r i c e s i n t h i s a r e a of d e f a c t o l e a s e h o l d ( l a n d i s h i r e d o u t
m o s t l y t o w h i t e s - it c a n n o t b e s o l d ) and d r o u g h t r e s u l t i n g i n a need f o r
money.
Only i n t h i s a r e a o f Botswana we may t h u s f i n d a p r o c e s s of p e a s a n t i -
z a t i o n , t h a t i s , many f a r m e r s (who u s e s m a l l t r a c t o r s and market a r e l a t i v e l y
l a r g e s h a r e of t h e i r p r o d u c t i o n ) become p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s o r p u r e m u l t i active peasant- cultivators (i.e.
t h e y depend on a g r i c u l t u r a l wage work i n ad-
d i t i o n t o own a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n ) .
Such a p e a s a n t i z a t i o n p r o c e s s has
n o t t a k e n p l a c e e l s e w h e r e i n t h e c o u n t r y i n r e c e n t t i m e s because t h e m a j o r i t y
of t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s never have been f a r m e r s .
The p o l n t made by
Parson ( 1981) t h a t " s m a l l and medium- scale f a r m e r s " ( 50-75 cows) would t h r o q h
a l o s s of 2 5 - 5 0 % , due t o d r o u g h t , b e t h r u s t back i n t o t h e " p e a s a n t a r l a t " ,
is thus not applicable.
The " f a r m e r s " , h e r e f e r s t o , show t h e main charac-
t e r i s t i c s of p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s , and ought a l r e a d y t o belong t o t h i s c a t e gory
-
Comaroff c a l l s t h e socio- economic formation he f i n d s i n Barolong, f o r a "peas a n t - c a p i t a l i s t formation".
The e v o l u t i o n i n t h l s p a r t of Botswana (map 1 0 )
p a r t l y depends upon t h e a r t i c u l a t i o n o f " c a p i t a l i s t s " and p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s , who have themselves r e i n f o r c e d each o t h e r s e x i s t e n c e w i t h i n t h e l o c a l
area.
To e x p l a i n why Barolong i s d i f f e r e n t from t h e r e s t of Botswana in-
c l u d i n g t h e f r e e h o l d farms, Comaroff p o i n t s a t a long t r a d i t i o n of comm e r c i a l behaviour i n Barolong and t o d i s p e r s e d farms of l e s s s i z e t h a n
f r e e h o l d farms.
(There a r e no v i l l a g e s i n Barolong.)
In conclusion,
Comaroff shows how t h e a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n h a s t a k e n p l a c e i n Barolong
d u r i n g t h e l a s t 20 y e a r s , l e a d i n g t o what he c a l l s i n t e r n a l underdevelopment l o c a l l y and t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t of a s m a l l group of f a r m e r s w i t h underu t i l i z e d land.
Due t o t h i s , l a n d p r o d u c t i v i t y on average h a s gone down
i n recent years.
Also Cooper m a i n t a i n s t h a t Botswana i s i n a genuine
t r a n s i t i o n p e r i o d i n which t h e e a r l i e r " p e a s a n t extended - household mode
of p r o d u c t i o n " i s combined w i t h t r a c t o r s h i r e d f o r ploughing, h i r i n g of
a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s and s y n d i c a t e s owning b o r e h o l e s f o r c a t t l e w a t e r i n g .
For t h e f i r s t t i m e i n 1980 a g r i c u l t u r a l s t a t i s t i c s p u b l i s h e d by t h e M i n i s t r y
of A g r i c u l t u r e c a t e g o r i z e d a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s a s e i t h e r " t r a d i t i o n a l "
o r "commercial".
The d e f i n i t i o n s of t h e s e two c a t e g o r i e s r e l y o n l y i n d i -
r e c t l y on t h e form of p r o d u c t i o n pursued.
"Commercial f a r m e r " r e f e r s t o
t h o s e who c u l t i v a t e o r g r a z e t h e i r a n i m a l s on s o c a l l e d t i t l e d l a n d ( 4 . 7 %
of Botswana).
" T i t l e d l a n d i n c l u d e s c l e a r t i t l e , l o n g term l e a s e s e t c .
1
Molopo f a r m s
Barolong farms
(leasehold)
l 0 km
Communal a r a b l e
and c a t t l e a r e a s
Commercial c a t t l e
areas
jiir
Freehold land
!.:I
Natlonal parks,
Game r e s e r v e s ,
W i l d l ~ f em a n a g ement a r e a s
%
Areas n o t y e t
zoned
Map
10
Categories of land tenure
....
$X.
Table 5.
Various c a t e g o r i e s o f a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s used by i n d i v i d u a l
r e s e a r c h e r s i n Botswana.
Cliffe/Moorsom
Comaroff
Cooper
Opschoor
C a t t l e ranchers:
Large farmers:
Very r i c h p e a s a n t r y
(emergent c a p i t a l i s t f a r m e r s ) :
Upper s t r a t u m :
lOO+
Own a t r a c t o r
100+ bags of crops harv e s t e d i n normal y e a r s :
Hire labour always
Rent o u t implements
regularly
lOO+ c a t t l e
100+ bags of c r o p s h a r v e s t e d
Hire labour always
40+ c a t t l e
and/or
2 + bags of c r o p s h a r v e s t e d
p e r household member
and/or
worker e a r n i n g P50+
cattle
Lower l e v e l r i c h p e a s a n t r y :
41-100 c a t t l e
1 5 + bags of c r o p s h a r v e s t e d
Hire labour r e g u l a r l y
Middle p e a s a n t s :
Middle-range farmers:
Middle p e a s a n t r y :
Middle stratum:
Ready a c c e s s t o a plough
and t o draught- oxen
Crops f o r s a l e " f a i r p r o p o r t i o n of o u t p u t "
Own a s m a l l t r a c t o r
or hire
Crops f o r s a l e
21-40 c a t t l e
11-15 bags of c r o p s h a r v e s t e d
Household and r e l a t i v e s
a s labour
Enough c r o p s f o r consumption
(A small minority)
1-40 c a t t l e
Cannot s u r v i v e on c u l t i v a t i o n alone
Poor p e a s a n t s :
Small farmers:
Poor p e a s a n t r y :
Lower s t r a t u m :
0-19 c a t t l e
1-19 bags of c r o p s h a r v e s t e d
Crops c u l t i v a t e d f o r
consumption
Have few implements
Only s m a l l amounts of
crops f o r s a l e
0-20 c a t t l e
1-10 bags of c r o p s h a r v e s t e d
Household and r e l a t i v e s
a s labour
Not enough c r o p s f o r
consumption
(An overwhelming m a j o r i t y )
No c a t t l e
Cannot s u r v i v e on a g r i c u l t u r e alone
Source:
C l i f f e and Moorsom 1979, Comaroff 1980, Cooper 1980, Opschoor 1981 a .
Thus, commercial f a r m i n g i n c l u d e s , b u t i s n o t l i m i t e d t o , f r e e h o l d f a r m s . "
( L i t s c h a u e r and Kelly 1981).
T i t l e implies here t h a t t h e land is privately
owned, a l t h o u g h n o t n e c e s s a r i l y b y t h e u s e r .
The p o i n t o f i m p o r t a n c e i s
t h a t " commercial f a r m e r s " ( o r j u s t f a r m e r s i n my t e r m i n o l o g y ) who l i v e i n
t r i b a l areas are treated a s "traditional".
This f a u l t is still not notice-
a b l e from a v e r a g e f i g u r e s ( s e e f o r i n s t a n c e t a b l e 25 o n c a t t l e o f f - t a k e
rates).
N o n e t h e l e s s , t h e f a u l t w i l l p r o b a b l y b e more and more s o i n f u t u r e .
Both t h e v a r i o u s d e f i n i t i o n s u s e d by i n d i v i d u a l s c h o l a r s a n d t h e c a t e g o r i e s
used by t h e M i n i s t r y of A g r i c u l t u r e have short- comings.
a r e needed.
New d e f i n i t i o n s
Although Cooper (1982) m e n t i o n s t h a t t w o - t h i r d s o f t h e r u r a l
households have a worker, he does n o t i n c l u d e t h i s a s p e c t i n h i s c a t e g o r i zation of a g r i c u l t u r a l producers.
To m a i n t a i n , a s P a r s o n ( 1 9 8 0 ) , t h a t t h e
u r b a n " working c l a s s " h a s few l i n k s w i t h t h e " p e a s a n t a r i a t " , i s j u s t n o t c o r rect
F u r t h e r m o r e , one c a n n o t i n f e r d i r e c t l y from c a t t l e o w n e r s h i p , b a g s
h a r v e s t e d o r income from employment t o t h e c o r r e c t l e v e l i n t h e r i c h - p o o r
dimension a household belongs t o .
It is thus e s s e n t i a l t o categorize t h e
h o u s e h o l d s a c c o r d i n g t o c o m b i n a t i o n s o f income s o u r c e s and l e v e l o f l i v i n g
c a l c u l a t e d from s u c h a s p e c t s a s o w n e r s h i p o f d u r a b l e consumer g o o d s .
CHAPTER 8
SOCIETAL EVOLUTION
T h i s c h a p t e r p r o v i d e s b a c k g r o u n d i n f o r m a t i o n o r g a n i z e d h i s t o r i c a l l y t o convey an understanding of t h e a g r a r i a n s t r u c t u r e , i n e q u a l i t y and poverty found
i n Botswana t o d a y .
socio-economic
I n o t h e r words, t h e t o p i c s t r e a t e d a r e p l a c e d i n t h e i r
c o n t e x t b y h i g h l i g h t i n g some k e y f a c t o r s o f change.
The
a p p r o x i m a t e t i m e p e r i o d when t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s no
longer ought t o b e c a l l e d t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s b u t peasants w i l l be
established.
Economic grmith
Botswana h a s now p a s s e d t h e l i m i t o f t h e low-income and become a m i d d l e - i n come m a r k e t economy a c c o r d i n g t o t h e c a t e g o r i e s e s t a b l i s h e d b y t h e World
Bank.
The d i s c o v e r y o f c o m m e r c i a l l y v i a b l e diamond m i n e s i n t h e e a r l y 1970s
r a i s e d t h e GDP p e r p e r s o n a t t h e end o f t h e d e c a d e t o $874 o f which a b o u t
20% a c c r u e t o f o r e i g n e r s ( t a b l e 6 ) .
A t Independence i n 1966 t h e f i g u r e was
$80, i n l 9 7 0 $160 and i n 1976 $410 ( t h e l a s t i s t h e c u t - o f f p o i n t between
low and ' ~ i i d d l e income c o u n t r i e s , 1980 d o l l a r s )
Fallon 1983).
(Seidrnan 1 9 8 1 , C o l c l o u g h and
The m a r k e t i n g d i f f i c u l t y f o r diamonds e x p e r i e n c e d from 1981,
however, shows t h e v u l n e r a b i l i t y o f a T h i r d World c o u n t r y t h a t r e l y on one
o r j u s t a few m a j o r e x p o r t commodities ( t a b l e 7 ) .
centration
The e x p o r t commodity con-
( t h c t h r c e p r i n c i p a l commodities a s p e r c e n t a g e o f t o t a l e x p o r t
e a r n i n g s ) was a r o u n d 90% d u r i n g t h e 1970s.
The evozution o f t h e present production s t r u c t u r e
The Tswana s o c i e t i e s t h a t e v o l v e d a t t h e e a s t e r n f r i n g e s o f t h e s e m i - a r i d
K a l a h a r i r e g i o n i n t h e 1 8 . and 1 9 . c e n t u r i e s , w e r e h i g h l y o r g a n i z e d , l a r g e l y
s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t and reasonably prosperous.
The h i e r a r c h i c a l s t r u c t u r e of
a u t h o r i t y w i t h a c h i e f and h i s l i n e a g e a t t h e t o p i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d inequality
o f w e a l t h w h i c h , however, was somewhat a m e l i o r a t e d by r e d i s t r i b u t i o n i n t i m e s
Table 6. Annual growth in GDP per person. Constant prices. Percent.
6
17
2.8
13.6
- 4.0
3.3
18.4
13.5
13
- 3.7
- 8.8
average
average
average
Note. The way of writing a financial year is 1974/75. This is used
throughout the text and implies the period of one year only.
Source: Calculated from Ministry of Finance and Development Planning,
Budget Speeches 1982 and 1983.
Central Statistics Office, National accounts 1978/79.
World Bank, World tables 1980 and Development report 1981.
Table 7. Export composition. Current prices.
Percent
Pula millions
Diamonds
1973
1976
1979
1980
1981
20.0
37.5
189.6
237.7
149.8
51.8
62.7
81.0
83.4
32.5
46.3
75.0
31.3
68.0
6.6
17.6
38.8
41.2
59.1
153.2
366.1
391.2
Copper and
nickel
Meat and
hides
Others
Total
Note. p1
=
1973
1980
1981
34
61
42
21
23
55
8
19
55.0
11
11
15
356.2
100
101
99
$1.394 (1970), 1.150 (1976), 1.347 (1980),0.889 (1982)
Source: Calculated from Central Statistics Office, Bulletin vol. 6,
No. 3 1981 and vol. 7, No. 2 1982.
of needs.
The c a t t l e w e a l t h and s t o r e s o f sorghum and m i l l e t accumulated
by t h e c h i e f s w e r e p a r t l y r e d i s t r i b u t e d t o " o r d i n a r y " members of t h e r e s p e c t i v e t r i b e s when d r o u g h t o r o t h e r n a t u r a l d i s a s t e r s h i t .
I n good y e a r s
t h e members gave t r i b u t e t o t h e c h i e f s i n t h e form of c r o p s , c a t t l e and
labour.
I n a d d i t i o n , c a t t l e t a k e n i n war and a l l s t r a y c a t t l e belonged
t o t h e c h i e f of t h e a r e a where t h e c a t t l e were found.
Another mechanism o f
s e c u r i t y f o r t h e t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s , b e s i d e s t h e system of r e d i s t r i b u t i o n , was t h e p l a c i n g of c a t t l e w i t h r e l a t i v e s l i v i n g i n o t h e r o f t e n nearby
areas ("mafisa").
I l l n e s s e s on c a t t l e o f t e n o c c u r r e d i n r a t h e r l i m i t e d a r e a s .
T h i s system o f c a t t l e d i s t r i b u t i o n i s common f o r semi- arid A f r i c a .
Similarly,
i n c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n mutual h e l p was a r u l e and gave a c e r t a i n d e g r e e of sec u r i t y of l i v e l i h o o d .
There a r e f o u r key f a c t o r s which d e s t r o y e d t h e f a i r l y developed and s e c u r e
s t a t e of t h e v a r i o u s Tswana t r i b e s i n t h e B r i t i s h P r o t e c t o r a t e Bechuanaland
e s t , & l i s h e d i n 1885 a f t e r p r e s s u r e e x c e r t e d on England by Tswana c h i e f s who
wanted p r o t e c t i o n a g a i n s t Boer (and B r i t i s h ) s e t t l e r s t o t h e s o u t h and e a s t .
First,
t h e ox-drawn i r o n plough was a l r e a d y i n u s e i n some t r i b e s by 1880
(Schapera 1 9 7 0 ) .
f u l a t t h a t time.
T h e a d o p t i o n of ploughs were r e l a t i v e l y r a p i d and success(Even w i t h o u t e x t e n s i o n s e r v i c e and marketing o r g a n i z a t i o n s
p e o p l e saw c l e a r advantages.
Lightfoot 1982).
Kharna 111, f o r i n s t a n c e , i n -
v e s t e d h e a v i l y i n ploughs i n t h e p e r i o d l887 - 1896 (Palmer and P a r s o n s 1977).
The p r o d u c t i v i t y of c r o p p r o d u c t i o n improved, a s d i d t h e need t o change f i e l d s
more o f t e n .
T h i s made t h e d i s t a n c e between f i e l d s and v i l l a g e i n c r e a s i n g l y
l o n g e r , e v e n t u a l l y n e c e s s i t a t i n g r e s e t t l e m e n t of sub- groups of t h e l a r g e t r i bal villages.
The i r o n ploughs came i n t h e beginning from Sweden and America.
Today it i s made i n South A f r i c a .
It represented
(and r e p r e s e n t s ) a heavy
i n v e s L a e n t f o r most a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s , an investment which c o u l d n o t b e
met through s a l e of c r o p s .
Some households managed t o a c q u i r e a plough
through s a l e of c a t t l e , o t h e r households had t o s e l l t h e i r l a b o u r t o p l a n t a t i o n owners and mining companies i n South A f r i c a .
Second, t h e B r i t i s h admi-
n i s t r a t i o n of t h e P r o t e c t o r a t e i n t r o d u c e d t h e s o c a l l e d Hut Tax i n l899 t o
r a i s e revenue f o r t h e c o l o n i a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n ( a s was common i n B r i t i s h colonies).
T h i s t a x had t o be p a i d i n money.
The c h i e f s were g i v e n t h e autho-
r i t y t o c o l l e c t t h e t a x ( a n a s p e c t of t h e B r i t i s h " I n d i r e c t r u l e " ) , t a k i n g
a 10% commission.
The c h i e f s were a c c o r d i n g l y i n t e r e s t e d i n encouraging l a -
bour m i g r a t i o n , which a l t h o u g h a t a modest s i z e a l r e a d y e x i s t e d t o European
p l a n t a t i o n s i n South A f r i c a i n t h e 1850s.
For many a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s
t h e r e was no o t h e r o p t i o n b u t t o t u r n t o wage l a b o u r i n S o u t h A f r i c a .
The P r o t e c t o r a t e t h u s became t o a l a r g e e x t e n t a " l a b o u r r e s e r v e " f o r
c a p i t a l accumulation of white groups i n South A f r i c a (Leepile 1981).
It
i s then a t t h e end of t h e 79. century More appropriate t o speak o f peasants than t r a d i t i o n a l agricuLturaZists.
The market economy had pene-
t r a t e d t h e Life awd work o f most peasant-cuZtivators
i n t h e Protecto-
r a t e i n t h e sense t h u t they t o some degree became "dependent" on t h e mark e t for t h e i r l i v e l i h o o d and p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n s o c i e t y .
The socio- economic
f o r m a t i o n a c c o r d i n g l y changedfrom " t r i b a l " t o " l a b o u r r e s e r v e " .
Third,
t h e d i s c o v e r y o f diamonds a t Kimberley i n 1870 a n d p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e g o l d
m i n i n g i n t h e J o h a n n e s b u r g a r e a ( W i t w a t e r s r a n d ) from 1 8 8 5 onwards r e s u l t e d
i n a r a p i d urban growth i n South A f r i c a .
S a l e o f c a t t l e became a n a l t e r -
n a t i v e f o r some o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s .
by S o u t h A f r i c a i n 1924.
T h i s a l t e r n a t i v e was c l o s e d
The g o l d p r i c e s on t h e w o r l d m a r k e t improved, and
t h u s t h e need f o r l a b o u r i n c r e a s e d .
This i s s a i d t o be t h e reason f o r t h e
r e g u l a t i o n t h a t o n l y oxen a t o r above 500 k i l o s a n d cows a t o r above 375
k i l o s l i v e w e i g h t a t J o h a n n e s b u r g were a l l o w e d t o b e i m p o r t e d t o S o u t h
A f r i c a ( C o l c l o u g h and McCarthy 1 9 8 0 ) .
The r e s u l t was t h a t o n l y a few w h i t e
r a n c h e r s occupying t h e b e s t l a n d i n t h e P r o t e c t o r a t e c l o s e t o t h e border
w i t h South A f r i c a , were a b l e t o s e l l .
Most p e a s a n t h o u s e h o l d s t h e n had t o
s e n d a member t o S o u t h A f r i c a o n 9 o r 1 2 months c o n t r a c t i n t h e g o l d m i n e s
t o o b t a i n money f o r t a x a n d o t h e r p u r p o s e s (Kowet 1 9 7 8 ) .
gration t o
Thus, l a b o u r m i -
S o u t h A f r i c a became a "way o f l i f e " f o r a l a r g e p a r t o f t h e
h o u s e h o l d s i n Botswana.
peasant households.
These h o u s e h o l d s s h o u l d t h e n b e c a l l e d m u l t i a c t i v e
I n t h e 1940- 1976 p e r i o d a b o u t o n e - f o u r t h o f t h e a d u l t
p o p u l a t i o n ( a b o v e 1 5 y e a r s ) was a b s e n t a t a n y o n e t i m e .
I n 1978 54% o f t h e
m a l e p o p u l a t i o n o f 35-54 y e a r s h a d e x p e r l n n c e s from work i n S o u t h A f r i c a .
The f i g u r e f o r t h e a g e g r o u p 15- 34 was 42% ( N a t i o n a l M i g r a t i o n S t u d y , NMS,
1982).
91% o f t h e m a l e Batswana b e i n g a b r o a d a t t h e t i m e o f t h e 1 9 8 1 cen-
s u s were i n South A f r i c a .
66% o f t h e s e 32 376 p e r s o n s worked i n t h e mines
( C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s O f f i c e 1983 a ) .
R e g a r d i n g f e m a l e Batswana 68% were i n
S o u t h A f r i c a and 25% o f t h e 9 344 p e r s o n s worked i n d o m e s t i c s e r v i c e .
Fourth, a t I n d e p e n d e n c e Botswana had b e e n t h r o u g h 6 y e a r s o f d r o u g h t which
k i l l e d o n e - t h i r d ( a b o u t 400 000) o f t h e n a t i o n a l c a t t l e h e r d and made more
t h a n 100 000 p e r s o n s d e p e n d e n t o n f o o d r e l i e f which came m o s t l y from England.
( E n g l a n d t h e n p r o v i d e d 40% o f t h e g o v e r n m e n t ' s c u r r e n t expenditures.)
B o r e h o l d e t e c h n i q u e s f o r d r i n k i n g w a t e r p r o v i s i o n and c a t t l e w a t e r i n g had
e x i s t e d f o r some t i m e .
Now t h e r e was a n enormously i n c r e a s e d a c t i v i t y of
" g e n e r o u s l y s u b s i d i s e d " ( C o l c l o u g h and F a l l o n 1983) d r i l l i n g w e s t o f t h e
populated e a s t e r n p a r t o f t h e country.
The b i g c a t t l e owners t o o k t h e i r
h e r d s t o t h e l i t t l e u s e d p a s t u r e s where w a t e r was n o t a v a i l a b l e p r i o r t o
the drilling.
Water i s t r a d i t i o n a l l y p r i v a t e l y owned i n Botswana, where-
a s l a n d i s m o s t l y communal.
The r u l e t h a t d r i l l i n g was p r o h i b i t e d c l o s e r
t h m 8 k i l o m e t r e s from a n e x i s t i n g b o r e h o l e , gave t h e owners o f b n r e h o l e s
i n many c a s e s a d e f a c t o e x c l u s i v e r i g h t t o l a r g e g r a z i n g a r e a s .
This
" l a n d g r a b " was s t o p p e d b y t h e government i n 1975 when a g e n e r a l b a n on
new b o r e h o l e s was i n t r o d u c e d .
By t h i s t i m e , however, t h e p o l a r i z a t i o n be-
tween a few b i g c a t t l e owners a n d many s m a l l owners and c a t t l e l e s s househ o l d s had become pronounced.
Many h o u s e h o l d s w i t h 1 0 t o 15 c a t t l e l o s t
a l l t h e i r animals i n t h e drought.
rapidly.
Thus t h e d e g r e e o f inequality i n c r e a s e d
The t r a d i t i o n a l system o f r e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f c a t t l e o w n e r s h i p
t h r o u g h " m a f i s a " ( w i t h payments i n c a l v e s ) had become l e s s and l e s s common.
The p o o r c o u l d t h e n n o t p u l l t h e m s e l v e s up by h a r d work.
Today t h e " e n t r y
t i c k e t " t o t h e c a t t l e sector is o u t of reach f o r t h e poor, according t o a
r e p o r t s u b m i t t e d by t h e P r e s i d e n t i a l Commission o n Economic O p p o r t u n i t i e s
(1982).
S i n c e few h o u s e h o l d s c o u l d ( a n d c a n ) s u b s i s t a d e q u a t e l y on c r o p
c u l t i v a t i o n on communal l a n d a l o n e , l a b o u r m i g r a t i o n c o n t i n u e d t o b e e s s e n t i a l f o r a l a r g e p a r t o f t h e h o u s e h o l d s i n Botswana a l s o a f t e r I n d e p e n d e n c e .
I n a number o f o t h e r r e s p e c t s Botswana was ( a n d i s ) d e p e n d e n t on S o u t h
Africa.
F o r i n s t a n c e , t h e c u r r e n c y was t h e S o u t h A f r i c a n Rand u n t i l 1976.
T h i s l e f t l i t t l e i n f l u e n c e o f t h e Government o f Botswana on f i s c a l m a t t e r s ,
p r i c e p o l i c i e s , f o r e i g n exchange e t c .
I t i s maintained
( C o l c l o u g h and
McCarthy 1 9 8 0 , M a k g e t l a 1 9 8 2 ) , t h a t most o f t h e c a p i t a l g a i n e d i n Botswana
was c h a n n e l l e d t h r o u g h t h e two o n l y b a n k s i n t h e c o u n t r y , S t a n d a r d and
Barclays, t o South A f r i c a i n t h i s p e r i o d .
T h i s r e f l e c t s t h e low l e v e l of
p r o d u c t i v e a c t i v i t i e s i n Botswana b e s i d e s c a t t l e a n d c r o p s .
After ;-hu?ii.i-79'6.;
a "labour reserve".
iz is no Longer appropriate t o categorize Botswana as
I d i s a g r e e h e r e w i t h C l i f f e and Moorsom (1979) who
m a i n t a i n t h a t Botswana s t i l l i s a " l a b o u r r e s e r v o i r e " f o r S o u t h A f r i c a and
w i t h Cooper (1980) who a r g u e s t h a t from 1976 t h e r e h a s b e e n a r a p i d d i s s o l u t i o n o f t h e " l a b o u r r e s e r v e " mode o f p r o d u c t i o n .
The socio- economic f o r -
m a t i o n c o n s i s t e d a f t e r t h e mid- 1970s o f a n i n c r e a s i n g number o f w o r k e r s i n
government a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , i n modern m i n i n g ( i n Botswana) and i n a c t i v i t i e s c a t e r i n g t o t h e s e two s e c t o r s ( t a b l e 8 ) .
Moreover, some modern l i g h t
consumer g o o d s i n d u s t r i e s were e s t a b l i s h e d ( t a b l e s 9 and 1 0 ) .
Many b u s i n e s s
Table 9.
Types o f m a n u f a c t u r i n g .
Botswana Meat commission
69
O t h e r modern e n t e r p r i s e s
16
Other
14
Total
99
Source:
Percent of gross output.
100
100
100
C a l c u l a t e d from C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s O f f i c e , N a t i o n a l a c c o u n t s
1978/79 and 1980/81
Table 10.
D i s t r i b u t i o n of v a l u e added.
Selected sectors.
1973/74
P e r c e n t of GDP.
1980/81
Agriculture
Mining
Manufacturing
Source:
C a l c u l a t e d from C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s O f f i c e , C o u n t r y p r o f i l e 1982.
companies a r e m a j o r i t y f o r e i g n owned.
T h e s e companies a c c o u n t t o d a y f o r
more t h a n h a l f o f a l l p r o d u c t i o n ( P r e s i d e n t i a l Commission on Economic
Opportunities 1982).
M i g r a t i o n t o u r b a n c e n t r e s i n Botswana h a s t h u s i n -
c r e a s e d r a p i d l y d u r i n g t h e l a s t few y e a r s ( B r y a n t e t a l . 1 9 7 8 , B e l l 1 9 8 0 ) .
I n a g r i c u l t u r e t h e t r a c t o r was i n t r o d u c e d a n d c o m m e r c i a l i z a t i o n i n c r e a s e d ,
i n p a r t i c u l a r i n t h e Barolong a r e a .
However, t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e popu-
l a t i o n continued t o be peasant- cultivators.
I n 1966 8 % o f t h e l a b o u r f o r c e
(15- 64 y e a r s ) had f o r m a l employment i n Botswana.
1980.
L i k e w i s e , 75
The f i g u r e was 19% i n
and 6 1 % r e s p e c t i v e l y depended on a g r i c u l t u r e .
T a b l e 11.
Employment i n Botswana.
1981 c e n s u s .
(12 y e a r s o f a g e o r m o r e ) .
Percent.
Family a g r i c u l t u r e
F o r m a l l y employed
S e l f - employed
C a s u a l l y employed
A c t i v e l y s e e k i n g work
Economically i n a c t i v e
Total
101
Population
Source:
568 704
C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s O f f i c e 1983 a .
T a b l e 11 a p p e a r s t o i n c l u d e a d r a s t i c r e d u c t i o n i n t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l popul a t i o n i n Botswana i n r e l a t i v e t e r m s , o n l y o n e - f o u r t h was
family a g r i c u l t u r e .
engaged i n
O b v i o u s l y , t h e r e i s h e r e a problem of c a t e g o r i z a t i o n
o f b o t h m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t s a n d women i n h o u s e h o l d s w i t h p u r e p e a s a n t c u l t i v a t o r husbands.
However, f e w e r p e o p l e even i n a b s o l u t e t e r m s w e r e
s o k ? Z y d e p e n d e n t on a g r i c u l t u r e i n 1980 t h a n i n 1966 ( P r e s i d e n t i a l Commiss i o n on Economic O p p o r t u n i t i e s 1 9 8 2 ) .
T h i s d o e s n o t imply t h a t t h e abso-
l u t e number of h o u s e h o l d s o c c u p i e d w i t h a g r i c u l t u r e d e c r e a s e d .
On t h e con-
t r a r y , t h e number o f s o c a l l e d t r a d i t i o n a l f a r m s h a s d o u b l e d s i n c e Independ e n c e and i n c r e a s e d a s much a s from 80 000 t o 8 4 200 from 1980 t o 1 9 8 1
(Ministry of A g r i c u l t u r e 1 9 8 1 a ) .
(To q u a l i f y a s a farm a h o u s e h o l d must
o b t a i n a t l e a s t 1 0 0 p o i n t s i n t h e new system a d o p t e d by t h e M i n i s t r y of
Agriculture.
T h i s s y s t e m i s made t o e x c l u d e h o u s e h o l d s w i t h a few s m a l l -
stock, chicken e t c .
For i n s t a n c e , t o h a v e a few g o a t s o n l y g i v e s 30 p o i n t s . )
The p r o d u c t i o n s t r u c t u r e t h u s became c l e a r l y d u a l i s t i c w i t h a s m a l l u r b a n
s e c t o r and a l a r g e m a i n l y t r a d i t i o n a l s e c t o r .
l a b o u r had now g o t a money p r i c e .
traditional agriculture.
Also i n crop c u l t i v a t i o n
Hence, it i s i m p o s s i b l e t o s p e a k a b o u t
Land i s n o n e t h e l e s s s t i l l communal, e x c e p t f o r t h e
p r i v a t e s o c a l l e d f r e e h o l d f a r m s which were n o t n a t i o n a l i z e d a t I n d e p e n d e n c e ,
The aim o f t h e government regarding production was c a p i t a l a c c w Z a t i o n
i n the modern s e c t o r .
The r u r a l s e c t o r generally was expected t o keep i t s
main c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s - " c a t t l e as wealth", sub- subsistence crop c u l t i v a t i o n ,
labour migration and now a l s o s h u t t l i n g t o towns i n Botswana.
T h i s mix o f
p r o d u c t i v e s e c t o r s w i t h f u n d a m e n t a l l y d i f f e r e n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a n d the f a c t
t h a t a l s o t h e agrarian s e c t o r interncrlly got t h e r'modernr' t r a i t
make t h e term " t r a n s i t o r y socio-economic
formation rr
- wage labour,
applicable i n an economic
sense.
Peasant- cultivators are thus found both i n t h e l l l a b o ~ r e s e r v e r r and i n the
" t r r m s i t o r y socio-economic formation".
I n t h e l a t t e r a m a r k e t economy a l s o
e x i s t s i n Botswana b e c a u s e t h e r e i s a t l e a s t one p r o d u c t i v e s u b - s e c t o r where
t h e p r o f i t m o t i v e i s dominant and l a b o u r p a i d w i t h money i s f o u n d .
more, t h e r e a r e some l i m i t a t i o n s o f t h e m a r k e t p r i n c i p l e .
Further-
For i n s t a n c e , no
e f f i c i e n t n a t i o n a l market f o r l o c a l a g r i c u l t u r a l products e x i s t s .
The m a j o r
m a r k e t f o r e x c e s s c r o p s i s l o c a l h o u s e h o l d s o r " o u t s i d e t r a d e r s " (from S o u t h
Africa) v i s i t i n g t h e v i l l a g e s irregularly.
market p l a c e s .
Botswana h a s no t r a d i t i o n o f
C o o p e r a t i v e s a n d s t a t e i n s t i t u t i o n s ( s u c h a s t h e Botswana
A g r i c u l t u r a l M a r k e t i n g Board, BAMB, e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1974) a r e new and n o t u s e d
b y many p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s .
o r e x i s t i n Botswana.
No l a n d l o r d s o r moneylender c l a s s have e x i s t e d
The " o u t s i d e t r a d e r s " o f t e n s o l d b a c k g r a i n s w i t h a
good p r o f i t t o t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s i n t h e months j u s t b e f o r e t h e n e x t
h a r v e s t was r i p e ( B e s t 1 9 7 0 ) .
Thus s u r p l u s v a l u e was a l s o i n t h i s way a p p r o -
p r i a t e d from t h e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s .
C a t t l e were e a r l i e r mainly s o l d t o
" o u t s i d e t r a d e r s " , b u t u s u a l l y o n l y when t h e p e a s a n t s needed money f o r f o o d
o r other necessities.
The type o f qconorny can accordingly bs categorized as
dominated b y merchant compared t o i n d u s t r i a l c a p i t a l .
f o u n d i n t h e s l o w l y g r o w i n g modern u r b a n s e c t o r .
The l a t t e r t y p e was
I n conclusion, t h e peasants
may b e s a i d t o h a v e b e e n only p a r t i a l l y hut i n e z t r i c t a b l y i n t e g r a t e d i n t o t h e
market economy.
On t h e p u r c h a s e s i d e , t h e y had no o t h e r o p t i o n b u t t o buy
S o u t h A f r i c a n goods i n t h e m o s t l y I n d i a n and European r u n s h o p s .
c r a f t s were c l o s e t o n o n - e x i s t e n t .
Local
They had b e e n wiped o u t i n t h e 1 9 . c e n t u r y
b y t h e wagon t r a d e b r i n g i n g t h e ( g r a d u a l l y ) h i g h s t a t u s European g o o d s .
Best
(1970) r e p o r t s t h a t Botswana a t t h e end o f t h e 1 9 6 0 s was " 100 p e r c e n t depend e n t on S o u t h A f r i c a , R h o d e s i a , a n d o t h e r e x t e r n a l s o u r c e s f o r h e r mariu-
factured consumer goods".
The
s t r u c t u r a l heterogerzie ty of fcrr?s of produc Lion. d i s c u s s e d above i n c l u d e s
t h e e s s e n c e o f t h e " t r a n s i t o r y socio- economic f o r m a t i o n " .
The l a c k o f do-
m e s t i c l i n k a g e s c u t t h e s t i m u l a t i n g e f f e c t of t h e e x t e r n a l l y - o r i e n t e d sect o r s on t h e r e s t o f t h e economy t o a l m o s t n i l ( M a k g a t l a 1 9 8 2 ) .
The r e g i o -
n a l d i s p a r i t i e s r e f l e c t i n g t h e v a r i o u s f o r m s o f p r o d u c t i o n c o n s t i t u t e mainly
a n u r b a n - r u r a l dichotomy.
The r e g i o n a l d i s p a r i t i e s i n t e r n a l t o t h e r u r a l
s e c t o r may b e e x p l a i n e d b y s e t t l e m e n t o f w h i t e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s and f a r mers b e f o r e and u n d e r t h e p e r i o d o f f o r e i g n a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f t h e t e r r i t o r y .
Both t h e h e t e r o g e n i e t y o f f o r m s o f p r o d u c t i o n and t h e r e g i o n a l d i s p a r i t i e s
make d i f f u s i o n o f g r o w t h i m p u l s e s d i f f i c u l t .
S t a t e intervention i n t h e mar-
k e t t h u s becomes e s s e n t i a l t o a t t a i n t h e r e q u i s i t e c h a n g e s i n t h e s t r u c t u r e
o f t h e economy.
C a p i t a l , which m u s t b e t r a n s f e r r e d b e t w e e n s e c t o r s t o
a c h i e v e s t r u c t u r a l c h a n g e , was n o t l a c k i n g i n t h e 1976 - 1980 p e r i o d .
Bot~i
t h e government and t h e b a n k s e n j o y e d r e l a t i v e l y l a r g e l i q u i d r e s e r v e s , due
p r i m a r i l y t o diamond s a l e s .
Undoubtedly, Botswana i s i n a n "economic t r a n -
s i t i o n " i m p l y i n g r a p i d b u t f l u c t u a t i n g economic g r o w t h w i t h numerous technological b o t t l e n e c k s .
Other aspects o f s o c i e t a z e v o l u t i o n
The
p o z i t i c a z party t h a t came t o power a t I n d e p e n d e n c e , was l e d by t h e Chief
S e r e t s e Kharna o f t h e l a r g e s t t r i b e , Ngwato.
y e a r s o f s t u d y and l i v i n g i n England.
Khama had e x p e r i e n c e s from many
T h i s i s a main e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h e
e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f a d e m o c r a t i c government which h a s been s t a b l e u p t o now.
Most Members o f P a r l i a m e n t w e r e r e c r u i t e d from c h i e f l y a f f i l i a t i o n , and t h u s
r e p r e s e n t t h e l a r g e c a t t l e owners ( P a r s o n 1 9 7 7 ) .
This h i s t o r i c a l f a c t has
i m p o r t a n t b e a r i n g s on t h e l a c k o f development o f , f o r i n s t a n c e , c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n ln t h e 1 9 7 0 s .
The t y p e o f government a d m i n i s t r a t i o n e s t a b l i s h e d a t Independence i n c o r p o r a t e d a s p e c t s of t r i b a l r u l e .
The c h i e f t a i n c y t h u s s u r v i v e d b o t h a t l o c a l
and n a t i o n a l l e v e l s ( G i l l e t t 1 9 7 5 , P i c a r d 1 9 7 9 ) .
The a u t h o r i t y o f c h i e f s and
headmen i s , however, f a s t e r o d i n g i n most p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y t o d a y .
This
h a s , among o t h e r t h i n g s , l e d t o a n i n c r e a s i n g a d o p t i o n o f S o u t h A f r i c a n , t h a t
i s w e s t e r n s o c i a l norms.
The government's g e n e r a l s t r a t e g y of development i s :
1.
t o achieve rapid
and l a r g e r e t u r n s from c a p i t a l i n t e n s i v e i n v e s t m e n t s i n mining and 2.
to
r e i n v e s t t h e r e t u r n s s o a s t o improve t h e l e v e l of l i v i n g of t h o s e who do
n o t b e n e f i t d i r e c t l y from mining s e c t o r expansion.
The r e i n v e s t m e n t should
f i r s t and f o r e m o s t b e i n p h y s i c a l and s o c i a l i n f r a s t r u c t u r e .
The N a t i o n a l
Development P l a n V (NDP V ) a l s o o b s e r v e s t h a t p r o d u c t i v e work i n r u r a l a r e a s
now i s a must.
T h i s h a s l e d t o development programmes, such a s t h e
Arable Lands Development Programme (ALDEP) ( p i l o t schemes were s t a r t e d i n
1979) and t h e F i n a n c i a l A s s i s t a n c e P o l i c y (FAP) (implemented from 1 9 8 2 ) .
I n p r a c t i c e , however, t h e same o v e r a l l magnitudes i n t h e i n v e s t m e n t p a t t e r n
e x i s t a s before.
Only o n e - t h i r d of t h e government development e x p e n d i t u r e s
i s t a k i n g p l a c e i n t h e r u r a l a r e a s where f o u r - f i f t h s o f t h e Batswana l i v e .
L i t t l e of t h e enhanced r e v e n u e s from t h e mining s e c t o r have f u r t h e r m o r e
d i r e c t l y b e n e f i t t e d t h e r u r a l p o p u l a t i o n (Colclough and F a l l o n 1 9 8 3 ) .
One
may t h e r e f o r e e x p e c t urban m i g r a t i o n t o c o n t i n u e a t i t s p r e s e n t h i g h r a t e .
Moreover, t h e c a t t l e s e c t o r w i l l c o n t i n u e t o dominate t h e r u r a l economy.
T h i s t r e n d w i l l b e r e i n f o r c e d i f t h e recommendation of t h e P r e s i d e n t i a l
(1982) of a l l o w i n g a l a r g e r s h a r e of
Commission on Economic O p p o r t u n i t i e s
t h e n a t i o n a l r e s o u r c e s t o be c o n t r o l l e d and developed by t h e p r i v a t e s e c t o r ,
is accepted.
Today new
"pressure groups" a r e emerging which p o s s i b l y w i l l
p u t an end t o Botswana's p a s t s t a b l e p a r l i a m e n t a r y democracy.
The most pro-
minent group i s t h e somewhat e d u c a t e d , r e l a t i v e l y h i g h l y p a i d young urban
s k i l l e d workers and p r o f e s s i o n a l s .
The main d i s a d v a n t a g e d b u t n o t a l t o g e t h e r
unorganized group c o n s i s t s of female households.
By female household is
meant b o t h female headed households (households w i t h o u t any male member above
1 5 y e a r s ) and a b s e n t worker female households ( t h e male member(s1 above 15
y e a r s i s working e l s e w h e r e ) .
( A s i m i l a r d e f i n i t i o n h a s , f o r i n s t a n c e , been
used by Narayan- Parker, 1982, whereas t h e same t e r m s have been d e f i n e d d i f f e r e n t l y i n o t h e r l i t e r a t u r e on Botswana.)
l a n d l e s s c l a s s i n Botswana.
There never was a major d e f a c t o
T h i s i s now emerging (Chapter 1 0 ) .
I m p o r t a n t changes a r e a l s o t a k i n g p l a c e i n t h e
mension.
socio-culturaZ di-
For i n s t a n c e , i n some d i s t r i c t s h a l f of t h e women above 1 8 y e a r s
a r e unmarried mothers (SIDA 1 9 8 2 ) .
mothers were unmarried
The 1971 c e n s u s showed t h a t 23% of a l l
(Syson 1 9 7 3 ) .
The 1981 census r e v e a l s t h a t 26% of
never m a r r i e d women (12 y e a r s o r o l d e r ) had one o r two c h i l d r e n and 18% had
t h r e e o r more c h i l d r e n ( C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s O f f i c e 1983 a ) .
72% of t h e female
households i n urban c e n t r e s had one o r more c h i l d r e n s t a y i n g w i t h r e l a t i v e s
i n rural areas.
T h i s i m p l i e s r a p i d s o c i o - c u l t u r a l change i n a s o c i e t y where
m a r r i a g e used t o be c u l t u r a l l y p r e s c r i b e d .
T h i s p r o c e s s can a l s o be seen
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i n t h e d i f f e r e n c e i n r a t e o f m a r r i a g e between u r b a n c e n t r e s a n d r u r a l a r e a s :
53% o f women ( 2 0 y e a r s o r o l d e r ) i n u r b a n c e n t r e s a r e o r h a s b e e n m a r r i e d ,
w h e r e a s t h e f i g u r e f o r r u r a l a r e a s i s 69%.
o f t h e h o u s e h o l d s i n r u r a l Botswana.
Female h o u s e h o l d s c o n s t i t u t e 36%
A t n a t i o n a l l e v e l , 8 % a r e f e m a l e headed
and 10% a b s e n t worker f e m a l e h o u s e h o l d s .
I n t h e sample u s e d b y NMS (1982)
18% o f t h e h o u s e h o l d s w e r e " f e m a l e headed" b u t had a m a l e member o f 1 9 y e a r s
o r above.
(The s t u d y was c a r r i e d o u t d u r i n g 1978/79.)
Female h o u s e h o l d s
h a v e a n income p e r a d u l t member 25% l e s s t h a n " male h o u s e h o l d s " on a v e r a g e .
Even more i m p o r t a n t i s t h e i r r e l a t i v e l y more l i m i t e d o p p o r t u n i t y t o b u i l d
a s s e t s o n t h e i r own ( K o s s o u d j i a n d M u e l l e r 1 9 8 3 ) .
I t may be concluded t h a t
Botswana can be characterized as having a " t r a n s i t o r y socio-economic foma+ion" a l s o i n a s o c i a l sense.
The
production factormobility, which i s h i g h i n t h e modern u r b a n s e c t o r , i s
low a t t h e l o c a l r u r a l l e v e l .
p u l a t i o n 500
-
5 000) h a v e q u i t e a r a n g e o f modern s e r v i c e s s u c h a s educa-
t i o n , h e a l t h and water.
able
N o n e t h e l e s s , most medium- sized v i l l a g e s (po-
contrast.
The l a c k o f l o c a l p r o d u c t i v e a c t i v i t i e s i s a n o t i c e -
Moreover, t h e g e o g r a p h i c a l m o b i l i t y i s i n c r e a s i n g and be-
coming more h i e r a r c h i c a l ( t a b l e s 1 2 and 1 3 ) .
The f u t u r e p r o s p e c t s f o r n a t i o n a l economic g r o w t h and j o b c r e a t i o n i s b r i e f l y
commented upon below.
t a k e a long time.
A g e n e r a l i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n o f Botswana w i l l p r o b a b l y
One r e a s o n i s t h a t Botswana i s a m e m b e r o f t h e s o u t h e r n A f r i -
c a n CustomsUnion Agreement (SACUA). T h i s g i v e s S o u t h A f r i c a n cornpanles,wliich
mass p r o d u c e g o o d s w i t h h i g h t e c h n o l o g y a n d c h e a p ( a p a r t h e i d ) l a b o u r , f r e e
access t o t h e c o u n t r y ' s market.
(Hesselberg 1979).
Another i s t h e l i m i t e d i n t e r n a l m a r k ~ t
F u r t h e r m o r e , most of t h e u r b a n i n d u s t r i e s i n Botswana
a r e , a s m e n t i o n e d , f o r e i g n owned.
The government h a s a c c o r d i n g l y l i t t l e
c o n t r o l over and p o s s i b i l i t y f o r a c c e l e r a t i n g i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n .
The
o f f i c i a l s t r a t e g y i s t h e n u n d e r s t a n d a b l y t o r e l y on modern h i g h t e c h n o l o g y , c a p i t a l i n t e n s i v e mining (NDP V ) .
good i n t h i s r e s p e c t .
The p r o s p e c t s seem t o b e f a i r l y
Particularly the vast coal reserves i n the eastern
p a r t o f t h e c o u n t r y , which S h e l l may e x p l o i t b y b u i l d i n g a t r a n s - K a l a h a r i
r a i l w a y , i s e x p e c t e d t o g i v e numerous s p i n - o f f s and t h e r e b y j o b s .
In the
l a s t 5 y e a r s a p p r o x i m a t e l y 5 000 new f o r m a l s e c t o r j o b s h a v e been c r e a t e d
a y e a r ( P r e s i d e n t i a l Commission o n Economic O p p ~ r t u n i t i e s1 9 8 2 ) .
The l a -
bour f o r c e i n c r e a s e s with about 12 000 persons a year.
Lipton estimated
i n 1978 t h a t t o o b t a i n f u l l employment i n 1988 35 - 36 000
t o b e c r e a t e d each y e a r .
new jobs had
Included i n t h e c a l c u l a t i o n was an expected
r e d u c t i o n i n labour migration t o t h e South African mines, e v i d e n t from
t a b l e 3.
Undoubtedly,
t h e formaZ sector cannot provide enough jobs, and
there w i l l i n future be a massive gap between those wanting work and t h e
availabZe employment.
Today 51 000 (9%of t h e labour f o r c e d e f i n e d a s
everybody above 15 y e a r s , NMS 1 9 8 2 ) a r e unemployed and a c t i v e l y seeking
work.
The p i c t u r e given above remains grim although Gwebu (1982) e s t i m a t e s
t h a t t h e informal s e c t o r grows r e l a t i v e l y f a s t e r t h a n t h e formal one and
t h a t t h e number of Batswana working i n South A f r i c a g e n e r a l l y has only dec l i n e d from 46 000 i n 1971 t o 4 2 015 i n 1981.
The government now a l s o
pledges t h a t p r o f i t s from t h e l a r g e - s c a l e miningoperations a r e t o be t r a n s f e r r e d t o t h e r u r a l small- scale i n d u s t r i a l s e c t o r and t o a g r i c u l t u r e .
Up
t o now most of Botswana's Development Budget has gone t o p h y s i c a l and soc i a l infrastructure.
I n a s c e n a r i o of r e g i o n a l economic c o o r d i n a t i o n
through t h e Southern African Development Cooperation Conference (SADCC)
(Nsekela 1981) Botswana i s s t i l l mainly envisaged t o continue t o be a mining
and c a t t l e economy (NDP V ) .
I t i s d o u b t f u l whether t h e s e two s e c t o r s and
t h e i r s p i n - o f f s w i l l be a b l e t o c r e a t e enough formal a s w e l l a s informal jobs.
I n t h e f o r e s e e a b l e f u t u r e crop c u l t i v a t i o n may t h u s remain t h e important
s e c t o r f o r complete o r p a r t sustenance of l i v e l i h o o d f o r a l a r g e proportion
of t h e population i n Botswana.
CHAPTER 9
AGRARIAN TRANSITION
I n t h i s c h a p t e r "work p o s i t i o n " and t y p e s o f a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s a r e
e s t a b l i s h e d a c c o r d i n g t o t h e d e f l n l t l o n s g l v e n l n p r e v l o u s c h a p t e r s and
i n a p p e n d i x 1.
The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n p r o c e s s
arethereafterdescrlbed l n further detall.
F i n a l l y , t h e r e c e n t phenomenon
of d r o p - o u t from a g r i c u l t u r a l p u r s u i t s of c e r t a i n g r o u p s o f h o u s e h o l d s and
t h e commonness o f m u l t i a c t i v i t y a t t h e h o u s e h o l d l e v e l a r e d i s c u s s e d .
"WORK POSITION" AND TYPES OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS
Most o f t h e permanent h o u s e h o l d s i n L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume a r e w h o l l y o r
p a r t l y engaged i n a g r i c u l t u r e , 76
and 96% r e s p e c t i v e l y ( t a b l e 1 4 ) .
c u l t u r e i n Botswana i s m a i n l y o f t h e p e a s a n t form o f p r o d u c t i o n .
t a b l e 15 it is evident t h a t t h e
Agri-
From
majority of the agricultural producer hou-
seholds in Tutwne are of the multiactive peasant-cultivator type. In
Letlhakeng there are also a few multiactive peasant-herdsman householdc.
The
peasant- herdsman h o u s e h o l d s h a v e , c o n t r a r y t o t h e e x p e c t e d , l e s s c a t t l e
than o t h e r groups of a g r i c u l t u r a l producer households.
t h e v e r g e o f becoming r a n c h e r h o u s e h o l d s .
They a r e t h u s n o t on
The u n e x p e c t e d change i n L e t l h a -
keng from m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r h o u s e h o l d s t o p u r e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r h o u s e h o l d s i s a r e s u l t o f t h e d e c l i n e i n work o p p o r t u n i t i e s i n t h e
g o l d mines i n South A f r i c a , and n o t an a s p e c t of a g r i c u l t u r a l modernization.
No
p u r e r a n c h e r h o u s e h o l d s b u t some a l b e i t v e r y few f a r m e r , m u l t i a c t i v e f a r -
mer and m u l t i a c t i v e r a n c h e r h o u s e h o l d s a r e f o u n d i n one o r t h e o t h e r v i l l a g e .
The a b s e n c e o f f a r m e r s i n 1 9 7 6 r e p r e s e n t s a n i n d i c a t i o n o f a g r a d u a l change
t o w a r d s more modern c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n .
I t was o w n e r s h i p o f a t r a c t o r t h a t
placed t h e s e households i n t h e farmer category.
No h o u s e h o l d s i n L e t l h a -
keng and Tutume s o l d 50% o r more o f t h e i r h a r v e s t .
One h o u s e h o l d o f t h e
sample i n Tutume i n 1976 s o l d 1 5 b a g s ( 9 0 k i l o s a b a g ) '
of sorghum o u t of a
p r o d u c t i o n o f 35 b a g s and a c c o r d i n g l y n e a r l y "made i t " on t h e c r i t e r i o n o f
Today a s t a n d a r d o f 70 kg/bag i s u s e d .
aim o f p r o d u c t i o n .
Another h o u s e h o l d s o l d 1 o f t h e 2 b a g s o f b e a n s h a r -
v e s t e d b u t d i d n o t p r o d u c e a n y t h i n g e l s e , t h u s d i s q u a l i f y i n g on t h e m i n i mum r e q u i r e m e n t i n c l u d e d i n t h e d e f i n i t i o n .
p a r t of t h e i r harvest, s e l l very l i t t l e .
Table 14.
"Work p o s i t i o n " .
1976 and 1980.
Those h o u s e h o l d s t h a t s e l l
Even t h o s e t h a t p r o d u c e 40-70
L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume
Percent of households.
Letlhakeng
Tuturne
Cultivator only
Herdsman o n l y
Pure m u l t i a c t i v e c u l t i v a t o r
Non- pure m u l t i a c t i v e c u l t i v a t o r
P u r e m u l t i a c t i v e herdsman
Non- pure m u l t i a c t i v e herdsman
Worker
Agrj.cultural labourer
Non- agricultural self- employed
Non- agricultural other
No s o u r c e o f income
l00
Total
101
k ' a q s of c r o p s norrnally s e l l o n l y 2- 4 bags.
101
100
I t may t h u s be concluded t h a t
the aim regarding d i r e c t s a l e s o f crops i s n o t pr~:rnariZy conunercial but
t o s u s t a i n t h e household w i t h b a s i c food and otht?r necessary consumer
goods.
However, f o r q u i t e a number o f h o u s e h o l d s ( a b o u t 40% i n Tutume and
below 108 i n L e t l h a k e n g i n 1980) s e l f - p r o d u c e d sorghum i s u s e d f o r b e e r brewing f o r l o c a l s a l e .
i s economic r a t i o n a l .
T h i s must b e s a i d t o b e commercial.
Moreover, i t
B e s i d e s sal.es from t h e home i n t h e v i l l a g e , a sub-
s t a n t i a l p o r t i o n o f t h e b e e r i s u s e d a s payment f o r v a r i o u s k i n d s o f l a b o u r ,
including a g r i c u l t u r a l labour, p a r t i c u l a r l y c a t t l e herding.
a form o f r e i n v e s t m e n t i n a g r i c u l t u r e .
more o f t h e h a r v e s t u s e d f o r b e e r m a k i n g .
This represents
But o n l y i n some c a s e s a r e 50% o r
Moreover, s i n c e t h e i n t e n t i o n o f
T a b l e 15.
Types o f a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s .
1976 and 1980.
L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume.
Percent of households.
Tutume
Letlhakeng
Pure peasant- cultivator
1976
1980
1976
1980
19
39
11
18
7
Pure peasant- herdsman
Multiactive peasant- cultivator
60
33
86
75
M u l t i a c t i v e peasant- herdsman
19
17
3
4
2
Pure farmer o n l y
Multiactive farmer
2
Multiactive rancher
Total
2
2
100
100
1
100
100
crop c u l t i v a t i o n a l s o i n t h e s e cases is n o t reinvestment i n order t o improve t h e y i e l d t o f a c i l i t a t e l a r g e r s a l e s of b e e r , they a r e categorized
a s peasant- cultivators.
To a c h i e v e l a r g e r s a l e s o f b e e r a r e c l o s e t o i m -
p o s s i b l e b e c a u s e o f t h e g r e a t number o f b e e r m a k e r s a n d , a s i s e s p e c i a l l y
t h e s i t u a t i o n i n L e t l h a k e n g , o f t h e c o m p e t i t i o n from modern b e e r o n t i n s .
Normally, s a l e s o f b e e r o n l y t a k e on l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n s a n d r e g u l a r i t y when
t h e w e a t h e r and o t h e r f o r t u n a t e c i r c u m s t a n c e s g i v e a n e x c e p t i o n a l l y good
harvest.
The m a r k e t i n g c o n s t r a i n t s o n improvement o f c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n a r e
w e l l i l l u s t r a t e d by t h e f o l l o w i n g example:
An a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r w i t h
a t r a c t o r i n L e t l h a k e n g h a d a b i g h a r v e s t i n 1975 ( h e was t h e n a f a r m e r ) .
I n l 9 7 6 h e saw no r e a s o n f o r c u l t i v a t i n g c r o p s b e c a u s e t h e r e was no c h a n n e l
f o r s e l l i n g l a r g e amounts o f c r o p s ( h e was t h e n a r a n c h e r ) .
t i o n i s somewhat b e t t e r .
Now t h e s i t u a -
The BAMB-network o f p u r c h a s e and s a l e o f a g r i c u l -
t u r a l i n p u t s a n d p r o d u c t s h a v e become b e t t e r e s t a b l i s h e d (Morgan 1 9 8 2 ) .
C o m e r c i a l production i s hence p r e s e n t l y a m a t t e r o f p r i c e d i f f e r e n i i a l s ,
and
fiat
o f absolute constraints.
N o n e t h e l e s s , s t i l l some a g r i c u l t u r a l pro-
d u c e r s m a i n t a i n t h a t t h e y f i n d i t d i f f i c u l t t o s e l l t h e i r p r o d u c t s o u t of
t h e i r v i l l a g e ( t a b l e 16 and 1 7 ) .
The lower p e r c e n t a g e o f h o u s e h o l d s t h a t
h a v e s o l d c r o p s i n 1980 t h a n i n 1976 i s due t o a somewhat below a v e r a g e d i s -
t r i b u t i o n of r a i n f a l i during t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l season.
Notice should be
made o f t h e h i g h p e r c e n t a g e o f h o u s e h o l d s i n Tutume t h a t s a y t h e y d o n o t
s e l l crops, t h e i n t e n t i o n is s e l f - s u f f i c i e n c y and s a l e s through beermaking.
The l a t t e r e x p l a i n s p a r t l y t h e l o w e r p e r c e n t a g e i n L e t l h a k e n g
i n t h i s r e s p e c t , where modern b e e r h a s become more p o p u l a r .
Table 16.
S a l e of crops.
L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume
1976 and 1980.
Percent.
Letlhakeng
1976
1980
Tutume
1976
1980
No s a l e
Sale to:
Local households
23
5
Local shop/cooperative
Outside t h e v i l l a g e
Total
Table 17.
2
101
Reasons f o r l a c k o f s a l e .
1976 and 1980.
100
3
3
5
9
16
1
100
101
L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume.
Percent.
Letlhakeng
Tutume
1976
1980
1976
1980
100
100
100
100
L i t t l e harvest
Don't u s u a l l y s e l l
Nowhere t o s e l l
Total
Marketing f a c i l i t i e s f o r c a t t l e have e x i s t e d f o r a longer time than f o r
crops.
The common method b e f o r e t h e mid-1970s,
when l o c a l c o o p e r a t i v e s
were e s t a b l i s h e d , was a u c t i o n s dominated by South African t r a d e r s .
Only
somewhat above h a l f t h e households with c a t t l e s e l l any ( t a b l e 1 8 ) .
The
r e l a t i v e l y low percentage f o r Tutume i n 1980 i s due t o a ban on s a l e s i n
t h a t a r e a i n t h e beginning of t h e year because of a foot-and-mouth d i s ease.
Table 18.
S a l e of c a t t l e .
1976 and 1980.
Letlhakeng and Tutume.
Percent.
Letlhakeng
Tutume
1976
1980
1976
1980
74
59
60
44
Sold
The reason f o r s a l e of c a t t l e was, a s mentioned, t o a c q u l r e money f o r
necessary e x p e n d i t u r e s such a s school f e e s , food and c l o t h e s .
To s e l l
r e g u l a r l y i n o r d e r t o r e i n v e s t i n c a t t l e o r o t h e r s e c t o r s was s t i l l not
common i n 1980.
Quite on t h e c o n t r a r y , a number of p e a s a n t s e x p l i c i t l y
s t a t e t h a t they do n o t s e l l i f they a r e n o t f o r c e d t o f o r l a c k of incomes
from o t h e r sources.
The aim of c a t t l e holding i s t h u s only f o r a few b i g
owners c a p i t a l accumulation.
For t h e m a j o r i t y , i t i s a way of s t o r i n g
wealth with a c e r t a i n increment.
~t
IS,
f o r i n s t a n c e , only when a herd
approaches 100 anirnaZs (4% of t h e households i n Letlhakeng and Tutwne had
200 or more c a t t l e i n 2980) t h a t regular s a l e s and reinvestments become
really profitable.
T h i s number i s a l s o necessary t o allow a normal family
t o l i v e on c a t t l e alone with an income above t h e Poverty Datum Line (PDL)
e s t a b l i s h e d f o r Botswana by &he Rural Income D i s t r i b u t i o n Survey i n 1974/75
( C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s O f f i c e 1976 a ) .
A rancher i s t h u s a c a t t l e owner w i t h
100 o r more c a t t l e who i s n o t carrying out crop c u l t i v a t i o n i n d i v i d u a l l y
or a t t h e househozd l e v e l .
one may then i n f e r t h a t those a g r i c u l t u r a l pro-
ducers who have such an amount of c a t t l e and s e l l c a t t l e r e g u l a r l y should
be c a l l e d farmers when they combine c a t t l e with peasant crop c u l t i v a t i o n .
T h i s h a s n o t been done because a n o b j e c t i v e i s t o f o c u s a t c o n s t r a i n t s t o
improvements mainly r e g a r d i n g c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n .
Thus,
it i s more u s e f u l
i n t h i s work t o label an a g r i c u l t u r a l producer carrying out peasant crop
c u l t i v a t i o n and ranching for a peasant- cultivator.
A t national l e v e l , p e a s a n t s a r e i n a c l e a r m a j o r i t y i n Botswana.
Only
3.8% of t h e c u l t i v a t i n g households f a l l i n t o t h e farmer c a t e g o r y , of which
many c e r t a i n l y a r e m u l t i a c t i v e farmer households ( c a l c u l a t e d from M i n i s t r y
o f A g r i c u l t u r e 1981 a ) .
t u t e f r e e h o l d farms.
Of t h e 2 485 farmer h o u s e h o l d s , o n l y 135 c o n s t i -
Ownership of t r a c t o r i s a g a i n t h e i n d i c a t o r t h a t i s
t h e r e l e v a n t one t o u s e .
I t i s a good i n d i c a t o r on c o m m e r c i a l i z a t i o n be-
cause 21% of t h e " t r a d i t i o n a l c r o p farms" i n 1980 used t r a c t o r i n l a n d prep a r a t i o n , and t h e s e farms accounted f o r 45% o f t h e t o t a l food c r o p prod u c t i o n i n t h e " t r a d i t i o n a l s e c t o r " ( L i t s c h a u e r and K e l l y 1 9 8 1 ) .
I n 1975
o n l y 0.9% of t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l producer households owned a t r a c t o r (Duggan
1979).
The r e l a t i v e number of f a r m e r s and m u l t i a c t i v e f a r m e r s have e v i -
dently increased i n recent years.
However, t h e t o t a l number of commercial
farms i s s t i l l e x c e p t i o n a l l y low.
The u s e f u l n e s s of t r a c t o r ownership a s
i n d i c a t o r on c o m m e r c i a l i z a t i o n is a l s o s u b s t a n t i a t e d by t h e p r o p o r t i o n of
" c r o p farms" t h a t u s e f e r t i l i z e r s o r manure, which i s 3.7% ( C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s Office, Indicators 1982).
bour only.
700 c u l t i v a t i n g households u s e hand l a -
Almost a l l o f t h e s e households would probably belong t o t h e
t r a d i t i o n a l peasant category.
A l l o t h e r c u l t i v a t i n g households u s e i r o n
ploughs and t h e n mainly animal t r a c t i o n .
I n 1975 48% owned a plough.
(Figures f o r l a t e r years a r e n o t available.)
t i o n a l l e v e l i s impossible t o estimate.
found i n urban c e n t r e s .
The number of r a n c h e r s a t na-
Most of t h i s g r o u p w i l l now b e
The number i s under no c i r c u m s t a n c e s l a r g e , a s
o n l y 9% of a l l t h e households w i t h c a t t l e have more t h a n 100 ( M i n i s t r y of
A g r i c u l t u r e 1981 a ) .
r a n c h e r households.
Nearly a l l of them a r e l i k e l y t o be m u l t i a c t i v e
A t t h e i n d i v i d u a l l e v e l it i s most p r o b a b l e t h a t t h e
m a j o r i t y a r e worker- ranchers.
not available.
Also r e g a r d i n g peasant- herdsmen d a t a a r e
There i s , however, no r e a s o n why t h e f i n d i n g s f o r L e t l h a -
keng and Tutume should n o t b e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e f o r t h e c o u n t r y a t l a r g e i n
t h i s respect.
I t i s then probable t h a t
pkre peasant-herdsmen i n Botswana.
there are few pure ranchers cmd
Moreover, it i s l i k e l y t h a t those peasant-
herdsmen t h a t may e x i s t have suddenly found it d i f f i c u l t t o obtain wage work.
Few households w i t h o u t a t r a c t o r can be c l a s s i f i e d a s farmer households i n
Botswana.
On a v e r a g e , t h e p r o p o r t i o n of t o t a l p r o d u c t i o n s o l d of c r o p s d i d
n o t exceed 59% f o r any crop.
When t h e farms a r e d i v i d e d according t o pro-
d u c t i o n s i z e , however, t h e " small farms" s o l d 6 6 % of t h e i r production of
beans on average ( M i n i s t r y of A g r i c u l t u r e 1981 b ) .
Most l i k e l y t h e s e farms
d i d so o u t of need f o r cash, and t h e y d i d n o t have s u f f i c i e n t crops l e f t
f o r own consumption throughout t h e y e a r .
Since t h e l a r g e s t o n e - t h i r d of
t h e farms d i d n o t on average f o r any c r o p s s e l l 50% o r more of t h e product i o n , few households would q u a l i f y a s modern a g r i c u l t u r a l producers on t h e
c r i t e r i o n of s a l e i n t h e country a t l a r g e .
No n a t i o n a l s t a t i s t i c s a r e a v a i l a b l e on t h e frequency of combination of income sources.
Data from NMS (1982) r e v e a l t h a t one- third of t h e r u r a l
households r e l y on combining t h r e e sources - c r o p s , c a t t l e and wages, and
n e a r l y two- thirds of t h e r u r a l p o p u l a t i o n have support from a wage worker.
Less thanone- fourthdepend on a g r i c u l t u r e alone ( t a b l e 1 9 ) .
This f i t s well
with t h e d a t a from t h e two study v i l l a g e s .
Table l ? .
"Work p o s i t i o n " .
Rural Botsana 1978.
A g r i c u l t u r a l producer:
Percent of households.
86
Pure a g r i c u l t u r a l producer
-
Cultivator
Herdsman
M u l t i a c t i v e a g r i c u l t u r a l producer
- Multiactive c u l t i v a t o r
-
M u l t i a c t i v e herdsman
Worker
Non- agricultural s e l f -employed
Total
Note.
Source:
99
36% of t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l producer households d i d n o t have any c a t t l e .
NMS-data have been adapted t o t h e c a t e g o r i e s of households used i n
t h e p r e s e n t work. N=22 6 2 2 individuals.
C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s O f f i c e . 1982. National migration study.
Gaborone.
T O swn up, i f a g r i c u l t u r e i n Botswana i s i n a p r o c e s s of m o d e r n i z a t i o n , it
i s i n t h e very beginning of such a process.
The l a r g e number of non-pure
m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r households may i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e phase of
t h e American p a t h where p u r e f a r m e r s a r e i n m a j o r i t y , may n o t o c c u r .
no c i r c u m s t a n c e s can we speak a b o u t a p e a s a n t i z a t i o n p r o c e s s today.
d e r t o g e t a c l o s e r look a t and a s s e s s t h e
Under
In or-
t e n d e n c i e s of change r e v e a l e d
above o t h e r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n i n t h e two s t u d y
v i l l a g e s and i n Botswana g e n e r a l l y w i l l be p r e s e n t e d below.
Thereafter the
combination of income s o u r c e s a t t h e household l e v e l a r e t r e a t e d .
Lastly,
t h e mechanisms of change o p e r a t i v e r e g a r d i n g t h e a g r a r i a n s t r u c t u r e w i l l b e
discussed.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION PROCESS
The more d e t a i l e d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h e p e a s a n t f o r a of p r o d u c t i o n w i l l r e f e r t o c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n of which c a t t l e a s draught- power a r e an i n t e g r a l
part.
The e s s e n t i a l element i n m o d e r n i z a t i o n of c a t t l e h e r d i n g i s connected
t o rearrangement o f g r a s s l a n d i n t o s o - c a l l e d commercial r a n c h e s where i n d i v i d u a l s o r groups may p l a c e t h e i r c a t t l e by paying a f e e t o t h e s t a t e .
This
w i l l be t a k e n up i n c h a p t e r 11 which d e a l s w i t h , among o t h e r t h i n g s , t h e new
s p a t i a l p l a n s adopted r e c e n t l y .
Land, f o r c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n may b e o b t a i n e d
by a p p l i c a t i o n t o l o c a l Land Boards ( e s t a b l i s h e d f o r m a l l y i n 1968 and i n
o p e r a t i o n everywhere from 1973, Temane 1 9 8 0 ) .
a l l o c a t e d by t r i b a l a u t h o r i t i e s .
S i n c e t h e n l a n d i s no longer
Land i s i n s h o r t supply o n l y i n some eas-
t e r n a r e a s , p a r t i c u l a r l y a r e a s c l o s e t o Gaborone.
The most f e r t i l e a r a b l e
l a n d i s found i n t h e f r e e h o l d farms a l o n g t h e e a s t e r n b o a r d e r t o South Africa.
A t p r e s e n t 0.6% of t h e t o t a l l a n d a r e a o f Botswana i s c u l t i v a t e d .
10% i s
e s t i m a t e d t o r e c e i v e enough r a i n and have adequate s o i l s f o r a r a b l e farming
(Egner and Klausen 1 9 8 0 ) .
crease over t h e years.
The e s t i m a t e s on a r a b l e l a n d have tended t o i n -
Even today t h e e s t i m a t e s v a r y g r e a t l y :
p u t s i t a t 2 % , ALDEP (1979) a t 5-6% and Seidman (1981) a t 7%.
FAO (1981 a )
I n my view t h e
e x t e n t of a r a b l e l a n d i s even l a r g e r t h a n 1 0 % , p a r t i c u l a r l y i f t h e more humid
north- eastern f o r e s t land i s included i n the c a l c u l a t i o n .
f o r e x t e n d i n g c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n i n t o new a r e a s .
Thus, l a n d e x i s t s
The s i t u a t i o n r e g a r d i n g l a n d
i s t h e n d i f f e r e n t from t h e t y p i c a l Asian and L a t i n American one.
In, for
i n s t a n c e , Mexico 60% of t h e economic a c t i v e r u r a l p o p u l a t i o n i n t h e e a r l y
1970s were t o t a l l y l a c k i n g l a n d ( B a r t r a 1974).
n o t common i n o t h e r A f r i c a n c o u n t r i e s .
Kenya and Malawi.
Exceptions a r e , f o r instance,
S h a r e c r o p p i n g and o t h e r t e n a n c y a r r a n g e m e n t s a r e a c c o r -
d i n g l y l e s s widespread i n A f r i c a .
owned.
Shortage of land i s a l s o
A r a b l e l a n d i s n o r m a l l y communally
I f r e g u l a r l y u s e d , s u c h l a n d may b e i n h e r i t e d .
I n Botswana t h i s
r e s u l t s i n t h a t l a n d c l o s e r t o v i l l a g e s may p r o v e d i f f i c u l t t o o b t a i n .
The main p o i n t i s , however, t h a t t h e occupancy r i g h t t o a r a b l e l a n d und o u b t e d l y g i v e s t h e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r h o u s e h o l d a c e r t a i n d e g r e e o f cont r o l o v e r t h e 3-4 h e c t a r e s n o r m a l l y c u l t i v a t e d ( 9 0 % o f t h e c r o p f a r m s p l o u g h
l e s s than 10 hectares).
T h i s system of land r i g h t s may be viewed t o repre-
sent a t r a n s i t o y y stage t o individualized arable Zand.
The P r e s i d e n t i a l
Commission o n Economic O p p o r t u n i t i e s (1982) c o n c l u d e s t h a t t h i s l a n d t e n u r e
s y s t e m p r o v i d e s a good b a l a n c e between " t h e ~ n d l v l d u a ld e s l r e f o r s e c u r i t y
o f t e n u r e and t h e n e e d s i n a r u r a l s e t t i n g t o make t h e most p r o d u c t i v e u s e
o f t h e l a n d and t o s e c u r e a f a i r d i s t r i b u t i o n o f l a n d t o a l l Batswana
....
( i t ) i s f a r s u p e r i o r t o r u r a l t e n u r e s y s t e m s i n o t h e r c o u n t r i e s which h a v e
c r e a t e d a c l a s s o f l a n d l e s s and t h e r e f o r e e x t r e m e l y p o o r r u r a l p e o p l e . "
The s y s t e m of c u l t i v a t i o n i s b e s t d e s c r i b e d a s
r o t a t i o n of fieZdsU.
" s h i f t i n g c u l t i v a t i o n with
By l e a v i n g p a r t o f t h e l a n d f a l l o w , t h e p e a s a n t - c u l -
t i v a t o r s c a n c o n t i n u e t o c u l t i v a t e t h e same p i e c e o f l a n d f o r up t o 30
y e a r s , e v e n sometimes l o n g e r i f t h e r e h a v e been many y e a r s w i t h d r o u g h t .
(Every 5 y e a r s a m o d e r a t e d r o u g h t may b e e x p e c t e d .
A severe drought occurs
on a v e r a g e e v e r y 14- 20 y e a r s a n d a d i s a s t e r o u s d r o u g h t e v e r y f i f t y y e a r s . The
Botswana S o c i e t y 1979, V i e r i c h and Sheppard 1 9 8 0 , K g a t h i a n d Opschoor 1981.)
When t h e y move t o new l a n d , t h e t r a d i t i o n was t o g o r e l a t i v e l y f a r , o f t e n
changing t h e i r p l a c e o f l i v i n g .
The p r e s e n t f e n c i n g o f i n d i v i d u a l f i e l d s
w i t h w i r e , w h i c h h a s a p p e a r e d t o some e x t e n t i n t h e Tutume a r e a , w i l l probably lead
areas.
t o a n abandonment o f t h e p r e s e n t system o f s h i f t i n g t o new f i e l d
A r e s u l t o f t h i s w i l l b e t h e need f o r a p p l y i n g f e r t i l i z e r s o r manure.
The i n v e s t m e n t s t h u s made on one s i n g l e p i e c e o f l a n d ( r o t a t i o n i s c o n t i n u e d
on t h e f e n c e d f i e l d s ) a r e l i k e l y t o s t a r t a p r o c e s s o f p r i v a t i s a t i o n o f
a r a b l e l a n d i n Botswana o u t s i d e t h e f r e e h o l d f a r m s .
now t o f e e l t h e p r e s s u r e t o w a r d s p r i v a t i s a t i o n .
The g o v e r m l e n t seems
It h a s e s t a b l i s h e d a Pre-
s i d e n t i a l Commission t o l o o k i n t o t h e l a n d t e n u r e system.
The commission
s h a l l , among o t h e r t h i n g s , examine t h e c o m p a r a t i v e a d v a n t a g e s and d i s a d v a n t a g e s o f c r e a t i n g b a n k a b l e s e c u r i t y o v e r communal l a n d i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e
r e q u i r e m e n t s o f f i n a n c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s ( D a i l y News 1 / 7 - 8 3 ) .
T r a d i t i o n a l c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n u s e d t o b e a household t a s k .
Although t h e men
h e l d c a t t l e t o b e t h e i r main a c t i v i t y , t h e y c l e a r e d and ploughed f i e l d s and
a l s o p a r t i c i p a t e d i n h a r v e s t i n g (Bond 1 9 7 4 ) .
s e e women b o t h c l e a r i n g and ploughing.
Today i t i s n o t uncommon t o
I n f a c t , women a r e i n c h a r g e of c u l -
t i v a t i o n i n n e a r l y h a l f o f t h e h c u s e h o l d s t h a t grow c r o p s i n Letlhakeng and
Tutume.
N a t i o n a l l y , 36% of a l l a g r i c u l t u r a l h o l d i n g s a r e r u n by women ( M i -
n i s t r y of A g r i c u l t u r e 1 9 8 2 ) .
The worker-husband/peasant-wife type of house-
hold was found i n as much as 40% of the c u l t i v a t i n g households i n Tutume.
I n Letlhakeng t h e f i g u r e was 19%.
The d i f f e r e n c e between t h e two v i l l a g e s
i s e x p l a i n e d by t h e h i g h e r f r e q u e n c y of wage work i n Tutume and by t h e
h i g h e r p e r c e n t a g e o f households i n Letlhakeng i n which t h e r e i s no husband
( t a b l e 20) .
T a b l e 20.
Types of f e m a l e households.
1976 and 1980.
Letlhakeng and Tutume.
P e r c e n t of a l l households.
Letlhakeng
Tutume
1976
1980
1976
1980
16
23
15
11
35
36
46
39
Female headed households
Absent worker
female households
Female households
Only 25% i n Tutume and 37% i n Letlhakeng manage t o c u l t i v a t e c r o p s s o l e l y
w i t h household l a b o u r .
The working husbands help i n crop c u l t i v a t i o n i n
j u s t above 50% of t h e cases i n Letlhakeng and i n j u s t below 50% i n Tutume,
The mutual h e l p system ( r e c i p r o c i t y ) i s l o s i n g some of i t s commonness.
T h i s i s e s p e c i a l l y s e r i o u s r e g a r d i n g ploughing arrangements ( i . e . " p u t t i n g
i n hands" ) which, a c c o r d i n g t o C u r t i s (19721, a r e h i g h l y s e n s i t i v e t o s o c i o c u l t u r a l changes.
I n Tutume 54% of t h e c u l t i v a t i n g households hired a s s i s -
txmce f o r c u l t i v a t i o n p u r p o s e s .
t h e f i g u r e was o n l y 1 7 % .
I n Letlhakeng,a l e s s prosperous v i l l a g e
N a t i o n a l l y , 11%of t h e t o t a l l a b o u r i n c r o p c u l -
t i v a t i o n was h i r e d ( M i n i s t r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e 1 9 8 1 b ) .
Work i n r e t u r n i n
a g r i c u l t u r e o r i n o t h e r a c t i v i t i e s f o r a s s i s t a n c e i n c u l t i v a t i o n was g i v e n
by 1 0 a n d 22% o f t h e c u l t i v a t i n g h o u s e h o l d s f o r t h e two v i l l a g e s r e s p e c -
I t may t h u s be concZuded t h a t labour i s l e s s mobilized by t h e do-
tively.
m e s t i c group nowadays.
Market f o r c e s h a v e u n d o u b t e d l y p e n e t r a t e d t h e
a g r i c u l t u r a l s e c t o r and made l a b o u r i n t o a s c a r c e and r e l a t i v e l y e x p e n s i v e
production f a c t o r .
Even f o r some r i c h e r h o u s e h o l d s , t h i s shortage of labour r e p r e s e n t s
culty.
a diffi-
Poor households i n a d d i t i o n o f t e n lack easy access t o c a t t l e for
ploughing.
I n order t o plough independently of o t h e r households a herd s i z e
o f 25 i s a n e c e s s a r y minimum ( V i e r i c h a n d Sheppard 1 9 8 0 ) .
Bro I n t e r n a t i o n a l
(1982) s e t s t h e f i g u r e t o 30 f o r a p l o u g h i n g team o f 4 oxen and t o 40 f o r a
team o f 6 .
To r e a c h a h e r d s i z e o f 30 i s d i f f i c u l t f o r p e a s a n t s i n Botswana.
I n L e t l h a k e n g , where 36% o f t h e c u l t i v a t i n g h o u s e h o l d s d i d n o t h a v e a n y
c a t t l e i n 1980, a c c e s s t o draught- power i s a m a j o r problem ( t a b l e 2 1 ) .
Of
t h e l e v e l o f l i v i n g g r o u p 3 ( i n c l u d i n g n o n - c u l t i v a t i n g h o u s e h o l d s ) a s much
a s 86% had no c a t t l e .
T a b l e 21.
65% o f c a t t l e owning h o u s e h o l d s had l e s s t h a n 30 c a t t l e .
Borrowed oxen i n p l o u g h i n g .
1976 and 1980.
L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume.
Percent of c u l t i v a t i n g households.
Tutume
Letlhakeng
1976
1980
1976
1980
37
43
17
20
Only borrowed
Borrowed i n c o m b i n a t i o n
w i t h own o r h i r e d
Total
I n Tutume t h e r e s p e c t i v e f i g u r e s were 1 0 , 53 and 6 0 % . Only 3% u s e d t r a c t o r
f o r l a n d p r e p a r a t i o n i n t h e s t u d y v i l l a g e s i n 1980.
was l e s s t h a n o n e .
I n 1976 t h e p e r c e n t a g e
N a t i o n a l l y , 27% of t h e c u l t i v a t i n g h o u s e h o l d s had no
c a t t l e and 70% had l e s s t h a n 30 c a t t l e i n 1980 ( L i g h t f o o t 1 9 8 1 ) .
I n 1981
t h e f o r m e r f i g u r e had i n c r e a s e d t o 3 2 % , which i s above t h e m a r g i n o f e r r o r
Table 22.
Crop c u l t i v a t i o n a n d c a t t l e o w n e r s h i p .
1976 and 1980.
L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume.
P e r c e n t of c u l t i v a t i n g households.
Letlhakeng
C u l t i v a t i n g h o u s e h o l d s owning c a t t l e
Note.
Tutume
1976
1980
1976
1980
76
64
81
90
I n g e n e r a l , t h e p e r c e n t a g e s o f h o u s e h o l d s w i t h o u t c a t t l e were:
Letlhakeng
1976
1980
41
55
Tu tume
1976
1980
22
14
( c a l c u l a t e d from M i n i s t r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e 1 9 8 1 a ) .
Households w i t h c a t t l e
a r e more l i k e l y t o c u l t i v a t e t h a n c a t t l e l e s s h o u s e h o l d s ( t a b l e 2 2 ) .
Cattle
a r e f u r t h e r m o r e i m p o r t a n t a s s e c u r i t y f o r l o a n s , which a r e now a v a i l a b l e
from t h e N a t i o n a l Development Bank
i n 1976).
:
I
(NDB).
(Such l o a n s w e r e n o t a v a i l a b l e
O n l y 4% o f t h e households i n Tutwne and 2% i n LetZhakeng
.
2:f2~
The p u r p o s e o f t h e l o a n s were m a i n l y f e n c i n g o f f i e l d s .
z!.ten
The
r e a s o n s f o r t h e few l o a n s i s n e i t h e r t h a t l o a n s h a v e b e e n o b t a i n e d from p r i v a t e s o u r c e s (which i s c l o s e t o n o n - e x i s t e n t ) n o r t h a t bank l o a n s a s such
a r e a novelty.
The r e a s o n i s r a t h e r t h a t t h e r i s k o f d e f a u l t i s g r e a t and
t h a t few h a v e enough c a t t l e t o r i s k t o l o s e p a r t o f t h e i r h e r d .
The h i g h r i s k o f c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n i s a l s o e v i d e n t from t h e method o f sowing,
t h e s o c a l l e d mixed b r o a d c a s t i n g and p l o u g h i n g down t h e s e e d s ( o f sorghum,
m a i z e , m i l l e t and v a r i o u s k i n d s o f b e a n s i n d i f f e r e n t c o m b i n a t i o n s ) .
L e t l h a k e n g n e a r l y a l l t h e c u l t i v a t o r s b r o a d c a s t mixed s e e d s .
h o l d o f t h e sample i n 1980 p r a c t i s e d row p l a n t i n g .
i s somewhat more r e l i a b l e ,
I n Tutume where r a i n f a l l
t h e r e h a s b e e n a n i n c r e a s e from 1 9 t o 28% o f
h o u s e h o l d s p r a c t l s l n g non-mixed b r o a d c a s t i n g .
r i c h e r households.
In
Only one house-
T h i s i s m a i n l y done b y t h e
T h i s i s an i n d i c a t i o n of modernization.
The main cha-
r a c t e r i s t i c i s n s w i h e l e s s r i s k aversion through a d i v e r s i f i e d product range
and intercropping.
T h i s i s n o t t o s a y t h a t row p l a n t i n g i s t h e i d e a l method
i n most p a r t s of Botswana.
L i g h t f o o t (1981) h a s found t h a t b r o a d c a s t i n g
g i v e s v e r y h i g h y i e l d s on r e s e a r c h s t a t i o n s .
I n f a c t , he a r g u e s t h a t t h e
technology used i s n o t t h e s i g n i f i c a n t p o i n t b u t t h e t i m e l i n e s s of sowing
T h i s p o i n t i s sub-
a c c o r d i n g t o r a i n f a l l and t h e q u a l i t y of t i l l a g e done.
s t a n t i a t e d by P u r c e l l (1982) who shows t h a t row p l a n t i n g does n o t g i v e
h i g h e r y i e l d s t h a n b r o a d c a s t i n g on a v e r a g e .
An example which p o i n t s i n
t h e same d i r e c t i o n i s p r o v i d e d by R i c a r d s ( 1 9 8 3 ) .
He r e p o r t s t h a t i n t e r -
cropping i n West- Africa b o t h h e l p s t o maximize r e t u r n s t o l a b o u r and r e duces t h e v a r i a b i l i t y o f y i e l d s .
Land productivity i n Botswana i s one of t h e l o w e s t i n t h e world.
Since
1932 till today y i e l d s p e r u n i t o f l a n d have r i s e n v e r y l i t t l e (Ode11 1980).
During t h e 1970s t h e a v e r a g e y i e l d s d e c l i n e d .
y i e l d f o r sorghum was 367 kg/ha,
I n t h e p e r i o d 1972-1976 t h e
f o r maize 527 kg/ha and f o r beans 206 kg/ha.
The a v e r a g e s f o r 1978-1981 were 198, 205 and 114 r e s p e c t i v e l y ( P u r c e l l and
Webster 1977,
M i n i s t r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e 1981 a ) .
The e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h i s
t r e n d i s probably n o t o n l y a d v e r s e weather c o n d i t i o n b u t a l s o t h e i n c r e a s e d
o p p o r t u n i t i e s of work i n urban c e n t r e s i n Botswana l e a v i n g many households
with inadequate labour.
NMS (1982) shows t h a t t h o s e households t h a t expe-
r i e n c e a l o s s of labour due t o l a b o u r m i g r a t i o n t o South A f r i c a ( o t h e r
t h i n g s c o n s t a n t ) , have a s i g n i f i c a n t lower c r o p o u t p u t .
improved y i e l d s i n normal r a i n f a l l y e a r s i s good.
The p o t e n t i a l f o r
T h i s can be s e e n from t h e
h i g h e r y i e l d s o b t a i n e d on t h e s o c a l l e d commercial farms which i n 1980 were
on a v e r a g e f o r t h e major c r o p s t h r e e t i m e s t h e y i e l d i n t h e " t r a d i t i o n a l
sector".
The 5% of farms w i t h h i g h e s t y i e l d of sorghum o b t a i n e d 830 kg/ha.
J o n e s (1981) m a i n t a i n s t h a t a y i e l d of 2 t o n s of c e r e a l s p e r h e c t a r e i s t e c h n i c a l l y f e a s i b l e i n Botswana.
T h i r d World was 965 kg/ha.
(World Bank 1981 a ) .
The 1977-1979 a v e r a g e y i e l d f o r sorghum i n t h e
The f i g u r e f o r Sub-Saharan c o u n t r i e s was 701
I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e f i g u r e s g i v e n h e r e , i t may b e argued
t h a t major improvements a r e p o s s i b l e i n c r o p p r o d u c t i o n because of t h e l a r g e
v a r i a t i o n s of y i e l d s r e g i o n a l l y and among p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s .
To a large e x t e n t crop cuZtivation i n Botswana i s socalled d e f i c i t agriculture (Alverson 1979, Fortmann 1981, L i g h t f o o t 1 9 8 2 ) .
I n Letlhakeng and Tu-
tume s u b - s u b s i s t e n c e c u l t i v a t i o n i s t y p i c a l i n t h a t h a l f t h e c u l t i v a t i n g
households produce t o o l i t t l e b a s i c food t o s u s t a i n themselves throughout
t h e year.
Only a l i t t l e more t h a n o n e - t h i r d produces more t h a n t h e f a m i l y
can consume ( t a b l e 2 3 ) .
The commonly h e l d view t h a t agriculture i n Botswma
genera'YZy i s o f a subsistence type, i s then not correct.
L i v e l i h o o d and o t h e r
a c t i v i t i e s i n t h e v i l l a g e s a r e n o t " c l o s e t o e n t i r e l y " b a s e d on l o c a l environmental resources.
The t e r m s u b s i s t e n c e i s o n l y a p p l i c a b l e r e g a r d i n g
t h e gaoup o f h o u s e h o l d s w i t h medium- sized c a t t l e h e r d s .
T a b l e 23.
Amount o f c r o p s h a r v e s t e d a c c o r d i n g t o t h e r e s p o n d e n t s ' p e r ceived needs.
L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume.
1976 and 1980.
Letlhakeng
Percent.
Tutume
1976
1980
1976
1980
100
101
100
101
Too l i t t l e
Adequate
Surplus
Total
A t t h e national l e v e l , o n l y r c u g h e s t i m a t e s o f t h e number o f s u b - s u b s i s t e n c e
a g r i c u l t u r a l h o u s e h o l d s c a n b e made.
The c a l o r i c n e e d s o f a t y p i c a l f a m i l y
o f 4 grown-up p e r s o n s a n d 2 c h i l d r e n a r e s e t a t v a r i o u s l e v e l s .
(1981) p u t s it a t 1 250 k i l o s a n d A l v e r s o n (1978) a t 1 600
A g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s i n Tuturne p l a c e t h e i r need a t 750
and sorghum h a l f e a c h ) .
-
-
Lightfoot
1 700 k i l o s .
900 k i l o s (maize
By u s i n g 1 700 k i l o s a s t h e s t a n d a r d , 90% o f t h e
c u l t i v a t i n g h o u s e h o l d s i n Botswana were s u b - s u b s i s t e n c e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s i n 1980.
The f i g u r e would b e 83% i f a s t a n d a r d o f 1 000 k i l o s was
u s e d ( c a l c u l a t e d from M i n i s t r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e 1980 a ) .
It is then l i k e l y
t h a t i n p u t s i n c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n c a n n o t b e p a i d f o r w i t h money e a r n e d from
t h i s s e c t o r alone.
( 1 9 7 9 ) , c o s t s exceed r e t u r n s f o r
According t o Alverson
almost a l l crop c u l t i v a t i n g households.
Even t h e few w e l l - o f f p e a s a n t - c u l -
t i v a t o r s and f a r m e r s d o l i t t l e more t h a n b r e a k e v e n .
Inputs i n crop c u l t i -
v a t i o n a r e u s u a l l y b o u g h t by s a l e o f c a t t l e and b y wage work.
The r e a s o n
f o r h o u s e h o l d s t o s u b s i d i z e c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n i n t h i s way i s t h a t t h i s g i v e s
c h e a p e r f o o d t h a n t o buy f o o d a t t h e s h o p .
Moreover, most h o u s e h o l d s must
supplement t h e i r a g r i c u l t u r a l income anyway t o b e a b l e t o buy wanted consumer g o o d s .
I n c o n t r a s t t o A l v e r s o n , J o n e s (1981) u s e s BAMB s e l l i n g p r i c e s
of c r o p s i n s t e a d of producer p r i c e s f o r t h a t p r o p o r t i o n o f c r o p p r o d u c t i o n
t h a t a household consumes.
He f i n d s t h e n t h a t t h e n e t income
per man-day
i n c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n i s 10% above t h e government s t i p u l a t e d minimum wage.
Because of the seasonality of crop cultivation and present high number of
rural househo2ds with few or no cattle, it is understandable that the majority of the agricultura2 producers are multiactive peasant-cultivators.
T h i s c o n c l u s i o n i s r e i n f o r c e d by t h e f a c t t h a t t h e r e t u r n s from a t y p i c a l
farm ( i n k i n d i n c l u d e d ) i s h a l f t h e a v e r a g e y e a r l y government s a l a r y f o r an
urban employee w i t h primary e d u c a t i o n , and o n e - f o u r t h of t h e wage r e c e i v e d
f o r work i n t h e South- African mines (1980) ( c a l c u l a t e d from Kerven 1 9 8 2 ) .
The
national self-sufficiency
i n g r a i n s was 90% i n t h e 1930s.
pendence i t was 90% i n good and 40% i n bad y e a r s .
good y e a r s (Opschoor 1981 b ) .
Around Inde-
Now i t i s 50% even i n
The food p r o d u c t i o n index p e r p e r s o n was 88
i n 1981 ( a normal r a i n f a l l y e a r ) (1969-1971 = 100)
(FAO 1981 a ) .
A reason
f o r t h i s d e c l i n e i n food p r o d u c t i o n i s t h a t t h e a v e r a g e a r e a ploughed p e r
household and t h e farming methods and hence t h e y i e l d s p e r h e c t a r e have r e mained n e a r l y c o n s t a n t i n t h i s p e r i o d .
p a t t e r n has changed
Botswana.
I n a d d i t i o n , t h e urban consumption
towards a demand f o r food p r o d u c t s n o t produced i n
The above dismal t r e n d of t h e food s i t u a t i o n i n Botswana i s n o t
an e x c e p t i o n i n A f r i c a .
A most s e r i o u s
lack of mills
t o p r o c e s s sorghum may f o r a l l f u t u r e have
hindered a r e a l commercialization of t h i s crop.
p o l o l e i n 1981.)
( A m i l l was b u i l t i n Mole-
The r e a s o n f o r t h i s i s t h a t t h e purchase of wheat f l o u r
and " f a t cakes" (wheat b a l l s f r i e d i n o i l ) have become extremely p o p u l a r i n
j u s t t h e l a s t couple of y e a r s .
The changes i n purchase of wheat f l o u r by
t h e households i n Letlhakeng and Tutume from 1976 t o 1980 were from 17
71% and from 57
t o 84% r e s p e c t i v e l y ( H e s s e l b e r g 1382a appendix L ) .
to
The
s p r e a d of t h e wheat i n n o v a t i o n h a s been r a p i d and i n c l u d e s t h e most p e r i p h e r a l a r e a s of Botswana.
The market f o r m i l l e d sorghum, which was r e l a -
t i v e l y l a r g e b u t u n f i l l e d i n urban c e n t r e s i n 1976 when t h e f i r s t t r i a l m i l l
was p u t up a t P i t s a n e , i s now p r o b a b l y i r r e v e r s i b l y l o s t .
(Urban wage wor-
k e r s can a f f o r d n o t t o c a r r y o u t t h e time-consuming and t i r i n g stamping of
g r a i n s , and t o a c q u i r e new t a s t e s .
T h i s ~ s s u h s t a n t l a t e d b y ,f o r i n s t a n c e ,
Digawana v i l l a g e r s who "complained t h a t t h e i r c h i l d r e n had f o r g o t t e n t h a t
sorghum was t h e i r s t a p l e food.
They ngw l i v e
on f o r e i g n f o o d s such a s r i c e
and b r e a d . "
D a i l y News 14/6- 82.)
I n 1 9 8 1 o n l y 11%o f t h e t o t a l sorghum
p r o d u c t i o n was s o l d ( M i n i s t r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e 1 9 8 1 b ) .
This does not re-
f l e c t t h e m a g n i t u d e o f c r o p t r a n s f e r s which a r e s u b s t a n t i a l a t t h e l o c a l
l e v e l r e g a r d i n g p a s t and f u t u r e k i n o b l i g a t i o n s .
planations f o r the
low degree of sales to BAMB.
T h e r e a r e two main exF i r s t , t h e l a c k o f mar-
k e t i n g f a c i l i t i e s i s o n l y now b e i n g t a c k l e d by t h e government.
Second,
t h e p r o d u c e r p r i c e s o f f e r e d by BAMB a r e s e t a t t h e S o u t h A f r i c a n Maize
Board p r i c e s p l u s t r a n s p o r t a t i o n c o s t from S o u t h A f r i c a t o Botswana.
The
l o c a l r u r a l p r i c e s , a l t h o u g h t h e y f l u c t u a t e w i d e l y t h r o u g h t h e y e a r and
from y e a r t o y e a r , a r e above w o r l d m a r k e t a n d BAMB p r i c e s f o r sorghum
(except a t harvest time)
(Duggan 1 9 7 9 ) .
T h i s e x p l a i n s why o n l y 0 . 2 % i n
1976 and 3% i n 1978 o f t h e t o t a l sorghum h a r v e s t was b o u g h t by BAMB.
Maize p r i c e s o f f e r e d b y BAMB i n 1978 were h i g h e r t h a n t h e l o c a l o n e s , which
e x p l a i n s t h e f a c t t h a t 49% o f t h e m a i z e p r o d u c t i o n was b o u g h t b y BAMB i n
t h a t year.
ones.
I n 1976 o n l y 4% was b o u g h t , a t p r i c e s below t h e l o c a l r u r a l
It is then cZear that the peasants are responsive to price incen-
tives.
This supports t h e contention i n chapter 4 t h a t responsiveness t o
p r i c e s i s g e n e r a l i n t h e T h i r d World.
R i c h p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s and f a r m e r s u s u a l l y s t o r e c r o p s a t t h e f i e l d s and
s e l l l a t e r a t t h e l o c a l market.
Less well- off p e a s a n t s o f t e n s e l l o r bar-
t e r c r o p s , a l t h o u g h t h e y p r o d u c e t o o l i t t l e f o r t h e i r own consumption.
i s a common phenomenon i n t h e T h i r d World.
This
B h a d u r i ( u n d a t e d ) r e p o r t s from
I n d i a t h a t " p e t t y p e a s a n t s " a s a g r o u p , consume a n amount e q u i v a l e n t t o 116%
o f what t h e y p r o d u c e .
duction.
market.
And s t i l l t h e y s e l l a c o n s i d e r a b l e p a r t o f t h e i r pro-
He c o n c l u d e s t h a t t h i s i s e v i d e n c e o f f o r c e d i n v o l v e m e n t i n t h e
The d e f i c i t t h e p e a s a n t s manage b y b o t h e n g a g i n g i n o t h e r s o u r c e s
o f income t h a n own a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n and by i n c r e a s e d i n d e b t e d n e s s .
I n Botswana, o u t s i d e t r a d e r s u s e d t o t r a n s p o r t t h e p r o d u c e t o S o u t h A f r i c a .
T h e y r e t u r n e d a f t e r 6-9 months t o s e l l .
T h i s p r a c t i c e added g r e a t l y t o t h e
c o s t o f l i v i n g of t h e Batswana (Monare and Opschooor 1 9 8 1 ) .
Today BAMB i s
a b l e t o win t h e c o i a p e t i t i o n w i t h t h e s e t r a d e r s i n t h e v i l l a g e s where s t o r age f a c i l i t i e s e x i s t .
Is it then ; > o s ; i b : ~ tc s a y that the peasant-cultivators have a certain degree of freedom to pursue aims of their own?
S i n c e t h e r e a r e no l a n d l o r d s
and t h e s t a t e a p p r o p r i a t e s l i t t l e s u r p l u s d i r e c t l y from t h e p e a s a n t s ( f o r
i n s t a n c e i n t h e form o f t a x e s ) , some m i g h t m a i n t a i n t h a t t h e r e i s no r e a l
T a b l e 24.
Relative price trends i n agriculture
Botswana.
I n d e x - v a l u e s , 1978 = 100.
Output:
Crops
Cattle
Input:
Seeds
Fertilizers
--
Source:
FAO, P r o d u c t i o n y e a r b o o k 1981.
subsumption t o c a p i t a l , o n l y f o r m a l .
S u r p l u s from a g r i c u l t u r e i s , however,
appropriated i n d i r e c t l y through t h e p r i c e s t r u c t u r e ( t a b l e 24).
Ghai and
Radwan (1983) m a i n t a i n t h a t t h e i n t e r n a l t e r m s o f t r a d e o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s i n 9 A f r i c a n c o u n t r i e s s t u d i e d , show t h a t c h a n g e s i n reLa-
t i v e prices have been an important instrument i n e x t r a c t i n g surplus from
the rural areas.
I n Botswana t h e p r i c e s o f t h e c a t e g o r y f o o d , b e v e r a g e s
and t o b a c c o i n c r e a s e d w i t h 40 p e r c e n t a g e - p o i n t s f o r t h e "low income g r o u p "
from 1976 t o 1980.
I n t h e same p e r i o d c a t t l e p r i c e s p e r 100 k i l o s g r a d e 2
i n c r e a s e d from P 7 2 t o P100 ( 2 8 % ) .
I n 1982 t h e p r o d u c e r p r i c e had r i s e n w i t h
P21, w h e r e a s t h e p r i c e - i n d e x on t h e above m e n t i o n e d c a t e g o r y o f consumer
g o o d s i n c r e a s e d w i t h 38 p e r c e n t a g e - p o i n t s .
Thus, s t e a d i l y more c a t t l e must
b e s o l d ( o r work o b t a i n e d ) t o k e e p t h e same l e v e l o f l i v i n g a s p r e v i o u s l y .
T h i s i s n o t of o n l y minor s i g n i f i c a n c e because of t h e o v e r a l l sub-subsist e n c e c h a r a c t e r of p e a s a n t p r o d u c t i o n .
T a b l e 25 shows t h a t most h o u s e h o l d s
buy f a i r l y much f o o d s t u f f a t t h e shop and t h a t t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f h o u s e h o l d s
t h a t buy r e l a t i v e l y much i s i n c r e a s i n g .
T a b l e 25.
P u r c h a s e of s e l e c t e d f o o d p r o d u c t s a t s h o p s .
L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume.
1976 and 1980.
Percent.
Letlhakeng
Tutume
Much
Middle
Little
101
Total
100
99
99
The p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s a r e t h u s under a c o n s t a n t p r e s s u r e e i t h e r t o i n c r e a s e t h e i r p r o d u c t i o n o r f i n d a d d i t i o n a l income s o u r c e s , t h a t i s , t o
become m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s .
Only t h o s e h o u s e h o l d s w i t h r e -
l a t i v e l y l a r g e c a t t l e herds a r e unaffected by t h i s price- squeeze.
Urban
wages h a v e f o r a l l l e v e l s i n c r e a s e d r a p i d l y s i n c e 1 9 7 6 , w e l l above t h e
consumer p r i c e i n d e x f o r most g r o u p s .
To some e x t e n t it i s p o s s i b l e t o
s a y t h a t t h e r e i s a p a r a l l e l g r o w t h o f income and p r o d u c t i v i t y i n t h e
f o r m a l u r b a n s e c t o r i n Botswana.
T h i s i s n o t t h e c a s e i n p e a s a n t pro-
duction ( o r i n r u r a l a r e a s a s a whole).
pace with i n f l a t i o n .
P e a s a n t production cannot keep
The i n f l a t i o n which a f f e c t s p e a s a n t s , i s a r e s u l t
of n a t i o n a l (mainly formal s e c t o r ) and i n t e r n a t i o n a l f o r c e s .
Thus, t h e
p o p u l a t i o n i n r u r a l a r e a s h a s t o a d a p t t o t h e r h y + ~o f change i n t h e f o r mal n a t i o n a l and i n t e r n a t i o n a l s e c t o r s .
The c a p i t a l a c c u m u l a t i o n p r o c e s s
i n r u r a l a r e a s a c c o r d i n g l y d e p e n d s on a n d i s o f t e n c o n s t r a i n e d by e x t e r n a l
forces.
I n s h o r t , one m a y s a y t h a t i;bt
':L?I'L~
p r i n c i p l e i s f u l l y deve-
Loped on t h e purchase s i d e Looking from t h e peasant point o f view.
d o ~ sn o t apply t o the same degree t o t h e s a l e s i d e .
This
Peasant production
t h e n competes on u n e q u a l t e r m s w i t h f o r m a l s e c t o r p r o d u c t i o n .
On t h e q u e s t i o n o f i r r a t i o n a l i t y of peasant- cultivators' behaviour, some
s c h o l a r s m a i n t a i n t h a t i t s h o u l d b e dropped b e c a u s e it c o m p l e t e l y depends
on t h e v a l u e s o f e s t i m a t i o n .
H a r d i n g ( 1 9 8 2 ) , however, makes a good p o i n t
b y d i s t i n g u i s h i n g between "econornlc optlmum" and " r a t i o n a l i t y " r e g a r d i n g
t h e p r o f i t motive of p e a s a n t s .
An economic o p t i m a l b e h a v i o u r would imply
t o change t o new methods o f c u l t i v a t i o a when c a p i t a l and o t h e r f a c t o r s of
production a r e a v a i l a b l e .
I t may, on t h e o t h e r hand, be economic r a t i o n a l
n o t t o adopt new methods w i t h i n t h e frame of c o n s t r a i n t s e x i s t i n g f o r peasant- cultivators i n a particular regional context.
To my mind, t h e r e a r e
t h r e e i d e a l type c a t e g o r i e s of c u l t i v a t o r s r e g a r d i n g response t o l e v e l and
changes of producer p r i c e s ( f i g u r e 9).
Figure 9 .
Types of response t o changes i n l e v e l s of producer p r i c e s .
Producer
price
~uantitF
produced
In s i t u a t i o n A t h e q u a n t i t y produced r e f l e c t s t h e aim of achieving a c e r t a i n
amwuntof cash.
(The cash amount needed i n c r e a s e s with t h e p r i c e s on t h e
c u l t u r a l l y determined goods wanted and with t h e v a r i o u s s t a g e s of t h e l i f e
c y c l e of a household.)
I f producer p r i c e s a r e r a i s e d ( o t h e r t h i n g s con-
s t a n t ) , l e s s may be produced.
T h i s i s t h e Chayanov r u l e .
f o r traditional peasant- cultivators.
This i s typical
In s i t u a t i o n B t h e amount produced by
p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s r e f l e c t s t h e c o n s t r a i n t s on t h e i r production, p r i m a r i l y
c l i m a t e , labour and producer p r i c e s i n Botswana.
The amount cannot e a s i l y
be i n c r e a s e d when producer p r i c e s i n c r e a s e only marginally.
They w i l l , how-
e v e r , t r y t o market more when t h e h a r v e s t i s l a r g e r than u s u a l due t o favourable weather.
I f producer p r i c e s continue t o i n c r e a s e over t h e y e a r s ,
t h e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s may i n v e s t i n new methods of c u l t i v a t i o n .
thenbecome farmers ( C ) .
s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s or drop- outs.
I t l s probably only when new methods a r e
adopted t h a t a p r o c e s s of d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n w i l l be i n i t i a t e d
tion side
Some w i l l
Others may f a i l and become e i t h e r m u l t i a c t i v e pea-
i n crop c u l t i v a t i o n .
On the conswnption side,
from t h e produc-
world i n f l a t i o n may
b e a s u f f i c i e n t c o n d i t i o n when o t h e r o p t i o n s t o s e c u r e a n improved income
are not available.
The socio-ecmomic s t r a t i f i c a t i o n i n r u r a l Botswana
i s thus mainly connectedto c a t t l e ownership and education giving relat i v e l y high s a l a r i e s t o s h u t t l e r s .
I n o r d e r t o make i t more economic r a t i o n a l f o r p e a s a n t s t o improve t h e i r
p r o d u c t i v i t y , s t a t e s u b s i d i e s a r e used i n most c o u n t r i e s .
following
subsidies a r e g i v e n :
I n Botswana t h e
10% o f t h e s e e d s a r e s u b s i d i z e d a b o u t 50%
t h r o u g h t h e Seed M u l t i p l i c a t i o n U n i t ( M i n i s t r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e u n d a t e d ) .
The c o n s t r u c t i o n o f BAMB s t o r e s a r e somewhat s u b s i d i z e d .
The government
h a s , however, n e v e r p r o v i d e d f u n d s t o BAMB t o a l l o w it t o a p p l y a d i r e c t
subsidy t o producer crop p r i c e s .
and implements r e c e i v e n o s u b s i d y .
p a c k a g e s " t o "medium p e a s a n t s "
F u r t h e r m o r e , f e r t i l i z e r s and m a c h i n e r y
ALDEP i s now p r o v i d i n g " t e c h n o l o g i c a l
( t h o s e w i t h l e s s t h a n 40 c a t t l e ) .
l o a n s a r e p r o v i d e d w i t h g r a n t e l e m e n t s o f 35- 60%.
Cheap
The p o o r p e a s a n t - c u l t i -
v a t o r s a r e n o t a b l e t o b e n e f i t from t h i s programme b e c a u s e o f l a c k o f
c a t t l e a s s e c u r i t y f o r loans.
A s e p a r a t e donkey scheme h a s been s t a r t e d
t o g i v e draught- power t o t h o s e c r o p c u l t i v a t o r s that d o n o t own c a t t l e .
J o n e s (1982) h a s c a l c u l a t e d t h a t t h e ALDEP-package would i n d e e d r a i s e r e t u r n s from c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n b u t t h e l a b o u r i n p u t would a l s o i n c r e a s e .
The
n e t income would t h e n n o t improve on a man-day b a s i s .
He a c c o r d i n g l y a r -
gues t h a t producer p r i c e s u b s i d i e s should b e adopted.
The p e a s a n t s would
t h e n s e e more o p p o r t u n i t i e s i n c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n .
The t o t a l s u b s i d i e s r e -
q u i r e d w i l l i n h i s c a l c u l a t i o n b e low i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e a d d i t i o n a l r u r a l
income t h u s g e n e r a t e d .
T h e P i n i s t r y of A g r i c u l t u r e p o i n t s t o t h e f a c t t h a t
p r o d u c e r p r i c e s u b s i d i e s m o s t l y b e n e f i t f a r m e r s and n o t p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s .
The s o l u t i o n t o t h i s dilemma w i l l i n most c a s e s b e a mix o f t y p e s o f subs i d i e s together with higher a g r i c u l t u r a l p r i c e s generally.
I n Botswana
t h i s c o u l d b e e s s e n t i a l t o improve t h e p r o d u c t i v i t y o f t h e s m a l l p e a s a n t c u l t i v a t o r s who r e p r e s e n t t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s .
The
p o o r n o n - c u l t i v a t o r s must b e p r o t e c t e d i n s u c h a t r a n s i t i o n when a g r i c u l t u r a l p r i c e s i n c r e a s e more r a p i d t h a n o t h e r p r i c e s .
The economic r a t i o n a l
i n b e i n g a m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r would b e good i n s u c h a s i t u a t i o n .
A c o n s t r a i n t t o h i g h e r a g r i c u l t u r a l p r i c e s i n Botswana i s i m p o r t s o f c r o p s
from S o u t h A f r i c a which a r e s u b s i d i z e d on t h e s e l l i n g p r i c e .
S i n c e Bots-
wana i s i n a customs u n i o n w i t h S o u t h A f r i c a , t a r i f f s c a n n o t b e imposed i n
t h i s case.
If
t h i s problem was s o l v e d i n one o r a n o t h e r way, smuggling o f
f o o d would p e r h a p s t a k e p l a c e .
The lack o f a comprehensive government poZicy on subsidies regarding crop
c u l t i v a t i o n may be part o f t h e explanation for t h e low degree of development of t h i s s e c t o r .
The p o l i t i c a l l e a d e r s h i p h a s i n c o n t r a s t looked well
a f t e r the c a t t l e sector.
The P r e s i d e n t i a l Commission on Economic Opportu-
n i t i e s (1982) found t h a t t h e n e t subsidy ( s u b s i d i e s given l e s s t a x r e ceived) t o t h e c a t t l e s e c t o r was P15.4 m i l l i o n s (annuaL average 1977/78
1980/81).
ports.
-
I n a d d i t i o n , t h e P u l a h a s been "overvalued" due t o diamond ex-
T h i s h a s been favourable f o r c a t t l e owners and d e t r i m e n t a l t o crop
cultivation.
Furthermore, i n view of t h e very skewed ownership of c a t t l e
( c h a p t e r 1 0 ) , t h e b e n e f i t of t h i s subsidy i n r e a l i t y went only t o a few
ranchers.
Probably, a lower producer p r i c e
on c a t t l e would n o t have been
a d i s i n c e n t i v e t o i n v e s t i n t h i s s e c t o r among p e a s a n t s .
t r u e f o r p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s i n need of draught-power.
This i s p a r t i c u l a r l y
For those peasant-
c u l t i v a t o r s with enough c a t t l e f o r t r a c t i o n purposes, t h e r e would have been
an i n c e n t i v e t o s e l l more a t lower p r i c e s ( f i g u r e 9 ) .
A necessary
(and
probable) assumption i s t h a t ownership of c a t t l e t o a l a r g e e x t e n t i s f o r
p r o f i t o r f o r covering e s s e n t i a l consumer goods through s a l e s ( t a b l e 2 6 ) .
P i c a r d (1980) s u b s t a n t i a t e s t h i s assumption by maintaining t h a t Botswana i s
somewhat d i f f e r e n t from t h e r e s t of Sub-Saharan A f r i c a i n t h i s r e s p e c t .
F i n a l l y , t h e build- up of h e r d s t a k i n g p l a c e because of t h e high p r i c e s
(and abundant r a i n f a l l ) during t h e l a t t e r h a l f of t h e 1970s, has r e s u l t e d
i n overstocking and degradation of v e g e t a t i o n i n many p l a c e s .
The P r e s i -
d e n t i a l Commission advocates t h a t higher t a x e s should be used t o reduce
t h e p r e s e n t i n c e n t i v e t o overstocking.
In a d d i t i o n , t h e e x i s t i n g t a x r e -
g u l a t i o n s should be enforced more e f f i c i e n t l y .
To sum up, crop c u l t i v a t i o n h a s become r e l a t i v e l y l e s s remunerative compared t o c a t t l e herding over t h e y e a r s .
Opschoor (1981 b ) h a s c a l c u l a t e d
t h a t a herd of 15 would i n 1966 g i v e t h e e q u i v a l e n t of l 500 k i l o s of sorghum a s normal o f f - t a k e .
I n 1980 only 10 c a t t l e would be r e q u i r e d t o g e t
t h i s amount, which can s u s t a i n a normal family of s i x persons throughout
t h e year.
The government's a g r a r i a n p o l i c y h a s , because of t h e i n c r e a s i n g
number of a g r i c u l t u r a l households without c a t t l e t h e l a s t 20 y e a r s , promoted t h e p r o c e s s of d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n .
next c h a p t e r .
T h i s w i l l be e l a b o r a t e d upon i n t h e
Here i t s u f f i c e s t o note t h a t r i c h p e a s a n t s b e s i d e s c a t t l e
o f t e n i n v e s t t h e i r p r o f i t s i n b a r s and v e h i c l e s .
L i t t l e more than f o r main-
T a b l e 26.
Marketing of a g r i c u l t u r a l products.
" T r a d i t i o n a l " and
1
" commercial" f a r m s
1976/77 and 1980/81.
Pula million.
.
"Traditional":
Sale of c a t t l e
30.6
Net i n c r e a s e i n c a t t l e herd
3
S a l e of c r o p s
13.3
C a t t l e and c r o p s f o r own u s e
26.5
36.5
43%L
6.4
18%
0.4
"Commercial" :
S a l e of c a t t l e
L
16.5
20.7
Net i n c r e a s e i n c a t t l e h e r d
2.3
S a l e of crops
1.0
0.3
C a t t l e and c r o p s f o r own u s e
0.1
0.1
14%
2.6
13%
" T r a d i t i o n a l " and " commercial" r e f e r h e r e t o t h e d e f i n i t i o n s u s e d by
t h e Ministry of Agriculture, i . e .
" commercial" i s e q u a l t o f r e e h o l d
a n d l e a s e h o l d f a r m s and " t r a d i t i o n a l " a l l o t h e r f a r m s .
Net i n c r e a s e a s percentage of c a t t l e s a l e .
I t i s more common t o s e l l c r o p s t o l o c a l households directly t h a n t o
market crops through a formal market.
Thus, t h e f i g u r e s i n c l u d e d
h e r e d o n o t r e f l e c t t h e r e a l m a g n i t u d e o f c r o p s m a r k e t e d f o r money.
Source:
C a l c u l a t e d from C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s O f f i c e ,
N a t i o n a l A c c o u n t s 1980/81.
tenance purposes a r e reinvested i n crop c u l t i v a t i o n .
A t t h i s s t a g e of
development i n r u r a l Botswana few o t h e r p r o f i t a b l e a c t i v i t i e s e x i s t i n
which t o i n v e s t .
Here i s t h e n a n o t h e r r e a s o n f o r combining c r o p c u l t i -
v a t i o n w i t h o t h e r economic a c t i v i t i e s .
I t may thus be argued t h a t not
peasant but m u l t i a c t i v e agricuZtural producer a t t h e general l e v e l and
muZtiactive peasant- cultivator a t t h e more s p e c i f i c l e v e l are t h e appropriate terms t o denote t h e major part of t h e agriculturaZ producer households.
MULTIACTIVITY AT THE HOUSEHOLD AND INDIVIDUAL LEVELS
S e v e r a l of t h e mechanisms i n t h e e v o l u t i o n of Botswana touched upon i n
c h a p t e r 8 t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e problem and l a c k of change i n c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n
s t a n d o u t a s e x p l a n a t i o n s f o r t h e commonness of m u l t i a c t i v i t y a t t h e household level.
The m u l t i a c t i v e households w i l l be f u r t h e r d i s c u s s e d a f t e r a
few remarks have been g i v e n on t h e group of households t h a t have become
l e s s m u l t i a c t i v e i n t h e l a s t few y e a r s .
I n Letlhakeng there has been a
s i g n i f i c a n t increase i n ugricuZtural labourer households.
r e p r e s e n t what h a s h e r e been c a l l e d drop- out.
engaged i n (own) c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n .
such households
Most of them were e a r l i e r
They c o n s i s t of female households only.
The e x i s t e n c e and i n c r e a s e o f t h i s group o f households s i g n i f y a p r o c e s s
of " p r o l e t a r i a n i z a t i o n " .
g a t e data.
I n Tutume t h i s p r o c e s s i s n o t e v i d e n t from aggre-
N o n e t h e l e s s , when t h e female households a r e looked a t s e p a r a t e l y ,
i t i s c l e a r t h a t a l s o i n t h i s v i l l a g e some of t h e s e households drop o u t of
c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n (Wikan 1 9 8 1 ) .
Fortmann (1981) r e p o r t s t h a t female house-
h o l d s a r e t w i c e a s o f t e n n o t ploughing t h a n male households i n r u r a l a r e a s
of Botswana.
men.
Women w i t h c a t t l e a r e , however, e q u a l l y l i k e l y t o plough a s
Drop-out i s thus explained not by being a woman but by being without
cattle.
The main e x p l a n a t i o n behind t h i s i s t h e n e c e s s i t y t o sow w i t h t h e
f i r s t major r a i n f a l l ( a t l e a s t 2 5 mm).
Lack o f own draught- power means
t h a t a household h a s t o w a i t u n t i l some of t h o s e owning c a t t l e have f i n i s h e d
ploughing.
Women w i t h c a t t l e can f u r t h e r m o r e o b t a i n male l a b o u r by l e n d i n g
draught- oxen i n r e t u r n .
peak a g r i c u l t u r a l t i m e s .
Male l a b o u r i s o t h e r w i s e d i f f i c u l t t o o b t a i n a t
The d a t a a v a i l a b l e i n d i c a t e t h a t even a b s e n t wor-
k e r female households t h a t r e c e i v e r e l a t i v e l y much r e m i t t a n c e s , may n o t be
a b l e t o c o n t i n u e w i t h c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n because o f t h i s problem of d r a u g h t power and l a c k of male l a b o u r .
The most common c o m b i n a t i o n s f o r t h o s e h o u s e h o l d s w i t h two income s o u r c e s
The
a r e i n c l u d e d i n t a b l e 27 and t h o s e w i t h t h r e e ( o r more) i n t a b l e 28.
typical combination is peasant production and wage work.
i s more u s u a l t h a n work i n t h e v i l l a g e .
E x t e r n a l work
Many h o u s e h o l d s a l s o combine
p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t i o n , wage work and self- employment ( m o s t l y b r e r b r e w i n g ) .
I t s h o u l d b e mentioned t h a t b e e r - s e l l i n g seldom i s a r e g u l a r a c t i v i t y .
This a p p l i e s p a r t i c u l a r l y t o m u l t i a c t i v e households.
Furthermore, it is
i m p o r t a n t t o n o t e t h a t o n l y t h o s e h o u s e h o l d members who
send money
b a c k home, a r e i n c l u d e d .
work
e l s e w h e r e and
Of t h e u n m a r r i e d c h i l d r e n s t a y i n g
e l s e w h e r e ( t h e m a r r i e d o n e s a r e e x c l u d e d from t h e s t u d y ) and who h a v e work,
a b o u t t w o - t h i r d s s e n d money t o t h e i r p a r e n t s i n Tutume i n 1980.
g u r e f o r L e t l l l a k e n g i s 50%.
The f i -
There i s a p o s i t i v e tendency b u t n o t a s t a t i s -
t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n between l e v e l o f l i v i n g o f t h e h o u s e h o l d s and
w h e t h e r o r n o t t h e c h i l d r e n s e n d money.
The i m p a c t o f r e m i t t a n c e s from
c h i l d r e n working e l s e w h e r e i s t h u s n o t a s h i g h a s may be t h o u g h t .
T a b l e 27.
Types o f m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t h o u s e h o l d s .
income s o u r c e s .
L e t l h a k e n g a n d Tutume.
Combinations o f two
1976 a n d 1980.
c e n t of a l l households.
Letlhakeng
1976
Tutume
l980
1976
1980
42
37
Peasant c u l t i v a t i o n
+
e x t e r n a l wages
+
l o c a l wages
+
beerbrewing
+
o t h e r self- employment
+
a g r i c u l t u r a l labour
Peasant animal husbandry
+
e x t e r n a l wages
5
3
+
l o c a l wages
3
1
+
+
self- employment
1
2
a g r i c u l t u r a l labour
Total
4
33
28
Per-
T a b l e 28.
Types o f m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t h o u s e h o l d s .
t h r e e income s o u r c e s .
Combinations of
L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume.
1976 a n d 1980.
P e r c e n t of a l l households.
Peasant cultivation
+
e x t e r n a l wages a n d l o c a l wages
1
2
6
4
+
e x t e r n a l wages a n d b e e r b r e w i n g
9
1
15
20
+
o t h e r combinations
14
5
9
6
24
8
39
36
Total
Note.
Those h o u s e h o l d s w i t h f o u r o r more s o u r c e s h a v e b e e n i n c l u d e d i n
t h i s table.
7
T h e i r t h r e e main s o u r c e s h a v e t h e n b e e n t a k e n .
.
-7c cov!s;,zc activities at 2hc n , : i Z d i d ~ u a lL(:veZ
not common.
In Letlhakeng
o n l y a b o u t 5% o f t h e h o u s e h o l d s h a v e a member who combine wage work w i t h
cultivation.
T h i s i s somewhat more u s u a l i n Tutume, where a l s o t h e c a t e -
g o r y worker - h e r d s m a n / r a n c h e r e x i s t s ( t a b l e 2 9 ) .
T a b l e 29.
Types o f c o m b i n a t i o n o f income s o u r c e s a t t h e i n d i v i d u a l l e v e l .
L e t l h a k e n g a n d Tutume.
1976 and 1980.
P e r c e n t of a l l households.
Letlhakeng
1976
Tutume
1980
1976
1980
23
30
Peasant cultivation
+
wage work
P e a s a n t animal husbandry
+
wage work
5
Total
Note.
Only m a r r i e d p e o p l e a r e i n c l u d e d , i . e .
a r e excluded.
4
c h i l d r e n and g r a n d p a r e n t s
I n a b o u t h a l f t h e h o u s e h o l d s i n t h e two v i l l a g e s , t h a t n e i t h e r had l a b o u r
m i g r a n t s n o r s h u t t l e r s a t t h e t i m e of t h e s t u d y , t h e h u s b a n d s had e x p e r i e n c e s from l a b o u r m i g r a t i o n t o S o u t h A f r i c a ( t a b l e 3 0 ) . N e a r l y a l l o f
The
t h e s e men became o c c u p i e d w i t h a g r i c u l t u r e a f t e r s e t t l i n g a t home.
e a r n i n g s from labour m i g r a t i o n have e v i d e n t l y n o t l e d t o a m o d e r n i z a t i o n
of agriculture.
Labour m i g r a t i o n c o n s t i t u t e s i n s t e a d a way o f s e c u r i n g
a minlmum l i f e s t a n d a r d w i t h o u t a n y p o s s i b i l i t y f o r s a v i n g and a c c u m u l a t i o n .
C o l c l o u g h and F a l l o n ( 1 9 8 3 ) h a v e c a l c u l a t e d from RIDS- data t h a t househ o l d s w i t h l a b o u r m i g r a n t s i n S o u t h A f r i c a had o n a v e r a g e a lower l e v e l of
l i v i n g (PDL- values) t h a n t h e o v e r a l l r u r a l a v e r a g e .
T a b l e 30.
Husbands s t a y i n g a t home and t h e i r work e x p e r i e n c e i n S o u t h
Africa.
L e t l h a k e n g a n d Tutume.
1976 and 1980.
Letlhakeng
Mining
Other
Percent.
Tutume
1976
1980
1976
1980
46
55
25
14
11
34
3
Unknown
Never worked i n S o u t h A f r i c a
Total
12
51
45
64
40
100
100
100
100
On t h e background o f what i s s a i d above it i s i m p o r t a n t t h a t a l a r g e
p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e young men (15- 34 y e a r s ) work o u t s i d e t h e i r r u r a l home
area.
The f i g u r e s were 68 and 44% f o r Tutume and L e t l h a k e n g r e s p e c t i v e l y
( e x c l u d e d from t h e c a l c u l a t i o n a r e m a r r i e d men, who a r e accompanied b y
t h e w i f e , and t h o s e who a r e s c h o o l i n g ) .
The main r e a s o n f o r t h e d i f f e r e n c e
b e t w e e n t h e two v i l l a g e s r e s t s on t h e f a c t t h a t n e a r l y a l l l a b o u r m i g r a n t s
t o S o u t h A f r i c a from L e t l h a k e n g work i n t h e m i n e s .
I n 1976 t h e m i n i n g
companies i n S o u t h A f r l c a d e c i d e d t o g i v e p r i o r i t y t o S o u t h A f r i c a n
b l a c k l a b o u r t o c o n t r i b u t e t o a r e d u c t i o n i n unemployment r e g a r d i n g t h i s
group.
I t t h u s became d i f f i c u l t f o r Batswana t o renew c o n t r a c t s w i t h
S o u t h A f r i c a n m i n i n g companies.
T h i s l e d t o a h i g h e r t h a n normal r e t u r n
o f l a b o u r m i g r a n t s t o L e t l h a k e n g d u r i n g t h e 1976- 1979 p e r i o d .
A similar
problem was n o t e n c o u n t e r e d by most l a b o u r m i g r a n t s t o S o u t h A f r i c a from
Tutume b e c a u s e t h e y p r i m a r i l y work i n c o n s t r u c t i o n ( b u i l d i n g and p a i n t i n g ) .
CONCLUSION
T h e n a t u r a l c o n d i t i o n s f o r crcl:; : : ~ u ' ! ~ ~ I ? icnz >
Botswana
~ ~ T I are in
normal y e a r s o f amount and d i s t r i b u t i o n o f r a i n f a l l f a i r r e garding dryland, semi- arid farming.
The n a t u r a l c o n d i t i o n s c a n n o t g e n e r a l l y
b e s a i d t o impede a m o d e r n i z a t i o n o f c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n .
This conclusion is
s u b s t a n t i a t e d by t h e f a c t t h a t a small nwnber o f agricuZturaZ producers out-
s i d e t h e freehold farms have become farmers and e s p e c i a l l y muZtiactive farmers during t h e l a s t few years.
F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e r e a r e some p u r e p e a s a n t -
c u l t i v a t o r s who h a v e a d o p t e d new methods o f c u l t i v a t i o n s u c h a s " p u r e broadc a s t i n g " , and who by some would b e c a l l e d emergent f a r m e r s .
Botswaca i s w e l l s u i t e d f o r c a t t l e ranching.
The s i t u a t i o n t o d a y i s t h a t
a few r i c h household,- ( r i c h even by N o m ~ e g i mstandard) r e l y only on ranching as a source o f income or i n combination w i t h work or business i n urban
centres.
This group of households w i l l probably i n c r e a s e a b s o l u t e l y .
There
w i l l b e a r e l a t i v e i n c r e a s e i n t h e n o t s o r i c h p u r e r a n c h e r and m u l t i a c t i v e
rancher households.
T h i s change w i l l b e f u r t h e r e d n o t l e a s t b y t h e new
l a n d t e n u r e system f o r g r a z i n g l a n d .
Since c a t t l e still a r e e s s e n t i a l f o r
p l o u g h i n g i n Botswana, t h e r e c u r r e n t d r o u g h t s become a n e x p l a n a t o r y var i a b l e f o r d r o p - o u t o f a g r ~ c u l t u r a lp u r s u i t s t h r o u g h t h e i m p a c t on c a t t l e
ownership d i s t r i b u t i o n .
I n L e t l h a k e n g , where d r o u g h t s a r e u s u a l l y more
s e v e r e t h a n i n Tutume, n e a r l y h a l f o f t h e h o u s e h o l d s d o n o t own a n y c a t t l e
a t all.
I n Tutume t h e f i g u r e i s o n l y 9 % .
P a r t i c u l a r l y t h e d r o u g h t from
l 9 6 1 t o 1966 t o o k a h e a v y t o l l on t h e c a t t l e h e r d s i n t h e e a s t e r n more pop u l a t e d p a r t of t h e country.
Many o f t h e b i g c a t t l e owners were a b l e t o
t a k e most o f t h e i r c a t t l e f u r t h e r w e s t and e v e n t o d r i l l new b o r e h o l e s ,
t h e r e b y s a v i n g them.
The s m a l l e r h e r d owners, e s p e c i a l l y t h o s e h a v i n g o n l y
a few h e a d s o f c a t t l e , l o s t a l l .
o r h i r e c a t t l e f o r ploughing.
Such h o u s e h o l d s a r e now f o r c e d t o borrow
42% of t h e c u l t i v a t i n g h o u s e h o l d s i n L e t l h a -
keng and 19% i n Tutume r e l y s o l e l y on borrowed oxen f o r p l o u g h i n g .
Since
f e m a l e h o u s e h o l d s h a v e n o male l a b o u r t o o f f e r i n r e t u r n f o r a s s i s t a n c e i n
p l o u g h i n g , t h e y f i n d it d i f f i c u l t e v e n t o h i r e m a l e l a b o u r b e c a u s e of t h e
g e n e r a l l a c k of such labour i n t h e f i e l d a r e a s .
T h i s i s t h e main problem
e x p r e s s e d by t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s i n T u t m e .
I n Letlhakeng unfavour-
a b l e n a t u r a l c o n d i t i o n s a r e somewhat more o f t e n m e n t i o n e d ( H e s s e l b e r g 1982 a ) .
The o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r l a b o u r m l g r a t l o n e a r l i e r a n d s h u t t l i n g t o d a y have g i v e n
p a r t i c u l a r l y men a n a l t e r n a t i v e way o f a c q u i r i n g a n income.
The h i g h p e r -
centage of m u l t i a c t i v e households i n t h e v i l l a g e s p i c t u r e s t h i s s i t u a t i o n
well.
Population g r m t h ( p r e s e n t l y p r o b a b l y a t 3 . 2 % p e r annum)
1
can n e i t h e r be
s a i d t o have been i n s t r u m e n t a l i n b r i n g i n g about changes i n t h e a g r a r i a n
s y s t e m n o r i n c r e a t i n g a p r o c e s s of d r o p - o u t a s i s t h e c a s e i n many p a r t s
o f A s i a and L a t i n America.
The r e a s o n f o r t h i s i s t h a t whenever t h e f e r -
t i l i t y o f t h e s o i l i n a f i e l d was e x h a u s t e d , a movement t o new l a n d was
p o s s i b l e f o r most a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s i n Botswana.
f u t u r e with higher investments such a s wire fencing.
T h i s may change i n
I t may thus be con-
cluded t h a t tile price- squeeze, t h a t i s , world i n f l a t i o n on b a s i c conswner
goods, has forced r u r a l households t o continue t o send members for work
t o South A f r i c a or i n c r e a s i n g l y t o t h e new towns i n Botswana.
1
I n a few
The a n n u a l p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e was 4.6% from t h e 1971 t o t h e 1 9 8 1 c e n s u s .
I t i s , however, l i k e l y t h a t u n d e r c o u n t i n g t o o k p l a c e i n 1 9 7 1 ( C e n t r a l
S t a t i s t i c O f f i c e , C o u n t r y P r o f i l e 1982).
c a s e s t h e fundamental p e a s a n t dilemma h a s been temporary " s o l v e d " by a r e d u c t i o n i n l e v e l of consumption.
d e s t i t u t e s , h a s been c r e a t e d .
An impoverished group of h o u s e h o l d s , t h e
One may a r g u e t h a t t h i s s i t u a t i o n h a s been
allowed t o p e r s i s t b e c a u s e of t h e l a c k of government i n t e r v e n t i o n i n t h e
form of s u b s i d i e s t o c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n .
Such s u b s i d i e s , i f a d e q u a t e , would
p r o b a b l y have p r o v i d e d s u f f i c i e n t p r o s p e c t s f o r improved incomes from a g r i c u l t u r e which would have i n c r e a s e d t h e need f o r more male and f e m a l e l a b o u r
i n t h i s s e c t o r a t t h e p r e s e n t s t a g e of t h e development of t h e p r o d u c t i v e
forces.
There i s s e n s e i n d e s c r i b i n g t h e a g r a r i a n s i t u a t i o n i n Botswana a s "delayed
transition":
The uneven p r o d u c t i v i t y of t h e v a r i o u s economic a c t i v i t i e s
and between a g r i c u l t u r e i n Botswana and i n South A f r i c a b o t h make wage work
i n mining and i n o t h e r modern a c t i v i t i e s r e l a t i v e l y more r e m u n e r a t i v e t h a n
a g r i c u l t u r e ( a l t h o u g h t h e wages do n o t c o m p l e t e l y f o l l o w t h e r e l a t i v e prod u c t i v i t i e s a t any one t i m e ) .
The r e s u l t s a r e l a b o u r s h o r t a g e i n a g r i c u l -
t u r e and c o m p e t i t i o n on t h e urban food market.
The l a t t e r i s h a r d t o win
b o t h f o r p u r e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s and m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s i n
Botswana.
A c c o r d i n g l y , t h e s o c i e t a l e v o l u t i o n of r e l a t i o n s w i t h South
A f r i c a and t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l p r i c e s t r u c t u r e are t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e recurr e n t droughts ( l e a d i n g t o high r i s k aversion behaviour) t h e main explanat i o n s for t h i s "delayed t r a n s i t i o n " .
An a s p e c t of t h e r e c u r r e n t d r o u g h t s
h a s t h e o p p o s i t e e f f e c t through t h e c r e a t i o n of a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s .
T h i s h a s , however, o n l y happened t o a l i m i t e d d e g r e e .
I n Letlhakeng 16%
of t h e households have a t l e a s t one member who i s a n a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r .
The f i g u r e f o r Tutume i s 2 % .
A g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s may w e l l b e more nu-
merous t h a n n a t i o n a l s t a t i s t i c s s i g n i f y .
However,
t h e r e a s o n f o r t h e ab-
s e n c e of a large number of a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s , i s t h e l a c k of improved
p r o d u c t i v i t y which c o u l d have c r e a t e d a l a r g e r group of f a r m e r s o r a t l e a s t
multiactive farmers.
C o n t r a r y t o t h e common view,
lack o f land i s not found
t o be a necessary c o n d i t i o n for t h e c r e a t i o n o f drop-outs m d a g r i c u l t u r a l
labourers.
The low need f o r f e m a l e l a b o u r i n a g r i c u l t u r e i n t h e p r e s e n t s i t u a t i o n g i v e s
few o p t i o n s f o r d r o p - o u t s from (own) a g r i c u l t u r e b u t t o become d e s t i t u t e s .
The comon agrarian t r a n s i t i o n o f improved p r o d u c t i v i t y and/or incomes from
a g r i c u l t u r e , land grabbing and e v i c t i o n of t e n a n t s who t h e n become urban
workers, r u r a l labourers or urban and r u r a l d e s t i t u t e s , has n o t occurred i n
Botswana i n a s i m i l a r fashion.
One f i n d s only part o f t h i s process, t h a t
i s , t h e c r e a t i o n o f p o v e ~ t yand some aZthough few agricuZturaZ Zabourers.
In future,
a m o d e r n i z a t i o n o f c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n a n d a n i n c r e a s e i n t h e num-
b e r o f p u r e r a n c h e r h o u s e h o l d s w i l l depend on t h e r e l a t i v e s t r e n g t h o f t h e
f o r c e s behind t h e "delayed t r a n s i t i o n " .
I n a d d i t i o n , it may become a p r o -
blem t h a t t h e number o f p e o p l e w i l l i n g t o engage i n more h e a v i l y s t a t e subs i d i z e d f a r m i n g i n t h e medium- run, w i l l b e low b e c a u s e most h o u s e h o l d s h a v e
b e e n forced by t h e way i n which t h e a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n i s b e i n g d e l a y e d ,
t o become m u l t i a c t i v e and t h u s c l o s e l y l i n k e d t o u r b a n c e n t r e s income and
c o g n i t i v e wise.
The concZusions on t h e p o i n t s e s t a b l i s h e d i n c h a p t e r 6 r e g a r d i n g t h e
e s s e n t i a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of an a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n confirm t h a t a g r i c u l t u r e i n Botswana i s w e l l i n t o s u c h a t r a n s i t i o n b e c a u s e :
First,
r i s k a v e r s i o n i s a t y p i c a l t r a i t o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n . A modern
system o f i n s u r a n c e h a s n o t y e t f u l l y r e p l a c e d t h e t r a d i t i o n a l k i n s h i p and
t r i b a l r u l e s of r e d i s t r i b u t i o n .
quitous.
dern.
T h e s e r u l e s a r e moreover no l o n g e r u b i -
Second, c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n i s a l b e i t v e r y s l o w l y becoming more mo-
T h i s i s e v i d e n t b o t h from t h e v i l l a g e s t u d i e s a n d from n a t i o n a l s t a -
tistics.
Y i e l d s a r e n o t improving on a v e r a g e a t n a t i o n a l l e v e l .
p e r s a f a s t e r modernization.
T h i s ham-
C a t t l e r e a r i n g w i l l p r o b a b l y become more
e f f i c i e n t when t h e new " commercial g r a z i n g a r e a s " become f e n c e d .
Still,
e s s e n t i a l a s p e c t s of n a t i o n a l a g r a r i a n p o l i c i e s h a v e t o b e f o r m u l a t e d i n
order t o reduce t h e r i s k involved i n a g r i c u l t u r e .
Third, m u l t i a c t i v e a g r i -
c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s a r e n o t becoming more numerous r e l a t i v e l y , t h e y a l r e a d y
c o n s t i t u t e t h e t y p i c a l a g r i c u l t u r a l h o u s e h o l d i n Botswana.
A result is that
a s much a s 58% o f t h e c u l t i v a t o r s a r e e s t i m a t e d b y I L O t o b e f e m a l e (def i n e d a s t h e one d o i n g most o f t h e work, Dixon 1 9 8 3 ) .
The f a c t t h a t m u l t i -
a c t i v i t y i s a m a j o r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of t h e economy a t t h e h o u s e h o l d l e v e l i n
v i l l a g e s i n t h e c o u n t r y , shows t h a t t h e p e a s a n t s d o n o t h a v e " l i m i t e d wants".
Q u i t e on t h e c o n t r a r y , t h e y p u r s u e " e v e r y " s o u r c e o r n i c h e a v a i l a b l e t o them
i n o r d e r t o improve t h e i r l e v e l o f l i v i n g .
To c l a i m t h a t Botswana i s ex-
c e p t i o n a l b e c a u s e o f t h e p r o x l r n i t y t o ~vrorkplacesi n W i t w a t e r s r a n d i n S o u t h
A f r i c a ( f o r i n s t a n c e compared t o p e a s a n t s i n T a n z a n i a ) , i s j u s t t o u n d e r l i n e
t h e above p o i n t :
Peasants w i l l n o t , given t h e r i g h t e n v i r o m e n t i n a wide
sense, continue t o be peasants.
Fourth, t h e r e i s a socio- economic s t r a t i -
f i c a t i o n among t h e p e a s a n t s which i s p r i m a r i l y b a s e d on c a t t l e ownership.
T h i s d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n h a s up t o now o n l y l e d t o t h e f o r m a t i o n of a v e r y
s m a l l group of modern a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s .
A t t h e o t h e r hand, drop-
o u t i s a l r e a d y a r e l a t i v e l y pronounced phenomenon.
The a g r a r i a n t r a n s i -
t i o n i n Botswana i s d i f f e r e n t from t h e bypica1 European t r a n s i t i o n i n
that
drop-out is occurring while few modern agricuZtura2 producers come
i n t o existence.
CHAPTER 10
INEQUALITY AND POVERTY
T h i s c h a p t e r i n c l u d e s d a t a on i n e q u a l i t y and p o v e r t y i n Botswana.
The
h y p o t h e s e s f o r m u l a t e d r e g a r d i n g t h e c a u s e s of p o v e r t y and t h e i r c o n n e c t i o n
with the agrarian t r a n s i t i o n a r e then discussed.
INEQUALITY
The changes i n l e v e l of l i v i n g , e v i d e n t from i n d e x - v a l u e s ( t a b l e 3 1 ) , show
a t y p i c a l p a t t e r n f o r t h e T h i r d World:
There h a s been a g e n e r a l improve-
ment b u t w i t h i n c r e a s i n g i n e q u a l i t y i n Tutume and a s t a g n a t i o n i n L e t l h a keng.
The q u e s t i o n posed i n c h a p t e r 6 h a s t h u s been confirmed i n t h i s c a s e ,
t h a t i s , economic growth
i s accompanied w i t h a wider income gap i n a market
economy a t t h i s Z P V ~ ?o~f development.
T a b l e 31.
I n e q u a l i t y i n l e v e l of l i v i n g .
1976 and 1980.
Letlhakeng and Tutume.
Index- values f o r households.
Letlhakeng
1976
Tutume
1980
1976
1980
10% h i g h e s t
25% l o w e s t
10% l o w e s t
The main f i n d i n g when l e v e l of l i v i n g i s c o r r e l a t e d w i t h "work p o s i t i o n "
and d i f f e r e n t c a t e g o r i e s of a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s , i s t h a t households i n
t h e v a r i o u s groups a r e found a l l along t h e r i c h
- poor dimension.
The
e x c e p t i o n c o n s i s t s of t h o s e h o u s e h o l d s t h a t r e l y o n l y on b e e r b r e w i n g , a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r o r o t h e r work f o r l o c a l h o u s e h o l d s ,
These households a r e among t h e p o o r e s t .
(i.e.
t h e drop-outs).
There i s i n t h i s r e s p e c t no d i f f e -
r e n c e between L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume.
I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o n o t e t h a t no
s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e was f o u n d between p u r e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s a n d
multiactive peasant- cultivators.
Of t h o s e h o u s e h o l d s t h a t combine 3 o r
more s o u r c e s o f income, t h e r e was a n o v e r w e i g h t onmiddle- income households r e l a t i v e t o t h e other categories.
The a b o v e main f i n d i n g i s sub-
s t a n t i a t e d b y C o l c l o u g h a n d F a l l o n (1983) who f o u n d by c a l c u l a t i n g on
RIDS- data n o c o r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n income s o u r c e s a n d income l e v e l o f households.
A s e x p e c t e d , t h e p a t t e r n f o u n d among t h e v a r i o u s c a t e g o r i e s o f
m u l t i a c t i v e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r h o u s e h o l d s i n t h e two s t u d y v i l l a g e s was
t h a t households combining e i t h e r local or external wage work w i t h crop cul-
t i v a t i o n and i n addition had a few c a t t l e were r e l a t i v e l y w e l l - o f f .
it i s a t t h i s d i s a g g r e g a t e d l e v e l t h a t a p a t t e r n emerges.
contention o f
Hence,
This supports the
t h e p r e s e n t work, t h a t i s , t h a t an a n a l y s i s o f t h e combina-
t i o n s of income sources a t the household l e v e l i n r u r a l Botswana i s essent i a l t o o r r i v e a t meaningful p o l i c i e s of agrarian change and s o c i a l development.
T h e r e i s a p o s i t i v e c o n n e c t i o n between h o u s e h o l d s i z e and l e v e l o f l i v i n g .
This connection i s not very strong.
F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e somewhat h i g h e r income
among l a r g e r h o u s e h o l d s on a v e r a g e d o e s n o t stem from more c r o p s p r o d u c e d .
S i n c e b o t h p u r e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r and m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r househ o l d s a r e l a r g e r t h a n a v e r a g e , t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f l a r g e r h o u s e h o l d s t o comb i n e more income s o u r c e s c a n n o t b e t h e e x p l a n a t i o n .
Moreover, C o l c l o u g h and
F a l l o n (1983) d i d n o t f i n d a n y c o r r e l a t i o n among income and h o u s e h o l d s i z e .
I t i s t h e n m o s t l i k e l y t h a t t h e r e i s a n i n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n i n t h e d a t a from
L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume r e g a r d i n g l e v e l o f l i v i n g , h o u s e h o l d s i z e a n d c a t t l e
ownership.
(The c o r r e l a t i o n between l e v e l o f l i v i n g and c a t t l e o w n e r s h i p i s
s i g n i f i c a n t a t t h e 0.001 l e v e l . )
To own c a t t l e i s u n d o u b t e d l y t h e most i m -
p o r t a n t r u r a l a s s e t a t t h e h o u s e h o l d l e v e l , and t h e r e f o r e t h e f u n d a m e n t a l
f a c t o r of d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n .
T h i s i s s u b s t a n t i a t e d by t h e l a c k o f c o r r e l a t i o n
b o t h b e t w e e n l e v e l o f l i v i n g and whether t h e m a l e head o r woman i n t h e househ o l d i s i n c h a r g e of c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n and between l e v e l of l l v l n y and w h c t l ~ e r
o r n o t t h e husband i s h e l p i n g i n a g r i c u l t u r a l t a s k s .
I n f i g u r e s 1 0 and 11 t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f c a t t l e o w n e r s h i p shows a skewed and
c o n s t a n t p a t t e r n a t t h e n a t i o n a l l e v e l a n d a n o t s o skewed b u t a n i n c r e a s i n g l y more u n e q u a l o w n e r s h i p i n L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume.
By e x c l u d i n g t h e
F i g u r e 11.
D i s t r i b u t i o n of c a t t l e o w n e r s h i p
Botswana.
1975 and 1981.
%
Note.
Source:
cattle- owning households
Households without c a t t l e a r e excluded.
C a l c u l a t e d from RIDS- data 1976,
M i n i s t r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e , A g r i c u l t u r a l S t a t i s t i c s 1981.
f r e e h o l d and l e a s e h o l d f a r m s from a c a l c u l a t i o n a t n a t i o n a l l e v e l , t h e
G i n i c o e f f i c i e n t (0.63) i s s t i l l higher t h a n t h e one found f o r Letlhakeng
and Tutume.
The median number o f c a t t l e i s 1 5 i n L e t l h a k e n g ( i . e .
t h e h o u s e h o l d s owning c a t t l e h a v e 1 5 o r l e s s ) .
from 1 5 t o 1 7 b e t w e e n 1976 and 1980.
from 1 6 t o 22.
50% o f
I n Tutume t h e median r o s e
N a t i o n a l l y , t h e median i n c r e a s e d
S i n c e t h e d r o u g h t i n t h e e a r l y 1 9 6 0 s , t h e p e r c e n t a g e of
r u r a l h o u s e h o l d s w i t h o u t c a t t l e h a s d e c r e a s e d somewhat.
t h e r u r a l h o u s e h o l d s d i d n o t h a v e any c a t t l e .
1 9 7 1 g a v e a f i g u r e o f 41%.
t h e p e r c e n t a g e t o b e 40.
I n 1966 49% o f
The P o p u l a t i o n C e n s u s o f
I n 1979 V i e r i c h and Sheppard ( 1 9 8 0 ) e s t i m a t e d
The a b o v e f i g u r e s s t a n d i n s h a r p c o n t r a s t t o
what S c h a p e r a f o u n d i n t h e 1 9 4 0 s - l e s s t h a n 1 0 % o f t h e h o u s e h o l d s were
then without c a t t l e (Schapera 1947).
The c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f c a t t l e owner-
s h i p h a s b e e n p a r t i c u l a r l y pronounced among t h e v e r y few b i g owners
( t a b l e 321.
Table 32.
Concentration of c a t t l e ownership.
Botswana.
1 9 7 5 and 1981.
1975
9.5%
o f c a t t l e owning h o u s e h o l d s had
50.1% o f t h e c a t t l e
0 . 0 4 % o f c a t t l e owning h o u s e h o l d s had
3.6% o f t h e c a t t l e
9.2%
o f c a t t l e owning h o u s e h o l d s had
54.1% o f t h e c a t t l e
0.03% o f c a t t l e owning h o u s e h o l d s had
14.9% of t h e c a t t l e
Source:
C a l c u l a t e d from C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s O f f i c e , RIDS 1976,
M i n i s t r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e , A g r i c u l t u r a l S t a t i s t i c s 1981.
Note.
I t s h o u l d b e s t r e s s e d t h a t t h e d a t a on c a t t l e o w n e r s h i p u s e d , a r e
b a s e d o n s a m p l e s t a k e n b y t h e M i n i s t r y of A g r i c u l t u r e , and d o n o t
i n c l u d e t h e handful of persons w i t h t e n s of thousands of c a t t l e .
I n 1 9 8 1 1 9 " c a t t l e f a r m s " ( i n d i v i d u a l o w n e r s h i p ) had 6% o f t h e t o t a l n a t i o n a l herd.
T h e i r h e r d s were on a v e r a g e a b o v e 1 0 000.
T h e s e b i g owners a r e
mainly c h i e f s o r r e l a t i v e s t o c h i e f s .
Thus, t h e initial inequality is a
cause of today's inequality. S i n c e t h e c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f c a t t l e o w n e r s h i p
h a s b e e n e s p e c i a l l y s t r o n g among t h e b i g owners and t h e G i n i c o e f f i c i e n t s
h a v e n o t changed s i g n i f i c a n t l y even from t h e l a t e 1960s when it was r e -
p o r t e d t o b e 0.69
( s a m p l e o f o n l y 450 h o u s e h o l d s , M i n i s t r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e
1 9 7 1 ) , t h e many s m a l l e r o r medium owners must h a v e i n c r e a s e d t h e i r h e r d s
d u r i n g t h e good r a i n s i n t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e 1 9 7 0 s .
The r e l a t i v e i n -
c r e a s e h a s b e e n i n t h e number o f h o u s e h o l d s h a v i n g 21 t o 60 c a t t l e ,
w h e r e a s t h e r e h a s b e e n a r e l a t i v e d e c r e a s e i n t h e number w i t h 1 t o 20.
The
high concentration regarding c a t t l e wealth is i n p a r t due t o t h e purchase
o f meat b y EEC.
I n 1976/77, f o r i n s t a n c e , t h e p r i c e o n b o n e l e s s b e e f t h a t
t h e Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) o b t a i n e d t h r o u g h t h e Lome' C o n v e n t i o n ,
was 49% h i g h e r t h a n t h e w o r l d m a r k e t p r i c e ( J e s k e 1 9 7 8 ) .
Massow (1981)
m a i n t a i n t h a t t h i s " a i d " t o Botswana worsens t h e skewed income d i s t r i b u t i o n
among a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s i n Botswana by t h e way t h e b e n e f i t s a r e a l l o c a t e d among t h o s e i n v o l v e d i n t h e c a t t l e s e c t o r .
D a t a i s n o t a v a i l a b l e r e g a r d i n g income i n e q u a l i t y i n g e n e r a l a t n a t i o n a l
level.
i n 1975.
The RIDS- report r e v e a l s a G i n i c o e f f i c i e n t a t 0.52 f o r r u r a l a r e a s
I t i s n o t p o s s i b l e t o s a y whether o r n o t t h i s f i g u r e h a s increased.
The f i g u r e , which would b e h i g h e r i f u r b a n c e n t r e s were i n c l u d e d , d e p i c t s a
more skewed d i s t r i b u t i o n t h a n m o s t o t h e r T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s .
There i s a n
i n c r e a s i n g g a p b e t w e e n f o r m a l u r b a n minimum wages and incomes d e r i v a b l e
from s e E e m p l o y m e n t , which i s m a i n l y a g r i c u l t u r e
(Lipton 1980).
between t h o s e w i t h wage work h a s i n c r e a s e d from 1976 t o 1980.
Inequality
The wages f o r
C i v i l S e r v a n t s i n c r e a s e d w i t h 4 1 t o 50% form t h e s e c r e t a r i a l t o t h e s u p e r
s c a l e , w h e r e a s t h e " i n d u s t r i a l c l a s s " ( u n s k i l l e d and s e m i - s k i l l e d ) o n l y r e c e i v e d a 20% i n c r e a s e .
The c o s t o f l i v i n g i n d e x f o r a l l i t e m s and a l l i n -
come g r o u p s r o s e b y 36 p e r c e n t a g e - p o i n t s i n t h e same p e r i o d (August 1980 =
100) ( D i r e c t o r a t e of Personnel 1981, C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s O f f i c e , B u l l e t i n s
1979 and 1 9 8 2 ) .
The s k i l l e d w o r k e r s h a v e t h u s improved t h e i r l e v e l o f li-
v i n g n o t o n l y r e l a t i v e t o o t h e r w o r k e r s and a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s b u t a s
t h e o n l y g r o u p b e s i d e s b i g c a t t l e owners a l s o I n r e a l t e r m s .
However,
most u r b a n w o r k e r s e a r n t o o l i t t l e t o s u p p o r t t h e i r f a m i l i e s on t h e i r wages
alone (table 3 3 ) .
A s much a s t w o - t h i r d s o f t h e sample i n c l u d e d i n t h e em-
ployment s u r v e y i n Gaborone i n 1 9 8 1 had wages below t h e
established by t h e government.
P o v e r t y Datum L i n e
This i s not d i r e c t l y given i n t h e t a b l e
s i n c e a number o f t h e h o u s e h o l d s below t h e PDL f o r a normal
h o l d h a v e f e w e r members.
members.
s i z e d house-
However, some h o u s e h o l d s above t h e l i n e h a v e more
S i n c e t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f h o u s e h o l d s i z e on income g r o u p s i s n o t
known, t h e r e l i a b i l i t y o f t h e above c o n c l u s i o n c a n n o t b e a s s e s s e d .
Further-
more, some s c h o l a r s m a i n t a i n t h a t t h e PDL i s s e t a t t o o h i g h a l e v e l .
Watanabe and Mueller (1984), f o r i n s t a n c e , suggest t h a t an income of 75%
of t h e PDL cut- off p o i n t shouUd b e used r e g a r d i n g t h e r u r a l RIDS.
To be
on t h e s a f e s i d e , one may s a y t h a t w e l l above h a l f of t h e households i n
Gaborone must have incomes from other sources o r f r m more than one wage
emer.
The NMS (1982) a r r i v e d a t t h e f i g u r e 50% f o r t h e towns on average.
The q l ~ e s t i o nposed was i n t h a t survey somewhat more narrow, t h a t i s , those
households i n urban c e n t r e s having f i e l d s , c a t t l e o r both i n a d d i t i o n t o
urban incomes.
To sum up, t i m e - s e r i e s d a t a a r e n o t a v a i l a b l e on income i n Botswana i n geI f c a t t l e and wages a r e used a s i n d i c a t o r s , i n e q u a l i t y has been
neral.
increasing between 1976 and 1980.
Moreover, t h e i n e q u a l i t y was already very
high by 1976 compared t o other c o u n t r i e s , and t h e r e are few i n d i c a t i o n s on
probable changes i n t h i s p i c t u r e i n t h e immediate future.
POVERTY
Few households a r e without any source of income.
I n Tutume n o t more than
a handful of households depend e n t i r e l y on handouts from r e l a t i v e s and neighbours.
I n Letlhakeng t h e p r o p o r t i o n of such households i n c r e a s e d from 5 t o
8% from 1976 t o 1980.
Other r e l e v a n t groups of households t o i n c l u d e i n
a d d i t i o n t o t h e s e households i n o r d e r t o e s t a b l i s h t h e c a t e g o r y d e s t i t u t e
households, a r e t h o s e occupied with:
Beerbrewing o n l y , a g r i c u l t u r a l labour
o n l y , n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l work f o r l o c a l households only and any combination of
these a c t i v i t i e s .
Almost a l l households with t h e s e occupations a r e of t h e
l e v e l of l i v i n g group 3.
destitutes.
Those who a r e n o t , a r e excluded from t h e category
Table 34 shows t h a t even i n t h i s more encompassing c a t e g o r y ,
few households a r e found r e g a r d i n g Tutume.
poverty i s r e l a t i v e l y widespread.
I n Letlhakeng, on t h e o t h e r hand,
The d e s t i t u t e households a r e t h e house-
h o l d s w i t h t h e lowest l e v e l of l i v i n g index- values.
be the p o o r e s t of t h e poor.
female households.
They may t h u s be s a i d t o
A s expected, t h e s e households c o n s i s t mostly of
I n Tutume a l l of them a r e female.
I n Letlhakeng t h e
d i f f i c u l t y of g e t t i n g work i n t h e gold mines i n South A f r i c a has changed
t h i s pattern.
I n 1976 20% of t h e d e s t i t u t e households i n t h i s v i l l a g e had
a grown-up male member a t home, whereas t h e f i g u r e had i n c r e a s e d t o 30% by
1980.
The f i g u r e s nonetheless underline t h e problems women without c a t t l e
i n the r u r a l areas have i n t h e agrarian t r a n s i t i o n during which men increa-
singzy take port i n modem economic a c t i v i t i e s .
The main r e a s o n f o r t h e
p r o b l e m s i s t h a t women s t a y b a c k w i t h t h e c h i l d r e n i n a partZy t r a n s formed a g r i c u l t u r a l s e c t o r .
T a b l e 34.
D e s t i t u t e households.
1976 a n d 1980.
L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume.
Percent.
Tutume
1976
1980
Letlhakeng
1976
1980
No s o u r c e o f income
5
8
Low r e m u n e r a t i v e s o u r c e o f income
14
13
D e s t i t u t e households
19
21
3
1
Basic poverty c a l c u l a t e d by o w n e r s h i p o f b l a n k e t s ( t a b l e 35) p o r t r a y s a
s u b s t a n t i a l improvement i n t h i s o n e - d i m e n s i o n a l view of " a b s o l u t e p o v e r t y " .
T a b l e 35.
Basic poverty.
L e t l h a k e n g and Tutume.
1976 a n d 1980.
Households w i t h l e s s t h a n
one b l a n k e t p e r p e r s o n
Note.
Percent.
Tuturne
Letlhakeng
1976
1980
1976
1980
61
13
38
10
Only h o u s e h o l d members a b o v e 5 y e a r s s t a y i n g a t home a r e i n c l u d e d .
Although v i r t u a l l y a l l h o u s e h o l d s i n Tutume h a v e income s o u r c e s o t h e r t h a n
l o w r e m u n e r a t i v e o n e s , 10% were b a s i c l y p o o r i n 1980.
The c a t e g o r i e s d e s -
t i t u t e and b a s i c l y poor a r e o f course n o t mutually exclusive.
Both measure
i n d i r e c t l y " a b s o l u t e p o v e r t y " i n a minimum r e q u i r e m e n t s e n s e .
The p r o p o r -
t i o n of Y ~ Z a t i vpoor
~
1980.
i n c r e a s e d i n L e t l h a k e n g from 3 1 t o 41% from 1976 t o
The f i g u r e s f o r Tutume were 1 3 a n d 7% r e s p e c t i v e l y .
a r e somewhat d i f f e r e n t from t h o s e g i v e n i n c h a p t e r 7 .
(The f i g u r e s
The r e a s o n f o r t h i s
i s t h e need t o u s e d i f f e r e n t a v e r a g e v a l u e s i n t h e c a l c u l a t i o n o f t h e l e v e l
of l i v i n g i n d e x .
The o b j e c t i v e i s h e r e t o compare l e v e l s o f l i v i n g o v e r
s p a c e and t i m e , and n o t t o u s e t h e g r o u p s a s a d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e i n analyses.
For f u r t h e r e x p l a n a t i o n s e e Hesselberg 1984.)
The p r o p o r t i o n of
only r e z a t i v e l y poor h o u s e h o l d s ( r e l a t i v e l y p o o r minus d e s t i t u t e househ o l d s ) h a s d e c l i n e d i n Tutume from 1 0 t o 6 % , w h e r e a s t h e f i g u r e f o r L e t l h a keng h a s i n c r e a s e d from 1 2 t o 21%.
T h i s i m p l i e s t h a t there i s a consider-
able d i f f e r e n c e between LetZhakeng and Tutwne regarding poverty i n 1980.
A t the nationuZ l e u e l , t h e nwnber o f poor households has probably increased
in absoZute and decreased i n r e l a t i v e terms during t h e 1370s.
I t i s now
e s t i m a t e d t h a t o n e - t h i r d o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i v e s below t h e PDL (Od6n 1 9 8 1 ) .
The PDL i s c a l c u l a t e d on t h e b a s i s o f minimum f o o d a n d o t h e r r e q u i r e m e n t s
a c c o r d i n g t o t h e a g e a n d s e x c o m p o s i t i o n o f e a c h h o u s e h o l d i n t h e sample i n
1974/75 i n r u r a l a r e a s a n d i n 1 9 7 5 i n u r b a n c e n t r e s ( C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s
O f f i c e 1976 a , 1976 b ) .
T h e r e h a s b e e n no s i m i l a r i n v e s t i g e t i o n s l a t e r .
The s t a n d a r d f o r t h e f o r m e r PDL was s e t a t a minimum s t a n d a r d l e v e l , wherea s t h e l a t t e r was a l i t t l e more i n c l u s i v e .
The two PDLs a r e t h u s n o t d i -
r e c t l y comparable.
I n 1 9 7 5 it was f o u n d t h a t 45% o f t h e r u r a l p o p u l a t i o n
were below t h e PDL.
The f i g u r e f o r t h e v a r i o u s towns l a y b e t w e e n 36 and
47%.
Egner and Klausen (1980) e s t i m a t e t h a t 250 000 p e r s o n s ( 3 0 % ) would
now b e below t h e s t a n d a r d s e t b y t h e PDL.
They f u r t h e r e s t i m a t e t h a t
1 5 000 ( 2 % ) a r e " c h r o n i c d e s t i t u t e s " ( w i t h o u t v i s i b l e o r known means of
support)
.
From t h e m a g n i t u d e s o f t h e f i g u r e s on incomes a t d i f f e r e n t l e v e l s , t h e r e
i s no d o u b t t h a t poverty i n Botswana i s of t h e secondary and n o t primary
kind.
The n u t r i t i o n a l s t a n d a r d would b e a d e q u a t e i f r e d i s t r i b u t i o n were
u n d e r t a k e n , a l t h o u g h FAO (1977) e s t i m a t e s u n d e r n o u r i s h m e n t t o a p p l y t o 36%
o f B o t s w a n a ' s p o p u l a t i o n i n t h e 1.972-1974 p e r i o d .
I n f a c t , B o t s w a n a ' s own
d q r i c u l t u r a l production t o g e t h e r w i t h food imports have never i n t h e postIndependence p e r i o d s u f f i c e d t o r e a c h a p e r person d i e t a r y energy supply
a c c o r d i n g t o r e q u i r e m e n t s ( 2 320 k c a l / p e r s o n / d a y ,
FAO 1 9 8 1 a ) .
I n normal
y e a r s t h e d a i l y d i e t is u s u a l l y adequate during t h e r a i n y season.
The f o o d
s h o r t a g e i s e x p e r i e n c e d f o r many h o u s e h o l d s a t t h e end o f t h e d r y s e a s o n .
I f r a i n f a l l f a i l s , a s h a s happened i n 1982 and i n 1983, f o o d r e l i e f p r o -
grammes a r e n e c e s s a r y o n e l a r g e s c a l e .
The government h a s now t a k e n o v e r
t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s t h a t t h e c h i e f s u s e d t o have r e g a r d i n g d r o u g h t r e l i e f .
I n A p r i l 1982 P r e s i d e n t Masire d e c l a r e d Botswana d r o u g h t - s t r i k e n and asked
t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l community t o a s s i s t i n t h e most s e r i o u s drought i n 10
years.
Next A p r i l t h e P r e s i d e n t had t o a p p e a l f o r c o n t i n u e d s u p p o r t .
At
t h e same time h e s a i d t h a t t h e p r i o r i t y t a s k of D i s t r i c t O f f i c i a l s would
be r e l i e f programmes.
The d r o u g h t a f f l i c t i n g l a r g e p a r t s of A f r i c a , i n -
c l u d i n q most of Southern A f r i c a , which was n o t t h e c a s e d u r i n g t h e s o c a l l e d
S a h e l i a n d r o u g h t i n t h e e a r l y 1970s, i s now c o n s i d e r e d t o be t h e w o r s t i n
t h i s c e n t u r y (The Times 27/7- 83).
I t is further reported t h a t deaths re-
l a t e d t o m a l n u t r i t i o n i n South A f r i c a have i n c r e a s e d s h a r p l y .
The govern-
ment of Botswana and o t h e r T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s a r e on t h i s background
a r g u i n g i n i n t e r n a t i o n a l f o r a f o r t h e need t o d e v i s e n a t i o n a l and i n t e r n a t i o n a l food s t r a t e g i e s which do n o t depend on s h o r t term and c o s t l y r e l i e f programmes ( D a i l y News 8/7- 83).
The government's own r e s p o n s e was t o
g i v e P40 p e r h e c t a r e l a n d c l e a r e d (maximum 3 ha p e r household) and 20 k i l o s
of s e e d s f r e e .
country.
Obviously, d r o u g h t s r e t a r d t h e g e n e r a l development of a
The p o s i t i v e a s p e c t f o r Botswana i s t h e a t t e n t i o n which suddenly
h a s been p a i d t o t h e l o n g n e g l e c t e d c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n .
Social development has been favourable i n Botswana i n t h e 1970s ( t a b l e 3 6 ) .
I n 1966 h a l f of t h e c h i l d r e n t h a t ought t o a t t e n d primary s c h o o l , d i d so.
I n 1980 71% a t t e n d e d ( c a l c u l a t e d from Fr@ysa 1 9 8 2 ) .
has e v i d e n t l y
improved tremendously.
Social infrastructure
For i n s t a n c e , now a s much a s 78% of
t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i v e w i t h i n 1 5 k i l o m e t r e s of a h e a l t h f a c i l i t y (Egner and
Klausen 1 9 8 0 ) .
The c o n c l u s i o n i s t h a t b a s i c s o c i a l i n f r a s t r u c t u r e h a s been
made a c c e s s i b l e t o most p e o p l e , a t t h e same time a s i n e q u a l i t y and p o v e r t y
persist.
I n f u t u r e Botswana's r a p i d p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e and young popula-
t i o n w i l l p r o b a b l y c r e a t e problems i n m a i n t a i n i n g , n o t t o speak of improving,
b a s i c h e a l t h and e d u c a t i o n which t o a l a r g e e x t e n t have been p r o v i d e d by i n t e r n a t i o n a l a i d donors.
Table 36.
S e l e c t e d i n d i c a t o r s of s o c i a l development.
Botswana.
Sub-Saharan A f r i c a
(weighted average)
L i f e expectancy a t b i r t h , y e a r s
I n f a n t m o r t a l i t y r a t e , 0/00
Source:
40
45
48
39
47
115
100
87
38
25
E s t i m a t e s based on UN Demographic Yearbook 1981, UN S t a t i s t i c a l
Yearbook 1979/80 and e a r l i e r e d i t i o n s .
World Bank 1981 b.
CONCLUSION
I n c h a p t e r 8 it was m a i n t a i n e d t h a t p o v e r t y d i d n o t e x i s t i n t h e t r a d i t i o n a l
Tswana s o c i e t i e s a l t h o u g h t h e number and d i v e r s i t y of m a t e r i a l goods a v a i l a b l e t o t h e households were low.
t i v e l y new phenomenon.
e a r l i e r times.
P o v e r t y can t h u s be s a i d t o be a r e l a -
I n e q u a l i t y , on t h e o t h e r hand, e x i s t e d a l s o i n
T h i s i n e q u a l i t y was a t a r e l a t i v e l y low l e v e l .
Moreover,
This i s a contrast t o the
t h e d e g r e e of i n e q u a l i t y was f a i r l y s t a b l e .
growing g a p between groups of p e o p l e i n r e c e n t t i m e s .
S i n c e 1976 t h e over-
a l l degree of i n e q u a l i t y i s n o t becoming s i g n i f i c a n t l y h i g h e r - it i s a l r e a d y v e r y h i g h compared t o an i n t e r n a t i o n a l s t a n d a r d .
I n e q u a l i t y i n Botswana i s p r i m a r i l y a q u e s t i o n of c a t t l e ownership ar:c? t o a
l e s s e r e x t e n t due t o w e l l - p a i d s k i l l e d and permanent jobs i n urban c e n t r e s .
Both n a t i o n a l s t a t i s t i c s and d a t a from v i l l a g e s t u d i e s show t h a t i n e q u a l i t y
h a s accompanied economic growth s i n c e Independence.
The h i g h government r e -
venues from diamond mining and c a t t l e e x p o r t s p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t h e second
h a l f of t h e 1970s were m o s t l y used f o r p h y s i c a l and s o c i a l i n f r a s t r u c t u r e .
P r o d u c t i v e a c t i v i t i e s which c o u l d p r o v i d e poor p e o p l e w i t h a n income, d i d
n o t g e t a comparable a t t e n t i o n .
Poverty i s t h u s a p e r s i s t e n t phenomenon i n
Botswana.
I s poverty then primarily created i n d i r e c t l y from s o c i e t a z e v o l u t i o n v i a t h e
agrarian t r a n s i t i o n ?
T h i s i s an i m p o r t a n t q u e s t i o n because i f p o v e r t y stems
d i r e c t b ~ f r o me i t h e r s o c i e t a l e v o l u t i o n o r p h y s i c a l c o n d i t i o n s f o r a g r i c u l t u r e , p o v e r t y i s n o t l i k e l y t o be e a s i l y a l l e v i a t e d through a g r a r i a n p o l i cies.
On t h e o t h e r hand, i f t h e cause of p o v e r t y can be t r a c e d from s o c i e -
t a l e v o l u t i o n through a g r i c u l t u r e o t h e r t h a n p h y s i c a l c o n d i t i o n s , t h e n agrar i a n p o l i c i e s may be used t o combat p o v e r t y .
finding t h a t
I t i s a c c o r d i n g l y an i m p o r t a n t
poverty i n Botswana i s s t i l l mainly associated w i t h r u r a l areas
and a g r i c u l t u r e .
I t i s o n l y t o a minor
e x t e n t c r e a t e d by s o c i e t a l evolu-
t l o n unconnected t o t h e a g r ~ c u l t u r a ls e c t o r .
An example o f t h i s l a t t e r
p o i n t i s t h e u n s k i l l e d c a s u a l urban workers w i t h o u t o t h e r s o u r c e s of income
who have had a d e c l i n i n g
r e a l wage.
P r o b a b l y , one- fourth of Gaborone's
p o p u l a t i o n e s c a p e s p o v e r t y because t h e y combine urban c a s u a l wages w i t h a g r i culture.
M o s t w i t h permanent employment f i n d no d i f f i c u l t i e s i n s u s t a i n i n g
t h e i r f a m i l i e s on t h e i r i n c r e a s i n g wages.
The f a c t t h a t many workers i n
Gaborone ( t a b l e 33) e a r n l e s s than t h e PDL i s connected t o t h e high p r i c e s
of l i v i n g i n t h e c a p i t a l .
Most of t h e s e workers cannot be s a i d t o be poor.
The physical conditions for a g r i c u l t u r e can furthermore n o t be said t o be
t h e leading cause of poverty.
No one lack a c c e s s t o land a s such.
The r e -
c u r r e n t droughts, however, c o n s t i t u t e a mechanism of poverty c r e a t i o n today.
This was n o t so e a r l i e r .
Droughts may t h u s r a t h e r be s a i d t o amplify t h e
consequences of mechanisms c a t e g o r i z e d under t h e s o c i e t a l e v o l u t i o n heading
than being an i s o l a t e d f o r c e .
Changes i n t h e c o n d i t i o n s f o r a g r i c u l t u r e i n
a narrow sense have n e i t h e r d i r e c t l y r e s u l t e d i n p e r s i s t e n t poverty f o r a
few nor i n mass p o v e r t y , although some households undoubtedly have become
poor through bad h a r v e s t s from time t o time.
The main reason for poverty i n Botswana thus l i e s i n changes a f f e c t i n g agric u l t u r e brought about b y t h e general s o c i e t a l evoZution.
F i r s t , t h e terms
of t r a d e of a g r i c u l t u r e i s discouraging p e a s a n t s from modernizing t h e i r production process.
The n e g a t i v e t r e n d of p r i c e s on a g r i c u l t u r a l o u t p u t com-
pared t o p r i c e s on o t h e r p r o d u c t s , t o wages and i n t e r n a l l y t o t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l s e c t o r t o c a t t l e , c r e a t e s a n e g a t i v e e x p e c t a t i o n of p o s s i b l e income der i v a b l e from crop production i n f u t u r e .
The reason f o r i n f l a t i o n i s not p r i -
m a r i l y found i n Botswana b u t a t t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l l e v e l .
Since Botswana has
a modern urban s e c t o r dependent on i n t e r n a t i o n a l sources of c a p i t a l and
technology, t h e country i s f o r c e d t o "import" i n f l a t i o n .
The t r a d i t i o n a l
s e c t o r i n Botswana i s t h u s i n f l u e n c e d by t h e e x i s t e n c e of t h e modern s e c t o r .
This common s i t u a t i o n f o r Third World c o u n t r i e s ought t o be ameliorated by
government p o l i c i e s toward p e a s a n t production, i n t h i s c a s e crop c u l t i v a t i o n
( i . e . mixed farming - crops and c a t t l e t o g e t h e r ) .
Second, t h e preoccupation
with c a t t l e , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t h e 1970s, among those with c a p i t a l and p o l i t i c a l power has made a g r i c u l t u r a l p o l i c i e s g e n e r a l l y and s u b s i d i e s e s p e c i a l l y
c l e a r l y biased.
Third, t h e l a c k of manpower i n t h e r u r a l a r e a s due t o t h e
above p r o c e s s , has r e s u l t e d i n drop- out from crop c u l t i v a t i o n regarding
mainly female households without c a t t l e .
P e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s become poor
when they have i n s u f f i c i e n t l a b o u r , equipment and animals t o c u l t i v a t e .
There
i s t h u s a skewed ownership of production r e s o u r c e s simultaneous with a r e duction i n t r a d i t i o n a l mechanisms of r e d i s t r i b u t i o n of a s s e t s .
This reduction
has n o t y e t been f u l l y r e p l a c e d by n a t i o n a l a g r a r i a n and o t h e r p o l i c i e s .
In
p a r t i c u l a r , l a c k of labour t o c l e a r new land becomes a c o n s t r a i n t on a g r i c u l t u r a l production when t h e system of mutual h e l p i s l e s s common than i t used
t o be.
This c o n s t r a i n t may be d e c i s i v e f o r many households because f e r -
t i l i z e r s and manure a r e n o t g e n e r a l l y used.
The wages poor pure peasant-
c u l t i v a t o r s can a f f o r d t o pay h i r e d labour a r e t o o low t o induce an adequate supply.
I n Barolong, f o r i n s t a n c e , t h e farmers t a k e about a l l a v a i l -
a b l e labour because t h e y can pay somewhat b e t t e r wages.
I f t h e finding i s c o r r e c t t h a t poverty i s mainly created b y s o c i e t a l forces
through t h e i r impact on a g r i c u l t u r e , agrarian p o l i c i e s counteracting such
adverse forces may have a d e c i s i v e e f f e c t on poverty a l l e v i a t i o n .
~t i s
accordingly of i n t e r e s t t o d i s c u s s t h e most r e c e n t p o l i c i e s i n t h i s r e s p e c t .
CHAPTER 11
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
I n t h i s c h a p t e r t h e main e f f o r t s w i t h a p o t e n t i a l i m p a c t o n a g r i c u l t u r a l
production a r e b r i e f l y described.
Agrarian p o l i c i e s a r e then discussed
i n v i e w o f a t t a i n i n g b o t h improved p r o d u c t i o n , l e v e l s o f l i v i n g a n d employment.
POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES RELEVANT FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT I N BOTSWANA
I n e q u a l i t y i s n o t stemming p r i m a r i l y from wage employment o r b u s i n e s s b u t
is inherent i n the agrarian sector.
The i n e q u a l i t y among a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o -
d u c e r s h a s , however, b e e n r e i n f o r c e d b y t h e growing modern u r b a n s e c t o r
b e c a u s e t h o s c who o b t a i n h i g h e r l e v e l employment h a v e r e l a t i v e l y h i g h educ a t i o n which i s m o s t l y f o u n d among t h e w e a l t h y p e a s a n t s , f a r m e r s a n d r a n chers.
I n Botswana t h e r e i s a c c o r d i n g l y a w e a l t h y e l i t e t h a t combine u r b a n
employment w i t h a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n .
Moreover, s i n c e p o v e r t y i s s t i l l
m a i n l y a r u r a l phenomenon, i n e q u a l i t y and p o v e r t y may y e t b e a m e l i o r a t e d by
attacking the agrarian sector.
I f t h i s i s c o r r e c t , Botswana h a s , i n con-
t r a s t t o many o t h e r T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s , a r a t h e r u n i q u e p o s s i b i l i t y t o
improve t h e l e v e l o f l i v i n g a n d f u t u r e p r o s p e c t s o f t h e m a j o r i t y o f i t s
population.
;he a p r a r i ~ lp o l i c i e s should hence have t h e t v i n o b j e c t i v e s
of improving t o t a l a g r i c u l t u r a l production ancl increase employment m d inCOmR
o f those engaged i n a g r i c u l t u r e .
The c o n t r a d i c t i o n which i s o f t e n s e e n
between h i g h e r p r o d u c t i o n a n d h i g h e r employment must t h u s b e s o l v e d .
This
may b e p o s s i b l e i n Botswana, n o t a s a permanent a d a p t a t i o n b u t a s a s o l u t i o n
c h o s e n u n t i l enough w o r k p l a c e s c a n b e c r e a t e d i n o t h e r s e c t o r s o f t h e economy.
The s o l u t i o n r e s t s on t h e among s c h o l a r s i n Botswana commonly h e l d
view t h a t a larger crop output primarily i s a question o f b e t t e r c o n d i t i o n
o f m d access t o draught-oxen t h a t plough larger f i e l d s .
then t h e answer.
T h i s was t h e t r a d i t i o n a l f a r m i n g s y s t e m .
>Il'zed farming -is
Oland ( 1 9 8 2 ) ,
f o r i n s t a n c e , s e t s t h e f i g u r e o f t h e a r e a o f a n i n d i v i d u a l l y f e n c e d mixed
farm t o 1 0 0 h e c t a r e s , which would a l l o w a team o f 8 d r a u g h t - o x e n t o g r a z e
adjacent t o the fields.
Land i s a v a i l a b l e f o r s u c h i n Botswana l a r g e f a r m s ,
a l t h o u g h r e s e t t l e m e n t would b e n e c e s s a r y a s w e l l a s a s h i f t away from a p r i -
m a r i l y v i l l a g e based s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n of a g r i c u l t u r a l producers.
To re-
s t o r e t h e ready access t o draught-power inherent i n t h e t r a d i t i o n a l farming
system, means t h a t t h e skewed owlership p a t t e r n of c a t t l e has t o be t a c k l e d .
To s u b s i d i z e t r a c t o r s , so t h a t t h e technology becomes modern on a wide s c a l e ,
would, i f s u c c e s s f u l l y adopted, imply d r a s t i c a l l y improved land p r o d u c t i v i t y .
The t o t a l production would t h u s soon exceed t h e need of t h e n a t i o n f o r crops.
This might t o some e x t e n t be countered by c u l t i v a t i o n of fodder crops f o r
livestock.
To f i n d e x p o r t markets would n o t be easy f o r Botswana.
(Since
1981 EEC has even taken t h e s h a r e Botswana e a r l i e r had of t h e Angolan
meat market, Clay 1983.)
To f u l f i l 1 t h e o b j e c t i v e of employment i n t h e s h o r t
and medium run animal draught-power should b e a p p l i e d .
Moreover, s p a t i a l arrangement c o n s t i t u t e e s s e n t i a l components of any
s t r a t e g y f o r a g r i c u l t u r a l development.
The p l a n s w i l l furthermore be
a s s e s s e d i n view of how they promote o r impede an e f f i c i e n t and rewarding
mixed farming.
T r i b a l Grazing L a d P o l i q
TGLP was formulated i n a White Paper i n 1975.
and Feldman's consultancy r e p o r t of 1973.
The paper was based on Chambers
The main i d e a was t o zone Bots-
wana's t r i b a l land i n t o "commercial" and "communal" a r e a s .
The category " r e -
s e r v e a r e a s " was a l s o suggested, b u t has never been a p p l i e d .
land ( 2 5 % i n 1980) i s " n o t y e t zoned".
I n s t e a d some
Commercial ranches with minimum 400
c a t t l e f o r i n d i v i d u a l o r group management a g a i n s t a minimal r e n t a f t e r a
grace p e r i o d of 3 y e a r s comprise 12%, whereas "communal a r e a s " cover 30%
of Botswana (Sandford 1 9 8 0 ) .
The "communal a r e a s " r e p r e s e n t 8 k i l o -
metres r a d i u s c i r c l e s around v i l l a g e s .
l i s h 100 h e c t a r e s mixed farms.
This i s f a r from enough t o e s t a b -
The o b j e c t i v e i s t o g e t t h e l a r g e herd owners
and groups of medium herd owners t o move t h e i r c a t t l e away from t h e o f t e n
overgrazed village-close lands ( M i n i s t r y of A g r i c u l t u r e 1981 c ) .
Furthermore,
t h e management p r a c t i c e s i n t h e "commercial a r e a s " should improve so a s t o
avoid a f u r t h e r degradation of t h e range.
In s h o r t , t h e problem of t h e "com-
mons" was intended t o be solved without a change t o p r i v a t e p r o p e r t y b u t t o
a d e f a c t o e x c l u s i v e r i g h t of usage.
A number o f f a c t o r s a r e r e s p o n s i b l e
f o r a n o n - a t t a i n m e n t o f t h e s e o b j e c t i v e s a s w e l l a s t h e e x p l i c i t l y exp r e s s e d v i e w t h a t t h e r e f o r m would r e d u c e i n e q u a l i t y o f c a t t l e o w n e r s h i p :
1.
No maximum c a t t l e q u o t a was e s t a b l i s h e d f o r t h e "communal a r e a s " .
The
l a r g e c a t t l e owners s t i l l h a v e p a r t o f t h e i r h e r d i n t h e "communal a r e a s " .
And when t h e g r a z i n g d e t e r i o r a t e s i n t h e " commercial a r e a s " , t h e y move
t h e i r c a t t l e l e g a l l y t o t h e "communal a r e a s " .
a l l e v i a t e d i n trie "cornmunai a r e a s " .
Thus, o v e r g r a z i n g i s n o t
On t h e c o n t r a r y , t h e back-
f l o w o f c a t t l e from t h e r a n c h e s , which was u n e x p e c t e d , s e r i o u s l y t h r e a t e n s
t h e "communal a r e a s "
(Behnke 1 9 8 2 ) .
2. Group r - n c h e s h a v e n o t b e e n e s t a b -
T h i s i s due b o t h t o u n w i l l i n g n e s s o n t h e p a r t o f t h e p e a s a n t s and
lished.
t o t h e power o f t h e l a r g e owners.
The medium and s m a l l owners t h u s have t o
k e e p t h e i r c a t t l e i n "communal a r e a s " and a r e no l o n g e r a l l o w e d s e a s o n a l l y
o r when d r o u g h t comes t o move t h e i r c a t t l e t o t h e now " c o m m e r c i a l l y zoned
areas".
The g r o u p r a n c h e s t h a t h a v e been t r i e d , have b e e n u n s u c c e s s f u l and
no l o n g e r e x i s t
(Sandford 1980).
3. To m a n y ' s s u r p r i s e , t h e
"empty" a r e a s i n which commercial r a n c h e s s h o u l d b e e s t a b l i s h e d , c o n t a i n e d
c a t t l e p o s t s , permanent l i v i n g a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s a n d e v e n some p e a s a n t s .
E v i c t i o n o f p e o p l e and c a t t l e t o t h e a l r e a d y overcrowded "communal a r e a s "
h a s t h e n o c c u r r e d t o some d e g r e e (Bro I n t e r n a t i o n a l 1 9 8 2 ) .
I n f a c t , i n some
" commercial a r e a s " c a t t l e numbers o u g h t n o t , a s s t a t e d i n t h e p l a n s , t o b e
i n c r e a s e d h u t s h o u l d i n s t e a d b e r e d u c e d t o m a i n t a i n permanent u s e of t h e
range.
Commercialization has t h u s n o t l e d t o a reduction i n overgrazing,
t h e opposite i s t r u e (Hitchcock 1980).
Grove (1982) c o n f i r m s t h i s by s t a -
t i n g t h a t o v e r g r a z i n g o f t e n o c c u r s on i n d i v i d u a l l y owned l a n d , n o t o n l y on
communal.
The c o n c l u s i o n i s t h a t t h e r e a r e no u n o c c u p i e d a r e a s s u i t a b l e f o r
r a n c h development a n y more i n Botswana,
a scarce resource.
alike.
t h a t i s , g r a z i n g l a n d i s now becoming
T h i s h a s s l o w l y b e e n r e a l i z e d by p l a n n e r s a n d r a n c h e r s
A r e p o r t i n t h e D a i l y News (28/8-83)
s t a t e s t h a t t h e implementation
o f TGLP no l o n g e r h a s p o p u l a r s u p p o r t i n Kweneng D i s t r i c t .
The r e a s o n f o r
t h i s i s s a i d t o b e t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t d o e s n o t h a v e enough l a n d t o accomodate
t h e policy.
Another c o n c l u s i o n which h a s b e e n drawn from t h e e x p e r i e n c e s
of t h e commercial r a n c h e s s o f a r , i s t h a t no improved management p r a c t i c e s
h a v e been a d o p t e d .
A t p r e s e n t i t may b e s a i d t h a t Botswana a p p e a r s t o have
no c a p a c i t y t o c o n t r o l i t s c a t t l e h e r d s i z e b y managed o f f t a k e r a t e s .
The
number o f c a t t l e i s t h u s l a r g e l y a f u n c t i o n o f t h e w e a t h e r , t h a t i s , cont r o l l e d by d r o u g h t .
T h i s l e a d s t o t h e f i n a l c o n c l u s i o n t h a t t h e "communal
a r e a s " u n d e r t h e p r e s e n t c i r c u m s t a n c e s c a n n o t b e e f f i c i e n t l y n a n a g e d . More-
o v e r t h e a b o l i t i o n o f communal r i g h t s would s e r v e i n t h i s s i t u a t i o n t o wlden
t h e g a p between r i c h and p o o r , w h i l e o f f e r i n g no p r o t e c t i o n
t o the natural
Again we see t h e negative impact of ; 2 c ~ t ~ r ~ , ~ c r ~<i 'e 'S
t , i:
, '-c
resources.
i n t e r n a l t o the c a t t l e sector.
By dividing grazing Zand between a modern
and a t r a d i t i o n a l Zand tenure system, i n e q u a l i t y and poverty are created.
The s o l u t i o n t o t h e p r o b l e m o f t h e "communal a r e a s " h a s b y some s c h o l a r s b e e n
s e e n t o l i e i n r e v i v i n g p a r t o f t h e t r a d i t i o n a l a l l o c a t i o n a n d management
system (Ministry of A g r i c u l t u r e 1981 c ) .
Fosbrooke
(1971) m a i n t a i n s t h a t i t
i s t h e abandonment o f t h e t r a d i t i o n a l s y s t e m and t h e s u b s e q u e n t c h a o s i n t h e
u t i l i z a t i o n o f n a t u r a l r e s o u r c e s t h a t c o n s t r a i n s t h e maximum t a p p i n g o f t h e
environment.
G r a z i n g c o n t r o l e x i s t e d 40 y e a r s a g o , a s r e p o r t e d by S c h a p e r a .
The t r a d i t i o n a l l o c a l i n s t i t u t i o n s such a s t h e K g o t l a ( g e n e r a l m e e t i n g s of
w a r d s ) c h a i r e d b y t r a d i t i o n a l c h i e f s o r headmen, would t h e n a g a i n h a v e t o
s o l v e d i s p u t e s (Ode11 u n d a t e d ) .
The l a n d " b e l o n g i n g " t o v i l l a g e s were e a r l i e r
d i v i d e d i n t o g r a z i n g t e r r i t o r i e s , " d i n a g a " , which were watched by o v e r s e e r s ,
"modisa".
The " modisa" u s e d t o b e a p p o i n t e d b y c h i e f s .
t o have been o p e r a t i n g e f f i c i e n t l y (Hitchcock 1980).
T h i s system is s a i d
T h e r e a r e , however,
q u i t e a number o f d i f f i c u l t i e s i n v o l v e d w i t h a r e t u r n t o t h i s system now.
T h i s a p p l i e s n o t l e a s t t o t h e problem o f d e f i n i n g t h e l a n d " b e l o n g i n g " t o
various villages.
B u t , t h e main m e r i t i n t h i s s y s t e m , t h a t t h e number of
c a t t l e i n "communal a r e a s " c o u l d i n f a c t b e c o n t r o l l e d , makes i t :;::I,;;:;;I:":
t o reviaw and include t r a d i t i o n a z ezperiences i n t h e discussion of tomorrow 'S
s o l u t i o n s t o communal land tenure.
Undoubtedly, l a n d u s e p l a n n i n g h a s now
come t o prominence i n t h e d e b a t e on v i l l a g e - l e v e l d e v e l o p m e n t i n Botswana.
Arable Lands Deve lopment P r o g r m e
ALDEP was i n i t i a t e d i n 1978.
The o b j e c t i v e was t o improve t h e p r o d u c t i v i t y
o f and incomes from c u l t i v a t i o n .
On t h e r h e t o r i c s i d e , t h e government showed
h e r e b y a commitment t o a s m a l l h o l d e r a g r a r i a n s t r a t e g y .
A number of
schemes
t o a s s i s t c u l t i v a t o r s were s t a r t e d o f which t h e most i m p o r t a n t o n e s have been
mentioned p r e v i o u s l y .
I t h a s proved d i f f i c u l t t o g e t t h e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s
t o a d o p t t h e t e c h n o l o g y p a c k a g e recommended.
been a success ( P u r c e l l 1982).
So f a r , t h e programme h a s n o t
I t was t h e r e f o r e a t t h e end o f 1983 changed
from a p r i m a r i l y l o a n t o a 85% g r a n t and 15% downpayment scheme ( D a i l y News
29/12- 83).
Alverson (1979) m a i n t a i n s t h a t t h e c u l t i v a t o r s a r e n o t i g n o r a n t
o f t h e recommended p r a c t i c e s ( e a r l y p l o u g h i n g ,
t i m e l y r o w - p l a n t i n g , ade-
q u a t e weeding a n d u s e o f f e r t i l i z e r s , c e r t i f i e d s e e d s and d i s e a s e c o n t r o l ) .
Moreover,
t h e y c a n o f t e n a f f o r d t o a d o p t them.
The r e a s o n s t h e y g i v e f o r
n o n - a d o p t i o n a r e , however, e m p i r i c a l l y w e l l f o u n d e d .
For i n s t a n c e , t h e
recommended w i n t e r - p l o u g h i n g i s s a i d t o s t i m u l a t e g r o w t h o f weeds which
makes t h e
p l o u g h - p l a n t i n g i n summer more d i f f i c u l t .
expensive,
t h a t i s , t h e i n c r e a s e i n y i e l d does n o t cover t h e c o s t , mainly
b e c a u s e o f a low humus c o n t e n t i n t h e s o i l .
F e r t i l i z e r s a r e too
Broadcasting i s cheaper than
r o w - p l a n t i n g , and g i v e s t h e same y i e l d ( L i g h t f o o t 1 9 8 1 ) .
ALDEP has e v i d e n t l y n o t managed t o a t t a c k t h e r o o t causes o f the low pro-
d u c t i v i t y i n crop n i l t i v a t i o n .
Nowhere i n t h e numerous ALDEP-papers i s
c o m b i n a t i o n o f income s o u r c e s a t t h e h o u s e h o l d l e v e l m e n t i o n e d .
I t seems
t h a t t h e planners have asswned t h a t a g r i c u l t u r e i s t h e s o l e o r main occupation o f t h e peasants.
Furtherinore, the
T h i s i s , a s shown, i n c o r r e c t .
d e f i c i t nature o f crop c u l t i v a t i o n i s n o t taken as a fundamental premiss
on which t o plan.
These b o r e l a t e d f a c t s o f a g r i c u l t u r e i n Botswana must,
i n my opinion, he t h e very s t a r t i n g point
-
.
j . 5 ~ j b i ~ w . : a i ; ; ? ~ g o;.:?;,.r;,rfa-p o l i c i e s
Comunal F i r s t Uave lopment Areas
CFDA i s a n o t h e r c h a n n e l f o r a l l o c a t i n g f u n d s from t h e modern u r b a n t o t h e
rural sector.
The i n i t i a l work on t h e programme was s t a r t e d i n 1980 and i s
c a r r i e d o u t by a s p e c i a l u n i t i n t h e M i n i s t r y o f F i n a n c e and Development
Planning
ALDEP.
grammes.
(1982 h ) .
I t i s n e i t h e r d i r e c t l y c o o r d i n a t e d w i t h TGLP n o r w i t h
I t s a r e a - s p e c i f i c a p p r o a c h makes i t complementary t o t h e s e two p r o The f o u r main p r i n c i p l e s of t h e programme a r e :
l. Each communal
a r e a h a s a s p e c i f i c r e s o u r c e b a s e which makes d i f f e r e n t p l a n s n e c e s s a r y f o r
r a i s i n g production
( a l s o n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l ) and g e n e r a t i n g employment.
2. P r o j e c t s t h a t r e c e i v e c e n t r a l government f u n d s o u g h t t o b e i n t e g r a t e d
i n s i d e geographical areas.
3 . P l a n n i n g and i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f i n t e g r a t e d
~ - . r o j o c tssl i o ~:d
. b'e d e c e n t r a l i z e d .
4. Social justice orientation is essential.
T h i s w i l l b e a c h i e v e d by f o c u s s i n g on t h e p o o r e r h o d s e h o l d s .
i s s e e n t o b e t h e key p r o d u c t i v e s e c t o r .
Agriculture
Employment o u t s i d e a g r i c u l t u r e i s
deemed n e c e s s a r y t o a t t a i n t h e s o c i a l j u s t i c e p r i n c i p l e .
The u s u a l " s h o p p i r q
l i s t " a p p r o a c h t o r u r a l development i s t o b e a v o i d e d by e s p e c i a l l y l o o k i n g
a t l i n k a g e s between s e c t o r s , and t h e r e b y a r r i v e a t combining i n d i v i d u a l
p r o j e c t s s o a s t o make them m u t u a l l y r e i n f o r c i n g .
Village- level i n s t i -
t u t i o n s s h a l l i n c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h d i s t r i c t c o u n c i l s implement t h e i n t e grated projects.
Umbrella- funds have been a l l o c a t e d by
t h e government.
The programme i s a t p r e s e n t designed and c a r r i e d o u t on a p i l o t b a s i s
i n selected areas.
The e x p e r i e n c e s s o f a r i s n o t a l t o g e t h e r n e g a t i v e .
Some s u c c e s s have been achieved i n e r e c t i o n of d r i f t f e n c e s between g r a zing and a r a b l e l a n d , i n b u i l d i n g d i p p i n g t a n k s f o r c a t t l e and i n f o r e s t r y .
The c o n s t r a i n t s a r e , however, fundamental:
1. The s h o r t a g e of s k i l l e d man-
power s e r i o u s l y impede a d e q u a t e p l a n n i n g , and t h u s t h e u s e of t h e a v 2 i l a b l e
although l i m i t e d funds.
2. The c o o r d i n a t i o n of t h e v a r i o u s s e c t o r s a t cen-
t r a l government l e v e l , which
i s a must f o r implementation of i n t e g r a t e d
p l a n s i n s p e c i f i c r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l g e o g r a p h i c a l a r e a s , 1 s problematic.
3 . Communication between c e n t r a l government and v i l l a g e s i s v e r y d i f f i c u l t
b u t e s s e n t i a l i f s u g g e s t i o n s and l o c a l - l e v e l knowledge a r e t o r e a c h planners.
I t i s s t i l l t o e a r l y t o say how i m p o r t a n t t h e s e c o n s t r a i n t s a r e .
FinanciaZ Assistance P o l i c y
FAP was implemented from 1982
( I n t e r - m i n i s t e r i a l working group 1 9 8 2 ) . I t con-
s i s t s o f , among o t h e r t h i n g s , a g r a n t s scheme t o a s s i s t p r i m a r i l y smallscale productive a c t i v i t i e s .
P r i o r i t y i s t o be g i v e n t o a c t i v i t i e s which
e i t h e r reduce imports o r c r e a t e e x p o r t s .
t i e s i n r u r a l areas.
An emphasis i s p l a c e d on a c t i v i -
Foreign i n v e s t o r s a r e a l s o allowed t o b e n e f i t from
t h e scheme, b u t o n l y r e g a r d i n g "medium" and " l a r g e " a c t i v i t i e s .
The over-
a l l o b j e c t i v e i s t o promote employment and t o d i v e r s i f y t h e economy.
The
r a t i o n a l e o f t h e scheme i s t h e s m a l l e f f e c t i v e market i n Botswana and a r e l a t i v e l y u n - t r a i n e d labour f o r c e which make i n i t i a l c o s t s of p r i v a t e prod u c t i o n h i g h e r t h a n c o m p e t i t o r s i n neighbouring c o u n t r i e s .
There i s t h e n
a c l e a r c a s e f o r government s u p p o r t t o p r o d u c t i v e a c t i v i t i e s .
The o n l y
s e c t o r s which a r e excluded from t h e scheme a r e c a t t l e and l a r g e - s c a l e m i ning.
Crop c u l t i v a t i o n i s a g a i n seen a s a main s e c t o r f o r t h e scheme a s
w e l l a s a c t i v i t i e s t h a t may s u p p o r t crop c u l t i v a t i o n .
To i d e n t i f y and r e -
view t h e l a t t e r t y p e of a c t i v i t i e s i s a major c o n s t r a i n t because of t h e
l a c k of s k i l l e d manpower.
Nonetheless,
t h e f o r m u l a t i o n of t h i s and o t h e r
schemes show t h e p r e s e n t government's w i l l i n g n e s s t o s u p p o r t crop c u l t i v a t i o n and t h e r u r a l a r e a s .
A t t h e same time a s i t r e v e a l s t h e e a r l i e r
n e g l e c t of t h i s s e c t o r and a r e a .
VIEWPOINTS ON AGRARIAN POLICIES I N BOTSWANA
S e v e r a l of t h e arguments on African a g r i c u l t u r e i n g e n e r a l a r e r e l e v a n t
r e g a r d i n g Botswana.
T h i s s h o u l d b e e v i d e n t from t h e p r e v i o u s c h a p t e r s .
Key e x p l a n a t i o n s i n Botswana a r e t h e g o v e r n m e n t ' s p r e o c c u p a t i o n w i t h
c a t t l e and l a t e l y a l s o w i t h m i n i n g t o t h e n e g l e c t o f c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n
( C o l c l o u g h a n d McCarthy 1980, Roe 1980, Holm 1 9 8 2 ,
Kerven 1982) and t h e
h i g h exchange r a t e a l l o w i n g f o r r e l a t i v e l y c h e a p i m p o r t s o f f o o d .
Picard
( 1 9 8 0 ) , f o r i n s t a n c e , shows t h a t b e c a u s e o f t h e b u r e a u c r a c y ' s socio-economic s t a t u s , t h a t i s , t h e c o m b i n a t i o n o f incorn, s o u r c e s a t h o u s e h o l d l e v e l , t h o s e who d e c i d e on a g r a r i a n p o l i c y a r e t h e o n e s who h a v e t h e most
t o g a i n from t h e p o l i c y .
Not s u r p r i s i n g l y ,
t h e f a c t o r of l a c k of male
l a b o u r i n r u r a l a r e a s i s n o t m e n t i o n e d i n r e p o r t s from i n t e r n a t i o n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s a n d o n l y p o i n t e d a t b y few s c h o l a r s .
A probable explanation
i s t h a t i n o r d e r t o d i s c o v e r t h a t a g r i c u l t u r e and e s p e c i a l l y f o o d p r o d u c t i o n o f t e n i s p r i m a r i l y a female undertaking, one h a s t o conduct a
study a t t h e l o c a l l e v e l .
The f i n d i n g t h a t m u l t i a c t i v e c u l t i v a t o r s p r e -
d o m i n a t e i n Botswana, b u t c e r t a i n l y a l s o e l s e w h e r e i n A f r i c a , may change
t h e v i e w on s o l u t i o n s .
The soZution may in fact rest in planning on the
basis of a modernization of the muZtiactive cuZtivatorsr production.
The
main r e a s o n f o r d o i n g t h i s i s t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s i n h e r e n t i n m o d e r n i z i n g
a g r i c u l t u r e i n a s p e c i a l i z e d f a r m s e n s e i n t h e immediate f u t u r e .
The d i f -
f i c u l t i e s c o n s i s t of expensive imports of p a r t i c u l a r l y technology and f e r tilizers,
t r a i n i n g o f p e a s a n t s and f u n d s f o r s u b s i d i z i n g f o o d p r o d u c t i o n
i n Botswana f o r t h e u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n .
F u r t h e r m o r e , one may t a k e t h e view
t h a t p o l i t i c a l changes i n favour o f l a r g e r i n v e s t m e n t s i n c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n
a r e u n l i k e l y b e c a u s e of t h e " p r e s s u r e g r o u p s " w i t h power a t p r e s e n t ( i . e .
g r o u p s w i t h i n t e r e s t s l i n k e d t o e i t h e r c a t t l e , m i n i n g o r u r b a n wage r a t e s ) .
I t would p r o b a b l y n o t b e s u f f i c i e n t o n l y t o improve t h e c r e d i t f a c i l i t i e s
f o r f e m a l e c u l t i v a t o r s and m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t h o u s e h o l d s .
Some o f t h e
macro s o l u t i o n s p o i n t e d a t by i n t e r n a t i o n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s and s c h o l a r s a r e
a l s o n e c e s s a r y t o change t h e r e l a t i v e p r i c e s more i n f a v o u r o f a g r i c u l t u r e .
I n Botswana t h i s h a s , a s shown, b e e n done t h r o u g h a i d r e g a r d i n g c a t t l e b u t
not concerning crops.
n o t be easy.
A s m e n t i o n e d , t o f i n d e x p o r t m a r k e t s f o r c r o p s would
One r e a s o n f o r t h i s i s t h a t t h e e f f e c t i v e w o r l d m a r k e t f o r
a g r i c u l t u r a l goods i s a l r e a d y w e l l s a t u r a t e d .
The p r o s p e c t s i n Botswana
f o r a n a g r i c u l t u r a l e x p o r t - l e d g r o w t h , g e n e r a l l y a d v o c a t e d b y t h e World Bank
(1981 a ) f o r t h e 1980s a s a long- run t r a n s f o r m a t i o n and a p r e l u d e t o i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n , i s i n my o p i n i o n n o n - e x i s t e n t .
Although an e x p o r t
t y p e of a g r i c u l t u r e i s n o t aimed a t , a d e v a l u a t i o n ( o f t h e overvalued
n a t i o n a l c u r r e n c y ) would improve t h e i n c e n t i v e s f o r p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s
The argument r a i s e d a g a i n s t d e v a l u a t i o n i s
t o increase t h e production.
t h a t t h e economy needs cheap urban l a b o u r , f o r whom i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o
p r o v i d e cheap food, i n o r d e r t o h e l p i n d u s t r i a l growth.
Higher producer
p r i c e s through s u b s i d i e s ( j u s t t o r a i s e p r i c e s would h i t t h e poor non-cult i v a t o r s ) a r e a l s o necessary.
The problem w i t h s u b s i d i e s
i s t h a t it i s
d i f f i c u l t t o a v o i d t h a t t h e b e n e f i t o n l y g o e s t o a few b i g f a r m e r s .
A
c o u n t r y w i t h (mass) p o v e r t y and few n a t u r a l r e s o u r c e s w i l l f i n d it d i f f i c u l t t o r a i s e enough money through t a x e s t o g i v e adequate s u b s i d i e s .
In
Botswana t h e f i n a n c i a l r e s o u r c e s o b t a i n e d from diamond mining could have
been used t o i n c r e a s e t h e n e g l i g e n t s u b s i d i e s g i v e n a t p r e s e n t .
A further
means of improving a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n i s p r i v a t i s a t i o n of l a n d which
would g i v e t h e many c a t t l e l e s s households s e c u r i t y f o r l o a n s .
However,
t h e common e x p e r i e n c e of d e b t accumulation and e v e n t u a l s a l e would c e r t a i n l y t a k e p l a c e i n Botswana a s it h a s e l s e w h e r e .
The c o u n t e r argument
i s t h a t a s t r a t e g y based on p r i v a t e p r o d u c t i o n f a c t o r s s h o u l d now be t r i e d
s i n c e s t r a t e g i e s w i t h v a r i o u s t y p e s of communal ownership a f l a n d have been
a f i a s c o n e a r l y everywhere.
One may t h e n e x p e c t t h a t l a n d l e s s n e s s w i l l
occur a f t e r a w h i l e i n t h e p l a c e s i n Botswana where good c r o p l a n d i s becoming s c a r c e .
A c e i l i n g on ownership s h o u l d t h e r e f o r e b e imposed a l r e a d y
a t t h i s stage.
A s Payer
(1978) p u t s it-
"There i s no s u r e r way of de-
p r i v i n g a p e a s a n t of h i s l a n d t h a n t o g i v e him a t i t l e t o it which i s a s
f r e e l y n e g o t i a b l e a s a bank n o t e . "
Although b o t h t h e Lagos P l a n and t h e World Bank's "Berg r e p o r t " f o c u s on
improving t h e c o n d i t i o n s o f t h e p r i v a t e " s m a l l h o l d e r " through a i d , t h e y do
n o t by t h i s term imply t h e s m a l l p e a s a n t , t h a t i s , t h e s u b s i s t e n c e and subsubsistence peasant.
These l a t t e r groups a r e t h e poor i n A f r i c a , i n c o n t r a s t
t o A s i a and L a t i n America where t h e major hungry poor group is t h e l a n d l e s s
( a g r i c u l t u r a l ) labourers.
I t t h u s seems e s s e n t i a l ,
i f t h e twin ob-
j e c t i v e s of i n c r e a s e d food p r o d u c t i o n and a l l e v i a t i o n of p o v e r t y a r e t o be
r e a c h e d , n o t t o p l a n a g r i c u l t u r a l development i n i s o l a t i o n from o t h e r s e c tors.
The f a c t t h a t t h e t a r g e t group combines v a r i o u s s o u r c e s of income,
a r e m u l t i a c t i v e , and t h a t t h e y a r e s u b - s u b s i s t e n c e p r o d u c e r s should be
taken i n t o consideration.
The i n c r e a s i n g number o f m u l t i a c t i v e f a r m e r s
i n developed c o u n t r i e s is h e r e an i n t e r e s t i n g p a r a l l e l .
Favourable poli-
c i e s t o w a r d s m u l t i a c t i v i t y c a n b e f o u n d i n many European c o u n t r i e s t o d a y
( L a u r e n t 1982, FAO 1982 a ) .
I n , f o r i n s t a n c e , Norway and S w i t z e r l a n d a
long w i n t e r i s used a s a n explanation f o r t h e s u p p o r t g i v e n t o m u l t i a c t i v e farmers.
The r e a s o n f o r d o i n g s o i s t w o f o l d :
To improve t h e l e v e l
o f l i v i n g f o r t h e f a r m e r s and t o i n c r e a s e t h e s e l f - s u f f i c i e n c y i n f o o d a t
national level.
To c o n s e r v e t h e e x i s t i n g main p a t t e r n o f s e t t l e m e n t h a s
a l s o been s t a t e d a s a n o b j e c t i v e .
Some European c o u n t r i e s had h o s t i l e po-
l i c i e s t o w a r d s m u l t i a c t i v i t y a r o u n d 1960.
T h i s h a s now changed.
I n West-
Germany, f o r i n s t a n c e , m u l t i a c t i v i t y i s now e v e n l o o k e d upon a s a k e y p o i n t
i n t h e new a g r a r i a n p o l i c y .
Even i f t h e o b j e c t i v e i s l i m i t e d t o i n c r e a s e d f o o d p r o d u c t i o n , it i s unc e r t a i n t h a t a n improved t e r m s o f t r a d e f o r a g r i c u l t u r a l g o o d s w i l l b e s u f f i c i e n t i n Botswana.
The a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s a r e p r i c e r e s p o n s i v e b u t
t h e t e c h n o l o g y l e v e l i s s o low t h a t a f u n d a m e n t a l change i s p r o b a b l y necessary.
A t r a c t o r cannot be r e p a i d with a continued use of t h e p r e s e n t l e v e l
o f w a t e r and f e r t i l i z e r s .
To p r o v i d e most a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s w i t h a
" f u l l package" w i l l , however, b e t o o c o s t l y f o r most A f r i c a n governments.
New f i e l d t e s t e d p r a c t i c e s which are inexpensive and i n t h e " f r o n t " o f the
e x i s t i n g technology l e v e l may provide a medium-run answer.
~t must b e r e -
membered t h a t a large part o f t h e peasants i n Botswana continue w i t h agri-
c u l t u r e because o f lack o f a l t e r n a t i v e s .
For them a g r i c u l t u r e i s no longer
a "way o f Zifc?", i t i s a way o f s u r v i v a l , and t h e y are n o t w i l l i n g t o take
more than marginal part i n t h e market economy t o s a t i s f y small needs a t t h e
present c o n d i t i o n s of production.
Some few p u r e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s , t h o s e
t h a t would q u a l i f y a s s m a l l h o l d e r s i n t h e World Bank t e r m i n o l o g y , t a k e p a r t
on a b i g g e r s c a l e b u t few o f them i n v e s t and a c c u m u l a t e i n c r o p p r o d u c t i o n
i n Botswana.
The r e s p o n s i v e n e s s o f a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s r e g a r d i n g t h e
good p r i c e s i n t h e c a t t l e s e c t o r and o f t h e r e l a t i v e l y h i g h s a l e s of maize
a r e e v i d e n c e of t h e e x i s t e n c e of a g e n e r a l p r i c e r e s p o n s i v e n e s s .
In fact
t h e r e l a t i v e l y large subsidies given t o the c a t t l e sector has s h i f t e d res o u r c e s away from p e a s a n t p r o d u c t i o n and t h e r e b y from t h e p r o d u c t i o n of
c h e a p f o o d f o r l o c a l consumption.
It is therefore highly relevant t h a t , a s
t h e F r e n c h M i n i s t e r f o r development c o o p e r a t i o n s t r e s s e s , a p r i o r i t y must
b e f o r p e a s a n t s t o r e c o n q u e r t h e d o m e s t i c m a r k e t ( I d e a s a n d A c t i o n , no. 2,
1983).
H i n d e r i n k and S t e r k e n b u r g
(1983) s a y i t i n t h i s way:
"The empha-
s i s on t h e r o l e of i n d i v i d u a l r u r a l c u l t i v a t o r s seems t h e o n l y way t o
p r e v e n t t h e d i s a s t e r proclaimed by s o many p r o p h e t s of doom."
The dilemma o u t l i n e d above c o n s i s t s i n s h o r t of i n c r e a s e d a g r i c u l t u r a l
p r o d u c t i o n through modernization of a few l a r g e f a r m e r s and t h e
d i f f i c u l t i e s i n f e e d i n g t h e growing urban p o p u l a t i o n w i t h l o c a l l y
produced food through improved p e a s a n t c u l t i v a t i o n .
A consequence of t h e former s t r a t e g y i s l i k e l y t o be t o d e p r i v e sub-
s u b s i s t e n c e m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r households of f e r t i l e l a n d ,
which would p r e s s most of them o u t of c r o p p r o d u c t i o n a l t o g e t h e r .
Should an a g r a r i a n p o l i c y e n v i s a g e t h e growth of a group of l a n d l e s s l a b o u r e r s , t h a t i s , a group w i t h o u t t h e s e c u r i t y of r i g h t of a c c e s s t o l a n d ,
i n a s i t u a t i o n where work i n i n d u s t r y and s e r v i c e s i s f a r from adequate?
One may ask whether t h e a g r a r i a n p o l i c y adopted should t a k e a c c o u n t of and
change a c c o r d i n g t o t h e p r o g r e s s of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n and hence of second a r y and t e r t i a r y employment o p p o r t u n i t i e s .
i n China d u r i n g t h e l a s t 20 y e a r s .
T h i s i s what h a s t a k e n p l a c e
The assumption t h a t p r i v a t i s a t i o n of
l a n d l e a d s t o h i g h e r p r o d u c t i v i t y i s widely a c c e p t e d
a priori
i n Botswana.
L i g h t f o o t and Bennke ( 1 9 8 2 ) f i n d t h a t t h i s may n o t be s o because gaps i n
knowledge and t h e complexity of c a u s a l i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s .
Available data,
t h e y m a i n t a i n , a r e i n s u f f i c i e n t t o v e r i f y b u t i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e r e i s no
d i f f e r e n c e between t h e p r o d u c t i v i t y on p r i v a t e and communal l a n d when o t h e r
things a r e held constant.
CONCLUSION
I f t h e o b j e c t i v e i s t h a t growth of a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n and p o v e r t y a l l e v i a t i o n should be s o l v e d t o g e t h e r d i r e c t l y , a p e a s a n t p a t h t o a g r i c u l t u r a l development i n c o n t r a s t t o a " c a p i t a l i s t p a t h " should b e adopted i n
Botswana i n t h e p r e s e n t clrcurnstances.
The government must then a c t i v e l y
i n t e r v e n e a t v a r i o u s l e v e l s t o , among o t h e r t h i n g s , c o u n t e r a c t t h e c o n t i nuous price- squeeze.
The model would t h u s b e a g r a d u a l m o d e r n i z a t i o n ,
p a r a l l e l t o economic d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n of t h e n a t i o n a l economy, of moderates i z e d f a m i l y farms of which a s u b s t a n t i a l p a r t h a s n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l i n comes a s w e l l .
The p r e s e n t l a c k of p a r t - t i m e employment i n r u r a l a r e a s i s
o b v i o u s l y an e s s e n t i a l cause of p o v e r t y b u t a l s o h i n d e r s t h e above suggested strategy.
To c o u n t e r a c t t h e urban b i a s i n o f f i c i a l and p r i v a t e in-
vestment p a t t e r n s 1 s t h e r e f o r e Important.
Furthermore, r e s e a r c h h a s t o be
conducted t o c r e a t e low- risk t e c h n i c a l packages a p p r o p r i a t e f o r pocr multia c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s c u l t i v a t i n g i n semi- arid r a i n f e d a r e a s .
Such
p a c k a g e s a r e n o t a v a i l a b l e a t t h e moment ( L i p t o n and Shakow 1 9 8 2 ) .
It
should a l s o be underlined t h a t t h e y i e l d p o t e n t i a l o f t r a d i t i o n a l techn i q u e s i s f a r from r e a c h e d by most p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s i n Botswana.
A
package s h o u l d b e made t o s u i t t h e s p e c i a l s i t u a t i o n o f f e m a l e h o u s e h o l d s
i f a g r i c u l t u r e i s t o f e e d b o t h t h e p e a s a n t s and t h e u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n , a l though it i s d o u b t f u l t h a t a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n c a n b e much i n c r e a s e d
t h r o u g h women's work alone. Most women a l r e a d y work 10-12 h o u r s a d a y
(Henn 1 9 8 3 ) .
Female h o u s e h o l d s l a c k t h e t i m e ,
h e a s s i s t a n c e and t e c h n i q u e s
t o achieve an expansion i n t h e i r food production.
Cash incomes from s u r -
p l u s f o o d s a l e s and from o t h e r economic a c t i v i t i e s r u r a l women h a v e , b r i n g
s u c h low r e t u r n s c h a t i n v e s t m e n t s i n f o o d p r o d u c t i o n a r e n o t f e a s i b l e .
T h i s i s a r e s o u r c e problem a n d
I t i.s a c c o r d i n g l y o f
a e i t h e r a c u l t u r a l n o r p s y c h o l o g i c a l one.
utmost imporltance t o make arrangements for men t o put
i n more work i n a g r i c u l t u r e .
Peasant production of t h e " m u l t i a c t i v i t y
v a r i a n t " s h o u l d b e g i v e n a new " l e a s e o f l i f e " .
The worker-peasant house-
hold shouZd be stimulated and g i v e n b e t t e r o p p o r t u n i t i e s , f o r i n s t a n c e ,
through l e a v e f o r workers a t peak a g r i c u l t u r a l p e r i o d s .
I n f a c t , t h e rea-
l i t y seems t o b e t h a t t h e o n l y h o p e f o r a c o n t i n u a t i o n o f a g r i c u l t u r a l prod u c t i o n b y many h o u s e h o l d s l i e s i n combining n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l s o u r c e s of
income, t h a t i s , i n l a b o u r m i g r a t i o n and i n c r e a s i n g l y i n s h u t t l i n g which
p a r a d o x i c a l l y i s one o f t h e main r e a s o n s f o r t h e u n d e r d e v e l o p e d s t a t e o f
a g r i c u l t u r e today.
Such a s t r a t e g y would g e n e r a l l y b e f e a s i b l e i n Botswana
b e c a u s e men aqd women d o n e i t h e r t r a d i t i o n a l l y h a v e s e p a r a t e p l o t s of l a n d
n o r s e p a r a t e economies i n g e n e r a l .
To b e s u c c e s s f u l , a p r i m a r i l y f e m a l e
c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n would i n a d d i t i o n t o male a s s i s t a n c e r e g a r d i n g c e r t a i n lim i t e d t a s k s need a n e f f i c i e n t m a r k e t i n g system w i t h a d e q u a t e ~ u a r a n t e e d
prices.
The a g r a r i a n p o l i c i e s and programmes a d o p t e d by t h e government o f Botswana
compare u n f a v o u r a b l y w i t h t h e p r o b l e m s i n a g r i c u l t u r e d i s c u s s e d i n p r e v i o u s
chapters.
Moreover,
t h e y a r e b a s e d on a n i n s ~ f f l c i e n tknowledge and under-
s t a n d i n g o f t h e economic and s o c i a l s i t u a t i o n o f t n e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r
households.
The e f f o r t s t o a s o l u t i o n s t r e s s e d i n t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l d e b a t e
on a g r i c u l t u r e i n t h e T h i r d World a r e a l s o n o t e n t i r e l y c o n v i n c i n g .
Al-
though i t i s n o t t h e p o i n t o f t h i s work t o make a d e t a i l e d model f o r i n c r e a s e d f o o d p r o d u c t i o n , a few n e c e s s a r y c o n d i t i o n s f o r s u c h a model h a v e
been u n d e r l i n e d above.
The m o s t g e n e r a l o b s e r v a t i o n i s t h e must t o p l a n on
t h e b a s i s of t h e e x i s t i n g ubiquitous category of m u l t i a c t i v e households.
CHAPTER 1 2
RURAL SETTLEMENT PATTERN
I n t h i s c h a p t e r t h e r e l a t i v e magnitudes of v a r i o u s s e t t l e m e n t c a t e g o r i e s
found i n Botswana have been c a l c u l a t e d f o r 1971 and 1981 t o i d e n t i f y a
p o s s i b l e tendency of a s h i f t from a v i l l a g e towards a f i e l d a r e a based
agricultural settlement pattern.
cases.
Letlhakeng and Tutume a r e then used a s
A d i s c u s s i o n i s t h e r e a f t e r made of
tegy f o r a d i s p e r s e d
"hamletization" versus a s t r a -
s e t t l e m e n t of a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s .
The d i s c u s -
s i o n i s conducted by d i s t i n g u i s h i n g between t y p e s of p e a s a n t s and f a r m e r s
and by a s s e s s i n g t h e impact on a g r i c u l t u r a l development.
An example from
Kweneng D i s t r i c t i s f u r t h e r m o r e i n c l u d e d t o show a p o s s i b l e c o n t r a d i c t i o n
between t h e government's e f f o r t s t o r e g u l a t e c a t t l e g r a z i n g and t o devel o p t h e communal a r e a s .
F i n a l l y , a c o n c l u s i o n i s made a b o u t t h e p l a c e
Botswana's r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n h a s on f i g u r e s p r e s e n t e d i n c h a p t e r 5.
I n Botswana water a v a i l a b i l i t y , a g r i c u l t u r e and s e t t l e m e n t a r e h i g h l y i n terdependent.
The e a r l i e s t s e t t l e m e n t s o c c u r r e d where p e r e n n i a l water was
o b t a i n a b l e (The Botswana S o c i e t y 1 9 8 2 ) .
Crop c u l t i v a t i o n could normally be
c a r r i e d o u t i n t h e v i c i n i t y of t h e s e w a t e r p o i n t s .
A s t h e p o p u l a t i o n of
t h e s e t t l e m e n t s grew, f i e l d s were c l e a r e d f u r t h e r away.
Gradually a num-
b e r of a r e a s w i t h o u t water p o i n t s i n t h e d r y s e a s o n were occupied seasonally.
Some of t h e s e a r e a s , e s p e c i a l l y t h o s e c l o s e t o pans, were s e t t l e d
permanently when w e l l s were dug.
Some c u l t i v a t o r s a l s o s e t t l e d permanently
i n f i e l d a r e a s without perennial water.
Thus, it i s common today t o f i n d
f i e l d a r e a s comprising b o t h permanent and s e a s o n a l s e t t l e m e n t s .
Although
most of t h e s e a r e a s now r e l y on b o r e h o l e s f o r w a t e r , t h e d i s t a n c e t o f e t c h
water i s o f t e n long and i m p l i e s s e v e r a l hours work f o r women.
Those pea-
s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s who have c a t t l e , o f t e n t r a n s p r t w a t e r i n drums on s l e d g e s .
I n a d d i t i o n , t h e b o r e h o l e s d r i l l e d f o r c a t t l e w a t e r i n g d u r i n g t h e 1960s and
1970s a t t r a c t e d some few s e t t l e r s .
There e x i s t s a c c o r d i n g l y a l s o s m a l l so-
c a l l e d c a t t l e p o s t s e t t l e m e n t s where c r o p s a r e c u l t i v a t e d on a v e r y s m a l l
scale.
The s e a s o n a l m i g r a t i o n t o t h e f i e l d s was a t r a d i t i o n among t h e Tswana.
I t was a l s o a dominant f e a t u r e o f t h e a g r a r i a n s t r u c t u r e t o g e t h e r w i t h
the cattlepost.
The v i l l a g e s i n which most l i v e d d u r i n g t h e d r y s e a s o n ,
c o n s t i t u t e d a hierarchy with a primate t r i b a l headquarter a t t h e top.
Some of t h e t r i b a l h e a d q u a r t e r s had more t h a n l 0 000 i n h a b i t a n t s i n t h e
b e g i n n i n g of t h e l a s t c e n t u r y .
For ~ n s t a n c e ,Molepolole, t h e h e a d q u a r t e r
of t h e Kwena t r i b e , had a p o p u l a t i o n of about 10 000 a l r e a d y i n 1750
(Campbell 1 9 8 2 ) .
I n 1971 t h e p o p u l a t i o n was 9 448.
The r e a s o n f o r t h e
d e c l i n e i n p o p u l a t i o n was t h e Zulu wars and e n s u i n g r a i d i n g and w a r f a r e
t h r o u g h o u t Southern A f r i c a , t h e s o c a l l e d Difaqane
(1823-1837).
The Difa-
qane had a d i s a s t r o u s e f f e c t on t h e w e l l - e s t a b l i s h e d t r i b e s i n Botswana
(Ngcongco 1 9 8 2 ) .
S e v e r a l t r i b e s were s p l i t and pushed ( p r i m a r i l y by t h e
Ndebele) i n t o and west o f t h e K a l a h a r i .
l a t e r regained.
The t e r r i t o r i e s l o s t were
The t y p i c a l s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n now became a more
smooth h i e r a r c h y of v i l l a g e s s i z e - w i s e .
The r e a s o n f o r t h e e x i s t e n c e of
v i l l a g e s i n c o n t r a s t t o d i s p e r s e d s e t t l e m e n t s was mainly t h e want of t r i bal authorities for p o l i t i c a l control.
Strong c h i e f s and headmen used t o
p u n i s h t h o s e who d i d n o t r e t u r n t o t h e v i l l a g e a f t e r h a r v e s t ( J o n e s 1982)
The t y p i c a l r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t and land- use p a t t e r n t h a t evolved from t h i s
b a s i s and t h e l a t e r g r a d u a l r e d u c t i o n i n t h e c h i e f s ' a u t h o r i t y a r e v i s u a l i z e d i n f i g u r e 12.
There a r e f o u r main s e t t l e m e n t c a t e g o r i e s i n Botswana:
1.
Toms.
The urban p o p u l a t i o n i s a d m i n i s t r a t i v e l y d e f i n e d i n n a t i o n a l
s t a t i s t i c s i n Botswana.
2.
Agrotouns.
They c o n s i s t of t h e t r i b a l h e a d q u a r t e r s t h a t have more
t h a n 10 000 i n h a b i t a n t s de f a c t o i n 1931.
This c a t e g o r y i s e s t a b l i s h e d
h e r e , and i s n o t used i n s t a t i s t i c a l p u b l i c a t i o n s i n Botswana.
3.
Villages.
No s i z e o r f u n c t i o n a l c r i t e r i o n a r e used t o i d e n t i f y v i l l a g e s .
The census a d m i n i s t r a t i o n and d i s t r i c t o f f i c i a l s have decided i n each
p a r t i c u l a r c a s e whether a s e t t l e m e n t i s a v i l l a g e o r should be i n c l u d e d
i n t h e c a t e g o r y " o t h e r s e t t l e m e n t s " , t h a t i s , mainly d i s p e r s e d farms.
The s m a l l e s t v i l l a g e h a s a p o p u l a t i o n of 2 7 .
4.
,,
1
l L
fq
r-
.
T ~ I Sc a t e g 3 r i r o n s ~ s t snf
s m a l l g r o u p ~ n g sof households.
individual f a r m s t e a d s and
Figure 12.
The t y p i c a l r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t and l a n d u s e p a t t e r n i n Botswana.
l
Arable a g r i c u l t u r e / o v e r g r a z i n g
2
Arable a g r i c u l t u r e / i n f e r i o r
3
Grazing a r e a
Major v i l l a g e
grazing
@ Smaller v i l l a g r
r
-
Compound
Road
From t a b l e 37 it i s e v i d e n t t h a t t h e r e l a t i v e s i z e of p o p u l a t i o n
i n t h e c a t e g o r y o t h e r s e t t l e m e n t s h a s d e c l i n e d between 1971 and
1981.
Although t h e p o p u l a t i o n of agrotowns a r e s t a b l e on a r e l a t i v e
b a s i s on a v e r a g e f o r t h e c o u n t r y a s a whole, t h e agrotowns g a i n r e l a t i v e
t o d i s p e r s e d s e t t l e m e n t s i n d i s t r i c t s t h a t have agrotowns.
g a i n i n p o p u l a t i o n i n many d i s t r i c t s .
Villages also
I n t h e more p e r i p h e r a l a r e a s such
a s Chobe, Ngarniland and p a r t s o f C e n t r a l D i s t r i c t , where t h e r e a r e no
l a r g e r v i l l a g e s , dispersed settlements gain r e l a t i v e l y .
It is difficult
t o s a y from t h e a v a i l a b l e c e n s u s d a t a t h a t an i n c r e a s e d permanent s e t t l e ment a t t h e f i e l d s i s t a k i n g p l a c e .
Often t h e s r ~ i a l l e rv i l l a c j e s l i e c l o s e
t o t h e f i e l d s and many a r e a s i n c l u d e d i n " o t h e r s e t t l e m e n t s " c o n s i s t of
Table 37.
P o p u l a t i o n d i s t r i b u t i o n , 1981 c e n s u s .
1971 census i n p a r e n t h e s i s .
Districts
Barolong
Chobe
Ghanzi
Kgalagadi
north
Kgalagadi
south
Kgatleng
Kweneng
Ngamiland
north & d e l t a
Ngamiland
south
North- East
Ngwaketse
South- Eas t
T u l i Block
Central
Bobonong
Kalahari
game r e s e r v e
Le t l h a k a n e
Mahalapye
Serowe
Agrotowns
Villages
Percent.
Other
settlements
Total
Total
population
T a b l e 37.
Cont.
Total population
1981 census
Towns
Annual a v e r a g e g r o w t h
s i n c e 1971. P e r c e n t .
Gaborone
Francistown
Selebi- Phikwe
Lobatse
Jwaneng
Orapa
T o t a l urban population
150 0 2 1
13
Jwaneng i s a m i n i n g town o n l y a n d d i d n o t e x i s t i n 1971.
T o t a l p o p u l a t i o n d i s t r i b u t i o n 1 9 7 1 and 1981.
Towns
Note.
Agrotowns
Villages
Percent.
Other s e t t l e m e n t s
C e n t r a l D i s t r i c t ( p o p u l a t i o n 189 317 i n 1 9 7 1 ,
Total
e x c l . of agrotowns)
i s n o t included s i n c e t h e boundary changes o f enumeration do n o t
a l l o w a comparison w i t h 1971.
north
&
The same i s t h e c a s e w i t h Ngamiland
d e l t a , T u l i Block and K g a l a g a d i s o u t h .
The t i m e t h e c e n s u s
was c a r r i e d o u t was i n t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l o f f - s e a s o n .
Source:
C a l c u l a t e d from C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s O f f i c e 1973, 1 9 8 3 a , 1983 b.
n u c l e a t e d s e t t l e m e n t s w i t h a p o p u l a t i o n above 100.
S i n c e no f u n c t i o n a l
d e f i n i t i o n o r d e g r e e of n u c l e a t i o n h a s been a p p l i e d t o d e f i n e a v i l l a g e
b u t t h e common o p i n i o n among a d m i n i s t r a t o r s u s e d , t a b l e 37 d o e s n o t r e v e a l
a possible trend t o s e t t l e a t individual farmsteads.
The urban a r e a s
have, a s e x p e c t e d , grown r a p i d l y (on a v e r a g e 1 3 % ) . The o l d e s t towns,
Francistown and Lobatse have o n l y i n c r e a s e d j u s t above t h e n a t u r a l growth
of t h e i r own p o p u l a t i o n s , whereas Gaborone and t h e mining towns have grown
annually with l 3
and 20% (Selebi-Phikwe) and 16% (Orapa) r e s p e c t i v e l y .
S t i l l about IlaZf of Botswana's population Lives i n small viZZages and d i s persed farmsteads (58% i n 1971 and 47% i n 1981)
The urban p o p u l a t i o n i n a f u n c t i o n a l s e n s e i s h i g h e r t h a n t a b l e 37 shows.
The v i l l a g e s around Gaborone p a r t i c u l a r l y Tlokweng and Mogoditshane have
grown v e r y r a p i d l y because of t h e p o s s i b i l i t y t o commute t o work i n t h e capit a l
.
Below Letlhakeng and Tutume a r e used a s examples on p o s s i b l e changes i n t h e
r u r a l settlement pattern.
I t s h o u l d be noted t h a t t h e r e a r e v a r i a t i o n s i n
Botswana which make d e f i n i t e g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s d i f f i c u l t i n t h i s f i e l d .
LETLHAKENG
A t Independence r e l a t i v e l y many households i n Letlhakeng went t o s t a y per-
manently a t f i e l d a r e a s .
A group of households t h u s p r e f e r r e d t o s t a y
c l o s e t o t h e i r f i e l d s and c a t t l e .
A t present t h e r e i s only an i n s i g n i f i -
c a n t movement of households f r o m t h e v i l l a g e t o s e t t l e permanently a t t h e
fields.
I n s t e a d t h e movement of households t o t h e v i l l a g e from t h e f i e l d s
i s i n c r e a s i n g ( H e s s e l b e r g 1982 b ) .
The increased permment settlement a t
f i e l d areas reported by others ( F i e l d 1980, S i l i t s h e n a 1982, Fortmann and
Roe 1982)
i s probably not a genera?, feature i n Botswana
(see below).
The
r e a s o n s f o r a p r e f e r e n c e of l i v i n g a t t h e f i e l d s throughout t h e y e a r a r e
p r i m a r i l y t o look a f t e r o f t e n r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l h e r d s of c a t t l e and secondly
t o c u l t i v a t e c r o p s and a v o i d damage on t h e c r o p s by c a t t l e .
T h i s second
r e a s o n i s due t o i r i s u f f i c i e n t l a b o u r f o r c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n because o f , among
o t h e r t h i n g s , t h e d e c l i n e i n t h e mutual h e l p system.
The e x p l a n a t i o n g i v e n
by t h o s e l i v i n g a t t h e f i e l d s around Letlhakeng, who d i d n o t have a second
dwelling i n t h e v i l l a g e , was s h o r t a g e of g r a z i n g i n t h e v i c i n i t y of t h e
v i l l a g e and l a c k of 1 , b o u r g e n e r a l l y .
They s a i d t h a t they p r e f e r r e d
(no
one used t h e e x p r e s s i o n " f o r c e d t o by n e c e s s i t y " ) t o s t a y a t t h e f i e l d s
i n s p i t e of l a c k of easy a c c e s s t o d r i n k i n g water.
Some, who had had a
good h a r v e s t , mentioned t h a t t h e r e was very l i t t l e time, i f any, t o go
t o t h e v i l l a g e a f t e r h a r w s t and t h r e s h i n g and b e f o r e p r e p a r i n g t h e f i e l d s
f o r t h e next ploughing.
Undoubtedly,
village-based agriculture is diffi-
cult in Botswana's semi-arid environment when the productivity improves.
I n p a r t i c u l a r , t h e mixed farming type of a g r i c u l t u r e advocated i n t h i s
work f a v o u r s a permanent s e t t l e m e n t a t t h e f i e l d s .
Furthermore, t h e
s h o r t a g e of labour caused by labour m i g r a t i o n , s h u t t l i n g and l a t e l y a l s o
by i n c r e a s e d school attendance among c h i l d r e n , s t r e n g t h e n t h e need t o s t a y
a t the f i e l d s .
prefer
Those who drop o u t of crop c u l t i v a t i o n , on t h e o t h e r hand,
t o s t a y i n t h e v i l l a g e because of t h e b e t t e r o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r
s a l e of homemade beer and of c a s u a l i n kind work.
Thus, t h e p o o r e s t to-
g e t h e r with t h e r i c h e r households a r e found i n t h e v i l l a g e .
A t the f i e l d s
t h e r e i s hence an o v e r r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of middle-income households
and Roe 1 9 8 2 ) .
(Fortmann
The above conclusions a r e supported by t h e d a t a from t h e
Letlhakeng a r e a .
Since 38% of t h e crop c u l t i v a t i n g households i n Letlhakeng have f i e l d s
more than 20 k i l o m e t r e s and 5% more than 50 k i l o m e t r e s away, i t i s unders t a n d a b l e t h a t many would p r e f e r t o l i v e a t t h e f i e l d s i f t h e a c c e s s i b i l i t y
t o water had been b e t t e r .
Moreover, t h e bush roads t o t h e f i e l d a r e a s a r e
mostly impassable t o o r d i n a r y c a r s .
seldom used.
tances.
C a r t s have f r e q u e n t breakdowns and a r e
The s l e d g e i s common, and a r a t i o n a l choice over s h o r t e r d i s -
I n t h i s l i g h t it i s i n t e r e s t i n g t h a t 50% of t h e d i f f e r e n t f i e l d
a r e a s around Letlhakeng have experienced a drop i n dwelling houses between
1971 and 1981.
I n 30% of t h e a r e a s t h e r e a r e more people, wherfas 20% have
a s t a b l e p o p u l a t i o n ( c a l c u l a t e d from C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c s O f f i c e 1973 and
1983 b ) .
There a r e no s y s t e m a t i c v a r i a t i o n s of magnitutde of n e t migration
t o o r from t h e d i f f e r e n t s i z e c a t e g o r i e s of f i e l d a r e a s .
S t i l l the data
a r e n o t conclusive because some f i e l d a r e a s may be r e c u l t i v a t e d a f t e r a
long f a l l o w p e r i o d .
By knowing t h e a r e a w e l l , t h i s i s n o t l i k e l y t h e case
i n more than a few l o c a l i t i e s due t o t h e l i m i t e d number of a r e a s with s u i t a b l e s o i l s f o r crops.
Another f a c t o r which reduces t h e r e l i a b i l i t y of t h e
d a t a , i s t h e d e l i m i t a t i o n of t h e a r e l s a t t h e two censuses.
They may not
always c o i n c i d e i n t h e p r a c t i c e of d a t a c o l l e c t i o n f o r t h e censuses.
How-
e v e r , t h e p e r c e n t a g e s above f i t t h e more g e n e r a l d a t a r e g a r d i n g n e t step-
wise migration up t h e v i l l a g e and urban hierarchy.
T h i s does n o t imply
t h a t t h e r e a r e no f i e l d a r e a s w i t h growing p o p u l a t i o n s c o n s t i t u t i n g v i a b l e
l o c a l communities.
I t should b e mentioned, t h a t mixed farming i s common
among t h o s e l i v i n g a t t h e f i e l d s permanently.
T h i s i s s u b s t a t i a t e d by t h e
f a c t t h a t 59% of t h e l o c a l i t i e s around Letlhakeng a r e r e g a r d e d t o be both
f i e l d and c a t t l e a r e a s .
Furthermore, of t h e 874 occupied d w e l l i n g houses
i d e n t i f i e d i n t h e 1981 census i n t h e Letlhakeng a r e a , 56% a r e found o u t s i d e
the village.
TUTUME
Many households a l s o l e f t Tutume t o l i v e permanently a t t h e f i e l d s when Independence reduced t h e formal powers of t h e t r i b a l a u t h o r i t y .
Today 52% of
t h e 1 268 occupied d w e l l i n g houses i n t h e Tutume a r e a a r e found o u t s i d e t h e
village.
86% of t h e l o c a l i t i e s a r e t r a d i t i o n a l l y regarded t o be only f i e l d
a r e a s , whereas 14% a r e combined f i e l d a r e a s and c a t t l e p o s t s .
The reason
f o r t h i s d i f f e r e n c e between Letlhakeng and Tutume i s t h a t t h e f i e l d s l i e
c l o s e r t o Tutume, o n l y 7% of t h e c u l t i v a t i n g households have f i e l d s f u r t h e r
away t h a n 20 k i l o m e t r e s .
areas.
Space f o r c a t t l e i s t h u s inadequate i n t h e f i e l d
The t r a c k s and bush r o a d s t o t h e f i e l d s a r e bad.
by l o r r y .
Few a r e p a s s a b l e
The Mopane f o r e s t cover makes d r i v i n g p o s s i b l e o n l y on well-
cleared tracks.
B i c y c l e i s commonly used on t h e p a t h s i n t h i s a r e a because
t h e p a t h s a r e n o t sandy a s t h e y a r e i n t h e Letlhakeng a r e a .
I n 40% of t h e f i e l d a r e a s around Tutume t h e r e have been a d e c l i n e i n dwell i n g houses between 1971 and 1981, whereas 40% had an i n c r e a s e and 20% were
stable.
A s e x p l a i n e d above, t h e s e d a t a a r e somewhat u n r e l i a b l e .
A t present
t h e r e i s q u i t e a s u b s t a n t i a l movement of households t o t h e v i l l a g e from t h e
f i e l d a r e a s (Hesselberg 1982 b ) .
Many of t h e d w e l l i n g houses b u i l t i n t h e
v i l l a g e w i l l , however, n o t be used more t h a n a month o r two each y e a r , i f
at all.
The r e a s o n t o p u t them up i s s a i d t o be p r e s s u r e e x c e r t e d by t r i b a l
authority.
The Chief and Headmen e x p l a i n e d t h a t t o s t a y i n t h e v i l l a g e du-
r i n g t h e d r y season i s e s s e n t i a l t o development of t h e whole a r e a .
Another
reason i s found t o be t h a t piped water was provided t o t h e p e r i p h e r y of t h e
v i l l a g e i n 1978 a l l o w i n g p e o p l e t o l i v e l e s s crowded i n t h e v i l l a g e .
The
movement t o t h e v i l l a g e shows a marked i n c r e a s e a f t e r piped water became
available.
I t i s t h u s p o s s i b l e f o r t h e households t o have s m a l l s t o c k and
c h i c k e n around t h e house a l s o i n t h e v i l l a g e .
S t i l l , many of t h o s e who
had j u s t made a d w e l l i n g house i n t h e v i l l a g e ( w i t h o u t a f e n c e ) , s a i d t h a t
i t was a g a i n s t t h e i r economic i n t e r e s t s t o s t a y p a r t of t h e y e a r away
from t h e f i e l d s and c a t t l e .
Very few o f t h e s e households and t h o s e a t t h e
f i e l d s had a c a t t l e p o s t , t h a t i s , they pursued mixed farming.
f o r s t a y i n g a t t h e f i e l d s a r e t h e same a s f o r Letlhakeng.
The r e a s o n
In addition,
many mentioned t h e problem o f t r a n s p o r t a t i o n o f c r o p s from t h e f i e l d s t o
the vlllage.
They were a l s o a f r a i d of s t e a l i n g i f t h e c r o p s were s t o r e d
unwatched a t t h e f i e l d s .
TO swn up, e a r l i e r t h e want o f t r i b a l c h i e f s o f p o l i t i c a l c o n t r o l l e d t o
t h e maintenance of v i l l a g e s o f t e n through " forced movement"
T h i s i s e v i d e n t b o t h i n Letlhakeng and i n Tutume.
of households.
Movement of an "induced"
t y p e can be found today i n Tuturne, where t h e t r i b a l a u t h o r i t y p u t v e r b a l
p r e s s u r e on t h o s e who l i v e permanently a t t h e f i e l d s , t o e r e c t a house i n
the village.
"Normal spontaneous movement" was found t o be t h e o n l y type
of movement t o Letlhakeng.
An example o f t h i s movement i s a household
t h a t r e a c h e s t h e s t a g e i n i t s l i f e - c y c l e when c h i l d r e n a t t a i n s c h o o l i n g
age.
The l a s t t y p e of movement i s "abnomal spontaneous", e . g .
when a
change i n t h e environment o r new i n f o r m a t i o n i n f l u e n c e s t h e d e c i s i o n t o
move.
The w a t e r t a p s p u t up i n Tutume a r e h e r e a c a s e i n p o i n t .
I n Bot-
swana i n g e n e r a l t h e p r o v i s i o n of p o t a b l e w a t e r t o most v i l l a g e s above 500
i n h a b i t a n t s d u r i n g t h e 1970s h a s l e d t o a movement away from t h e f i e l d s .
However, t h e r e seems t o be a f a i r l y large group o f pure peasant-cultivat o r s and a l s o o f m u l t i a c t i v e peasant- cultivators who s t i Z L p r e f e r t o s t m j
at the fields.
There does n o t seem t o be any q u a n t i t a t i v e s i g n i f i c a n t
m i g m t i u n fi.m t h e i,'Sl,ages t o t h e f i e l d s during t h e Last decade or today.
The s o c i e t a l e v o l u t i o n h a s r a t h e r r e s u l t e d i n t h e e x p e c t e d i n c r e a s i n g flow
of p o p u l a t i o n up t h e v i l l a g e and urban h i e r a r c h y .
THE PLANNING DIMENSION
I n t h e NDP V it i s s t a t e d t h a t t h e g o a l i s t o i n c r e a s e incomes and employment i n r u r a l a r e a s through improved p r o d u c t i v i t y i n a g r i c u l t u r e and i n dustry.
T h i s i s a l s o i m p o r t a n t , it i s r e c o g n i z e d , i n o r d e r t o stem t h e
flow of workers t o urban c e n t r e s .
Formal a s w e l l a s i n f o r m a l urban s e c t o r
employment c a n n o t p r o v i d e a l l t h o s e who now m i g r a t e w i t h work.
Since crop
c u l t i v a t i o n c a n g i v e work t o more p e o p l e t h a n a n i m a l h u s b a n d r y , a s h i f t i n
government a t t e n t i o n i s a n t i c i p a t e d .
T h i s n o v e l e m p h a s i s on t h e r u r a l
a r e a s h a s n o t y e t r e s u l t e d i n a change i n government s p e n d i n g p a t t e r n .
Still
o n l y 19% o f t h e M i n i s t r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e ' s e x p e n d i t u r e s a r e d i r e c t e d a t c r o p
production.
Moreover, 22% o f t h e g o v e r n m e n t ' s o v e r a l l e x p e n d i t u r e s w i l l g o
t o a t a k e o v e r o f t h e r a i l w a y i n Botswana ( f r o m Zimbabwe), b u i l d i n g o f a new
i n t e r n a t i o n a l a i r p o r t i n Gaborone and s t r e n g t h e n i n g t h e new m i l i t a r y f o r c e .
Only 1 2 % o f t h e Development Budget f o r 1979/80 t o 1984/85 a r e a l l o c a t e d t o
t h e M i n i s t r y of A g r i c u l t u r e .
I n c o m p a r i s o n , 7% o f t h e b u d g e t a r e earmarked
f o r improvements o f t h e i n f r a s t r u c t u r e i n t h e l a r g e s t towns ( H e s s e l b e r g
1981 b ) .
This p a t t e r n of investments r e p r e s e n t s a c o n t i n u a t i o n of t h e p a s t
pattern.
Of t h e government c a p i t a l e x p e n d i t u r e s between 1966/67 and 1976/77
o n l y 22% went t o r u r a l a r e a s where 80% o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i v e d ( C o l c l o u g h
and McCarthy 1 9 8 0 ) .
The r e l a t i v e l y heavy government i n v e s t m e n t s i n u r b a n
c e n t r e s explain t h e urban migration.
O t h e r e x p l a n a t o r y f a c t o r s a r e few r u -
r a l j o b s , i n e q u a l i t y o f r u r a l means o f p r o d u c t i o n p a r t i c u l a r l y o f c a t t l e and
t h e increasing g a p between r u r a l a n d u r b a n lncomes i n g e n e r a l ( L u c a s 1 9 8 1 ) .
The government i s u n d o u b t e d l y aware o f t h i s f a c t and may i n f u t u r e harmonize
r h e t o r i c and p r a c t i c e somewhat b e t t e r .
Even t h e n , I a g r e e w i t h E l k a n (19801,
t h a t u r b a n m i g r a t i o n w i l l p r o b a b l y c o n t i n u e when a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n i s
~ r n p r o v e .d
The main q u e s t i o n r e g a r d i n g t h e r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n i s w h e t h e r t h e t r a d i t i o n a l v i l l a g e p a t t e r n should be preserved.
I n a d e b a t e i n Botswana i n
t h e e a r l y 1 9 7 0 s F o s b r o o k e (1972) a d v o c a t e d a " h a m l e t i z a t i o n " o f r u r a l Botswana.
He m a i n t a i n e d t h a t t h e a g r o t o w n s s h o u l d b e d e m o l i s h e d , a n d v i l l a g e s
o f a b o u t l 200 p e o p l e w i t h b a s i c s e r v i c e s and f i e l d s and g r a z i n g l a n d adj a c e n t e s t a b l i s h e d where t h e y d i d n o t a l r e a d y e x i s t .
t h e o p i n i o n t h a t t h i s i d e a would p r o v e t o o c o s t l y .
be a p p l i c a b l e everywhere i n Botswana.
G r a n t (1972) was of
Moreover, i t would n o t
F o r i n s t a n c e , a c c o r d i n g t o Werbner
( 1 9 7 5 ) , t h e Bakalanga p r e f e r t o l i v e d i s p e r s e d b e c a u s e o f a t r a d i t i o n a l a v e r sion t o central authority.
F u r t h e r m o r e , i n t h e T u l i Block and i n B a r o l o n g
t h e f a r m s t e a d t y p e of r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t h a s p r o v e d t o b e f a v o u r a b l e r e g a r d i n g
a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n i n c a t t l e and c r o p s r e s p e c t i v e l y .
Comaroff
(1977)
r e p o r t s t h a t p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s and f a r m e r s i n B a r o l o n g r e s i s t v i l l a g i z a tion.
If e x p e r i e n c e s from o t h e r c o u n t r i e s h a v e v a l i d i t y f o r Botswana,
t i c e s h o u l d b e t a k e n o f t h e f a i l u r e s of t h e " v i l l a g e r e g r o u @ n g "
no-
i n Zambia
(Dumont and M o t t i n 1 9 7 9 ) and o f t h e Ujamaa p o l i c y i n T a n z a n i a .
S t i l l Dumont
a n d M o t t i n m a i n t a i n t h a t v i l l a g e s o f 1 000 t o 1 500 p e o p l e s h o u l d b e e s t a b l i s h e d w i t h t h e n e c e s s a r y minimum s e r v i c e s a n d a g r i c u l t u r a l i n s t i t u t i o n s .
F u r t h e r m o r e , t h o s e l i v i n g by t h e i r f i e l d s s h o u l d b e f o r m a l l y l i n k e d t o
certain villages.
T h i s i s a long- run s t r a t e g y .
( A s a n e c e s s a r y immediate
s t r a t e g y , t h e y s u g g e s t a m o b i l i z a t i o n o f p e a s a n t s t o become a c o u n t e r f o r c e
t o urban i n t e r e s t s . )
I n t h e N a t i o n a l S e t t l e m e n t P o l i c y f o r m u l a t e d i n 1979
i t was e n v i s a g e d t h a t v i l l a g e s w i t h a p o p u l a t i o n o f 1 5 0 o r more s h o u l d g e t
p i p e d w a t e r , a n d v i l l a g e s w i t h more t h a n 500 p e o p l e s h o u l d b e e n t i t l e d t o
a p r i m a r y s c h o o l and a h e a l t h p o s t .
I t may b e c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e c o n f l i c t
between a d i s p e r s e d o r a v i l l a g e b a s e d a g r i c u l t u r a l p o p u l a t i o n h a s n o t been
s o l v e d i n Botswana:
The M i n i s t r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e c o n t i n u e s t o s u p p o r t mea-
s u r e s such a s water- provision a t t h e f i e l d s (it w i l l t a k e a long time before
most f i e l d a r e a s h a v e p e r e n n i a l w a t e r ) and o t h e r m i n i s t r i e s e s t a b l i s h
s e r v i c e s i n v i l l a g e s above c e r t a i n l e v e l s .
Iz
i;?q
t h u s he e l m z ? ~ ? d t k t
the present p a t t e r n i n which peasant- cultivators and farmers may be found
l i v i n g permanently b o t h a t f i e l d s and i n v i l l a g e s w i l l p e r s i s t .
The p r o p o r -
t i o n a l d i s t r i b u t i o n between t h e two t y p e s o f s e t t l e m e n t w i l l p r o b a b l y v a r y
r e g i o n a l l y i n Botswana a c c o r d i n g t o s e t t l e m e n t t r a d i t i o n a n d t h e l o c a l environment.
The a g r o t o w n s , it must b e e x p e c t e d ,
w i l l g r a d u a l l y become com-
b i n e d commercial and s e r v i c e c e n t r e s , t h a t i s , s e c o n d a r y c e n t r e s i n t h e Nat i o n a l Settlement P o l i c y terminology.
What w i l l t h e e f f e c t o f t h e a b o v e c o n c l u s i o n b e r e g a r d i n g a g r i c u l t u r a l development and t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l population?
Probably only a small group of
r e s o u r c e r i c h h o u s e h o l d s w i l l b e a b l e t o f u l l y b e n e f i t from t h e ALDEP p r o gramme and s t i l l r e m a i n i n t h e medium t o l a r g e
services w i l l be available.
v i l l a g e s where a r a n g e of
Those h o u s e h o l d s t h a t d e c i d e t o i n v e s t i n c r o p s
and c a t t l e w i l l , b e c a u s e o f t h e i n c r e a s e d demand o n l a b o u r i n h e r e n t i n t h e
ALDEP-package, n o r m a l l y t e n d t o f a v o u r a n o n - v i l l a g e l o c a t i o n .
I t must t h e n
b e e x p e c t e d t h a t q u i t e a number o f h o u s e h o l d s w i l l p r e f e r t o s t a y i n t h e
v i l l a g e and c a r r y o u t a t r a d i t i o n a l t y p e o f a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n , a s
l o n g a s theymanage.
The p o s i t i v e e f f e c t s o f t h e " p a c k a g e " o n t o t a 1 f o o d p r o -
d u c t i o n may accordingly b e l i m i t e d .
The t r a d i t i o n of a v i l l a g e s e t t l e m e n t
pattern in Botswana thus hampers agricultural development todq.
The
d i s t a n c e b e t w e e n v i l l a g e s and f i e l d s a l s o c o n s t i t u t e s a p a r t e x p l a n a t i o n
f o r drop- out.
This process of discontinuation of a g r i c u l t u r a l production
h a s b e e n shown t o e x i s t i n L e t l h a k e n g g e n e r a l l y and among f e m a l e househ o l d s i n Tutume ( s e e a l s o H e s s e l b e r g and Wikan 1 9 8 2 ) .
Although t h e r e i s
no g e n e r a l s h o r t a g e o f l a n d i n Botswana, i t i s l i k e l y t h a t t h i s c l a s s i c
p r o c e s s w i l l b e found i n most p l a c e s of t h e country i n f u t u r e .
The f o l l o w i n g example from Tutume i l l u s t r a t e s t h e p r o c e s s o f d r o p - o u t and
shows t h e i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e o f form of a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n and! r u r a l
The r e c e n t t e n d e n c y f o u n d c l o s e t o Tutume o f i n d i v i -
settlement pattern:
d u a l f e n c i n g o f f i e l d s may h a v e f a r - r e a c h i n g e f f e c t s .
w i t h w i r e was c u l t i v a t e d d u r i n g t h e 1 9 4 0 s .
1950.
The a r e a now f e n c e d
The s o i l became e x h a u s t e d a r o u n d
A number o f t h e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s t h e n moved 20 k i l o m e t r e s from t h e
v i l l a g e and became p e r m a n e n t f i e l d d w e l l e r s .
Others continued t o s t a y i n
t h e v i l l a g e i n t h e d r y s e a s o n a n d c l e a r e d f i e l d s up t o 1 0 k i l o m e t r e s away.
Today most o f t h e a r e a c l o s e t o t h e v i l l a g e i s overgrown w i t h t h o r n b u s h e s
and Mopane t r e e s .
Each y e a r o n l y a p a r t o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l l y f e n c e d a r e a s i s
used f o r c u l t i v a t i o n .
I n some c a s e s f e m a l e c u l t i v a t o r s a r e a l l o w e d t o u s e
p a r t o f t h e f e n c e d l a n d i n r e t u r n f o r l a b o u r t o t h e "owner".
Due t o t h e
s c a r c i t y o f l a n d i n t h e immediate v i c i n i t y o f t h e v l l l a g e , a g r o u p o f househ o l d s w i l l s w i t c h from c u l t i v a t i n g own f i e l d s f u r t h e r away from t h e v i l l a g e
and become a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s on o t h e r p e o p l e ' s f i e l d s o n l y .
The main
r e a s o n f o r t h i s i s t h a t it may b e e s s e n t i a l f o r s m a l l h o u s e h o l d s w a n t i n g t o
l o o k a f t e r a few c a t t l e and a s m a l l p l o t o f c r o p s t o l i v e o u t s i d e t h e v i l l a g e .
The low l e v e l o f g e o g r a p h i c m o b i l i t y d u e i n p a r t t o t h e s p a r e s r u r a l p h y s i c a l
i n f r a s t r u c t u r e , makes it d i f f i c u l t p a r t i c u l a r l y f o r f e m a l e h o u s e h o l d s t o l i v e
a t the fields.
( T h i s i s made more s o b e c a u s e t h e s e a r e a s a r e g e n e r a l l y
p o o r l y s e r v e d by s m a l l s h o p s and h a w k e r s . )
Due t o t h e i n v e s t m e n t i n c u r r e d i n
f e n c i n g , t h e t r a d i t i o n a l s y s t e m o f r o t a t i o n and f a l l o w i n g may become uneconomic.
soil.
T h i s a g a i n w i l l n e c e s s i t a t e more i n p u t s t o r e t a i n t h e f e r t i l i t y o f t h e
One c o n s e q u e n c e r e g a r d i n g t h e s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n i s t o c o n s o l i d a t e t h e
v i l l a g e a s a population centre.
I n p l a n n i n g i n t h e s h o r t - r u n it t h u s seems
w i s e t o t a k e t h e low g e o g r a p h i c m o b i l i t y o f t h e m a j o r p a r t o f t h e r u r a l popul a t i o n a s given.
I n t h e medium r a n g e p e r s p e c t i v e t h e c o n c e p t "commuting f i e l d "
should be a p p l i e d t o f a c i l i t a t e a combination of non- agricultural vork with
farming.
This implies t o plan according t o t h e prevailing s i t u a t i o n , t h a t i s ,
on t h e f a c t t h a t t h e m a j o r i t y of t h e households a r e d i s p e r s e d p h y s i c a l l y
and economically t o t a k e advantage of d i f f e r e n t i n a o m e e a r n i n g opportunit i e s and t o spread r i s k .
A l a s t p o i n t which ought t o be s t r e s s e d h e r e , i s
betveen TGLP and CFDA.
the possible contradiction
I f i n t e g r a t e d r u r a l development i s t o be organized
f o r s p e c i f i c geographical l o c a l i t i e s and t h e l o c a l r e s o u r c e s t o be t h e base
of t h i s development, it i s necessary t o r e l y on mixed farming i n most a r e a s
of Botswana.
The p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s must have a t l e a s t some c a t t l e t o se-
c u r e an adequate income and t o be a b l e t o plough a t t h e r i g h t time.
The de-
l i m i t a t i o n and fencing of l a r g e a r e a s f o r t h e e x c l u s i v e use of l a r g e c a t t l e
owners w i l l endanger t h e development of such a rewarding type of a g r a r i a n
system.
This may amply be demonstrated by an example from Kweneng D i s t r i c t
(map 11).
When only t h e f i e l d a r e a s and a r e l a t i v e l y small a d d i t i o n a l com-
munal g r a z i n g a r e a i s a v a i l a b l e f o r t h e small herd owners, mixed farming w i l l
g r a d u a l l y become more d i f f i c u l t .
I n no way would it be p o s s i b l e f o r a l l t h o s e
now c u l t i v a t i n g crops a l s o t o keep c a t t l e i n t h e o f t e n a l r e a d y overgrazed
communal a r e a s , t h a t i s , v i l l a g e near land.
CONCLUSION
F i g u r e s 7 and 8 (page 89) may now be used t o p l a c e t h e e v o l u t i o n of
t h e s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n and migration i n Botswana.
The t r a d i t i o n a l l a r g e
v i l l a g e s of which some l a t e r became agrotowns, were g r a d u a l l y r e p l a c e d b y a
h i e r a r c h y of v i l l a g e s through p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e ( i t became t o o f a r t o t r a v e l t o f i e l d s and f u e l wood).
Another reason f o r t h i s e v o l u t i o n was p o l i t i -
c a l and o t h e r disagreements which r e s u l t e d i n t h a t whole k i n groups migrated
t o form own s m a l l e r v i l l a g e s .
live i n villages.
M u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s continued t o
Those p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s who l i v e d d i s p e r s e d , d i d not
move t o a v i l l a g e when members i n t h e i r households obtained wage work e l s e where.
The hypothesis inherent i n figure 7 t h a t when peasant- cultivator
households became m u l t i a c t i v e they would p r e f e r a v i l l a g e location i s tlzus
z o t sicppo17ted. Furthermore, those few who produce
i.6:
Lntivel,? Large +an t i + d rS
of crops and have much c a t t l e are mainly found i n v i ? y l , q e s and do n o t l i v e
dispersed.
This i s n o t t o say t h a t it i s u n l i k e l y t h a t when t h e number of
farmers i n c r e a s e s , t h e m i g r a t i o n t O f i e l d a r e a s from v i l l a g e s may i n c r e a s e .
r-
2 S
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'4.4
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4
CHAPTER 13
THE PEASANT CONTROVERSY SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
The a n a l y s i s o f a g r i c u l t u r e a n d t h e p e a s a n t r y i n Botswana h a s amply shown
t h a t p e a s a n t s d o n o t " withdraw" from p r o d u c t i o n f o r m a r k e t s b e c a u s e t h a t
i s t h e i r t r a d i t i o n a l U w a y of l i f e " . Today a g r i c u l t u r e i s r a t h e r a way of
s u r v i v a l f o r a l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n o f Boswana's p o p u l a t i o n .
The r e a s o n f o r
t h e a b i l i t y o f many p o o r h o u s e h o l d s t o c o n t i n u e w i t h a g r i c u l t u r a l product i o n i s t h e f a c t t h a t t h e y u s e c l o s e t o no o t h e r i n p u t t h a n t h e i r own l a bour.
The p e a s a n t s know p e r f e c t l y w e l l t h a t i f t h e y u s e more c o s t l y i n -
p u t s , it i s n o t l i k e l y t h a t t h e s e e x p e n d i t u r e s c a n b e r e c o v e r e d .
Moreover,
t h e i r experiences t e l l t h a t over t h e y e a r s t h e p r i c e s on i n p u t s i n c r e a s e
more t h a n t h o s e o n t h e p r o d u c t s made.
So, a s l o n g a s l a n d i s f r e e c a t t l e
may g r a z e and c r o p s c a n b e c u l t i v a t e d w i t h a minimum o f i n p u t s e v e n o f f a mily labour.
The r e s u l t i s t h e n t h a t t h e t y p i c a l farm p r o d u c e s l e s s t h a n
what i s n e c e s s a r y f o r s u b s i s t e n c e , t h a t i s , s u b - s u b s i s t e n c e c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n
i s normal.
Some p e a s a n t s f i l l t h e g a p w i t h s a l e o f c a t t l e , w h i l e t h e ma-
j o r i t y t a k e s o n wage w o r k i n u r b a n c e n t r e s . The worker-husband/peasant-wife
h o u s e h o l d i s t h u s common i n Botswana.
T h i s m u l t i a c t i v i t y a t t h e household
l e v e l h a s an important n e g a t i v e consequence f o r a n i n c r e a s i n g group of female households.
The l a c k o f m a l e l a b o u r f o r p l o u g h i n g w i t h oxen t o g e t h e r
w i t h t h e d e c l i n e i n m u t u a l a s s i s t a n c e between f a m i l i e s h a v e r e s u l t e d i n dropo u t from a g r i c u l t u r a l p u r s u i t s .
Most o f t h e p o o r h o u s e h o l d s a r e f o u n d i n
t h i s g r o u p o f f e m a l e h o u s e h o l d s i n r u r a l Botswana.
The f e m a l e h o u s e h o l d s
t h a t own s u f f i c i e n t c a t t l e f o r t r a c t i o n p u r p o s e s manage t o o b t a i n male a s s i s t a n c e by l e n d i n g oxen i n r e t u r n .
T h i s i s p o s s i b l e because t h e r e c u r r e n t
d r o u g h t s t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e l a r g e number o f c a t t l e i n Botswana h a v e produced
a s u b s t a n t i a l g r o u p of male p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s
r e q u i r e d oxen f o r p l o u g h i n g .
without o r with l e s s than
Poor households a r e a l s o found i n t h i s group.
I t i s d i s t r e s s i n g t h a t t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l l a n d p r o d u c t i v i t y i n A f r i c a on ave-
r a g e t o d a y i s l o w e r t h a n i t was i n Europe b e f o r e t h e I n d u s t r i a l R e v o l u t i o n .
The d e c l i n i n g f o o d p r o d u c t i o n p e r p e r s o n i n A f r i c a , a n d t h e e n s u i n g s c a r c i t i e s , a r e s u f f i c i e n t l y e x p l a i n e d a t t h e g e n e r a l l e v e l b y t h e a n a l y s i s of
Botswana.
B e f o r e summarizing t h e f o r c e s b e h i n d t h e p r e s e n t d i s m a l s i t u a -
t i o n , t h e v i c i o u s c i r c l e o f t h e p r e s e n t form o f m u l t i a c t i v i t y which i s
mainly found a t t h e
household Level, w i l l b e o u t l i n e d :
The l a c k o f male
l a b o u r i n r u r a l a r e a s h a s had a n e g a t i v e i m p a c t o n a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i v i t y b o t h r e g a r d i n g l a n d and l a b o u r .
S t i l l , t h e f a c t t h a t many u r b a n wor-
k e r s ' f a m i l i e s h a v e some incomes from a g r i c u l t u r e l e a d s t o low wages and
makes it e a s i e r f o r e m p l o y e r s t o r e l y o n a c a s u a l w o r k f o r c e .
t h i s , t h e l a b o u r p r o d u c t i v i t y i n u r b a n i n d u s t r i e s i s low.
Because o f
The low produc-
t i v i t y i n most i n d u s t r i e s a n d i n t h e m a j o r p a r t o f a g r i c u l t u r e p r o h i b i t s
h i g h e r wages a n d b e t t e r r e t u r n s .
The c i r c l e i s c l o s e d .
B e s i d e s c o l o n i a l t a x a t i o n , t h e i n i t i a l i n e q u a l i t y o f c a t t l e o w n e r s h i p exp l a i n s t h e t r a d i t i o n o f l a b o u r m i g r a t i o n i n Botswana.
The c o n t i n u a t i o n and
i n c r e a s e i n l a b o u r m i g r a t i o n a n d l a t e l y i n s h u t t l i n g may b e a s c r i b e d t o neg a t i v e t r e n d s i n t h e t e r m s o f t r a d e between a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t s (meat exc l u d e d ) and b o t h a g r i c u l t u r a l i n p u t s and b a s i c consumer g o o d s .
S i n c e Bot-
swana i s i n a customs u n i o n w i t h S o u t h A f r i c a t a r i f s c a n n o t b e e r e c t e d t o
p r o t e c t crop c u l t i v a t i o n .
The c u l t i v a t o r s i n Botswana must t h e n compete
w i t h h i g h l y advanced and s u b s i d i z e d a g r i c u l t u r e i n d e v e l o p e d c o u n t r i e s .
The
g r a d u a l l y d e c l i n i n g r e l a t i v e c o s t of bulk t r a n s p o r t a t i o n i s another f a c t o r
allowing f o r r e l a t i v e l y cheap imports of food.
The e f f e c t o n u r b a n consumer
p r e f e r e n c e s o f American f o o d a i d a l s o makes it d i f f i c u l t f o r t h e l o c a l c u l t i v a t o r s t o market t h e i r t r a d i t i o n a l s t a p l e s a t competitive p r i c e s .
The above argument o f p a r t i c u l a r l y d i f f e r e n t i a l s o f p r o d u c t i v i t y a t t h e
S o u t h e r n A f r i c a n l e v e l a n d worldwide c a n a l s o b e made r e g a r d i n g i n d u s t r i e s .
Botswana i s t h u s e v i d e n t l y p a r t o f l a r g e r s y s t e m s .
t h e s e systems e x p l a i n s t h e hardship
The p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n
many p e o p l e i n Botswana e n d u r e .
How-
e v e r , a t t h e same t i m e a s m a l l modern u r b a n s e c t o r h a s d e v e l o p e d a n d a s m a l l
number o f c u l t i v a t o r s h a v e become f a r m e r s . Thus h e t e r o g e n i e t y now e x i s t s i n
Botswana a s w e l l . To l a b e l t h e socio- economic f o r m a t i o n a s t r a n s i t o r y , i s
then appropriate.
Furthermore, a g r a r i a n t r a n s i t i o n i s a n adequate term r e -
garding t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l sector.
I t should h e r e b e s t r e s s e d t h a t drop- out
from a g r i c u l t u r e , and t h e r e b y a l a r g e e x t e n t o f t h e p r e v a l e n t p o v e r t y , occ u r s withouta simultaneous higher capital- labour r a t i o i n a g r i c u l t u r e .
This
i s c o n t r a r y t o t h e m a r x i s t t h e o r y which i m p l i e s t h a t a p r o l e t a r i a n i z a t i o n
p r o c e s s i s c a u s e d by a c a p i t a l i s t m o d e r n i z a t i o n o f a g r i c u l t u r e .
The s i t u a -
t i o n i s r a t h e r t h a t Botswana, a s o t h e r T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s , i s l i n k e d t o
t h e world market i n many ways and must t h u s r e l a t e t o t h e f a c t t h a t g l o b a l
c o m p e t i t i o n l e a d s t o a c o n t i n u o u s l y i n c r e a s i n g c a p i t a l - l a b o u r r a t i o i n an
a l r e a d y h i g h l y modern a g r i c u l t u r e elsewhere.
S i n c e t h e l a b o u r p r o d u c t i v i t y i s more d i f f i c u l t t o improve i n a g r i c u l t u r e
t h a n i n most o t h e r s e c t o r s , t h e t e r m s of t r a d e of a g r i c u l t u r e i n a f r e e
market would b e d e c l i n i n g .
I n most T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s producer p r i c e s
a r e not o r inadequately subsidized.
The income p e a s a n t s o b t a i n from a g r i -
c u l t u r e i s t h e n g r a d u a l l y r e d u c i n g t h e buying-power of t h e p e a s a n t s .
This
p r i c e - s q u e e z e h a s i n Botswana and p r o b a b l y i n many o t h e r A f r i c a n c o u n t r i e s
a l r e a d y pushed t h e p e a s a n t s t o t h e s t a g e where c u l t i v a t i o n i s o n l y underThe h i g h r a t e o f urban underemployment i s
t a k e n f o r l a c k of a l t e r n a t i v e s .
t h e r e a s o n why many a r e s t i l l engaged i n a g r i c u l t u r e a t e i t h e r t h e i n d i v i d u a l o r household l e v e l .
However, it i s p r o b a b l e t h a t t h e i n c r e a s e i n i n -
come a p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r wouldrespond t o would b e r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l .
The
s u b s i d y needed t o a c h i e v e even such a s m a l l i n c r e a s e would b e l a r g e i f t h e
aim i s t o b r i d g e t h e l a b o u r p r o d u c t i v i t y gap w i t h modern a g r i c u l t u r e w i t h which
t h e y compete.
The p o s s i b i l i t i e s i n h e r e n t i n t h e a l t e r n a t i v e ,
that is, a
g r a d u a l l y improved p e a s a n t p r o d u c t i o n i s d i s c u s s e d l a t e r r e g a r d i n g Botswana.
The c o n c l u s i o n t h a t may b e drawn from t h e arguments above, i s t h a t Botswana,
a s many o t h e r T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s , i s caught i n a number of e x t e r n a l l y dominated i n t e r l o c k i n g v i c i o u s c i r c l e s .
The c o u n t r y i s c l e a r l y i n a t r a n s i -
t i o n from an " e c o l o g i c a l " t o an "economic s i t u a t i o n " .
The a g r i c u l t u r a l sec-
t o r h a s advanced from t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t i v a t i o n t o t h e p e a s a n t s t a g e .
The
f u n c t i o n a l i t y of t h e s e c t o r a t t h i s s t a g e h a s been shown t o have become
distorted.
The term p a r t - d i s s o l u t i o n d e p i c t s t h i s s i t u a t i o n w e l l .
The t r a n -
s i t i o n t o modernity may, however, seem t o be b l o c k e d , t o b e i n an " i n f i n i t e
pause".
This does not f i t the f a c t s .
The a n a l y s i s h a s shown t h a t s e v e r a l
a l b e i t s e p a r a t e l y s m a l l changes occur i n many dimensions.
s i t i o n " i s t h u s a more a d e q u a t e term.
"Delayed t r a n -
One of t h e main r e a s o n s b e h i n d t h e
" delayed t r a n s i t i o n " , b e s i d e s t h e e x t e r n a l system domination, i s t h e absence
of s u i t a b l e government p o l i c i e s .
the c a t t l e sector.
The government h a s been p r e o c c u p i e d with
T h i s s e c t o r h a s a l s o expanded, and been p r o f i t a b l e f o r
t h e l a r g e c a t t l e owners.
Crop c u l t i v a t i o n and o t h e r economic a c t i v i t i e s ,
b e s i d e s mining, have r e c e i v e d s c a n t a t t e n t i o n b u t i n t h e l a s t f o u r y e a r s
when t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l diamond market c o n t r a c t e d s e r i o u s l y and t h e number of
unemployed i n c r e a s e d r a p i d l y .
The o l d c a t t l e e l i t e t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e new
u r b a n w o r k e r s w i t h permanent employment w i l l p r o b a b l y a c t a s p r e s s u r e g r o u p s
t o h i n d e r a s u b s t a n t i a l s u b s i d i z a t i o n o f p e a s a n t p r o d u c t i o n i n t h e immediate
I n l i g h t o f t h e a b o v e , it i s u n l i k e l y t h a t t h e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s
future.
s h o u l d b e blamed f o r t h e " d e l a y e d t r a n s i t i o n " .
S i n c e Botswana h a s , f o r
i n s t a n c e , many o f t h e same c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a s T a n z a n i a , t h e c a u s e s f o r l a c k
o f a g r i c u l t u r a l d e v e l o p m e n t a n d t h u s o f p o v e r t y a r e p r o b a b l y t h e same.
s t r e s s Hyden
The
(1980) p l a c e s on t h e p e a s a n t s ' n e g a t i v e i n f l u e n c e f o r o v e r a l l
n a t i o n a l development i n T a n z a n i a t h u s becomes n o t h i n g b u t i n c r e d i b l e .
In
my o p i n i o n t h e c o n c l u s i o n s r e a c h e d r e g a r d i n g Botswana a r e p r o b a b l y g e n e r a l
f o r T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s where s t a t e i n v o l v e m e n t i n and a g r a r i a n p o l i c i e s
f o r peasant production a r e negligent o r inappropriate.
This a p p l i e s both
t o c o u n t r i e s w i t h m a r k e t economies and t h o s e t h a t r e l y o n s o c i a l i s t p l a n n i n g
principles.
B e f o r e t u r n i n g t o a s u g g e s t i o n o f some o f t h e e l e m e n t s i n a
model o f a g r i c u l t u r a l development i n Botswana, I want t o u n d e r l i n e t h e ser i o u s c o n s e q u e n c e it may h a v e t o m a i n t a i n t h a t p e a s a n t s b e h a v e a c c o r d i n g t o
c u l t u r a l l y p r e s c r i b e d norms r a t h e r t h a n economic r a t i o n a l i t y .
P l a n n e r s who
b a s e t h e i r work on t h e a s s u m p t i o n t h a t p e a s a n t s d o n o t r e s p o n d t o i n c e n t i v e s ,
a r g u e t h a t t o i n c r e a s e p r i c e s w i l l a c h i e v e n o t h i n g e l s e t h a n more e x p e n s i v e
urban labour.
A reason f o r A f r i c a ' s p r e s e n t food c r i s e s i s t h u s t h a t policy-
makers h a v e b e e n d e l u d e d t o b e l i e v e t h a t p e a s a n t s a r e n o t p r i c e r e s p o n s i v e .
The b e h a v i o u r o f t h e p e a s a n t s i n Botswana, which t h e r e i s no r e a s o n t o bel i e v e i s a t y p i c a l f o r A f r i c a , s u p p o r t s t h e f i n d i n g s o f s t u d i e s on A s i a and
L a t i n America t h a t p e a s a n t s a r e w e l l aware o f modern a g r i c u l t u r a l methods
and a d o p t
them a t t h e h o u s e h o l d l e v e l a t o n c e t h e y t h e r e b y y a l n lncorne and
s e c u r i t y wise.
P o v e r t y i n Botswana i s s t i l l m a i n l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h r u r a l a r e a s a n d a g r i c u l ture.
The a n a l y s i s h a s shown t h a t t h e r e i s s c o p e f o r p o v e r t y a l l e v i a t i o n
through changes i n t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l s e c t o r .
I t i s t h e r e f o r e of i n t e r e s t
t h a t Botswana h a s n o t y e t advanced f a r a l o n g a d e f i n i t e modern a g r a r i a n
structure.
T h i s a p p l i e s b o t h t o t h e c a t t l e and c r o p s e c t o r .
A choice of
a g r a r i a n s t r u c t u r e f o r t h e f u t u r e may t h u s b e t a k e n w i t h o u t t o o many " l o s t "
investments.
To c h o o s e a h i g h c a p i t a l i n p u t t y p e o f s p e c i a l i z e d c r o p f a r m i n g would necess i t a t e a n e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f r e a l l y l a r g e f a r m s t o b e economic r a t i o n a l i n semia r i d Botswana.
I n a d d i t i o n some d e g r e e o f i r r i g a t i o n would p r o b a b l y a l s o b e
required t o reduce t h e r i s k .
A s m a l l number o f s u c h l a r g e f a r m s would un-
d o u b t e d l y s u f f i c e t o f e e d t h e r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n i n Botswana.
T h i s would e v e n b e t h e c a s e when most o f t h e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s t h e n had
t o m i g r a t e t o u r b a n c e n t r e s , o r t h o s e who a r e p r e s e n t l y p u r e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s , would become m u l t i a c t i v e ( i . e . t h e y would o b t a i n r e d u c e d a g r i c u l t u r a l o u t p u t on a v e r a g e ) .
There i s then a c o n t r a d i c t i o n between poverty
a l l e v i a t i o n and t h i s type of r a p i d r i s e i n a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i v i t y .
economic a n d s o c i a l
When
devezopment i s t h e o b j e c t i v e , a n a l t e r n a t i v e p a t h t o a g r i -
c u l t u r a l development s h o u l d b e s o u g h t .
The P r e s i d e n t i a l Commission on Land
T e n u r e (1983) r e c o g n i z e s t h a t t o make a r a b l e l a n d p r i v a t e would l e a d t o a r a pidly
i n c r e a s i n g unemployed l a n d l e s s c l a s s .
cannot afford.
T h i s t h e s o c i a l s e c u r i t y system
The t r a d i t i o n a l communal l a n d t e n u r e s y s t e m i s t h u s a d v o c a t e d
a l s o f o r t h e near f u t u r e .
I t i s , however, i m p o r t a n t t o n o t e t h a t a l s o t h e
Commission s t r e s s e s t h a t t e n u r e s y s t e m s o u g h t t o c h a n g e w i t h t h e g r o w t h of
economic a c t i v i t i e s g e n e r a l l y i n t h e c o u n t r y .
Although t h e major p a r t of t h e
p e a s a n t s b u t t h e r i c h e s t now c a n n o t t a k e a d v a n t a g e o f p r i v a t i s a t i o n due t o l a c k
of c a p i t a l , t h e m a r k e t v a l u e o f l a n d w i l l p r o b a b l y improve from t h e p r e s e n t l y
v e r y low l e v e l .
Land may t h u s b e a c c e p t a b l e a s s e c u r i t y f o r bank l o a n s a t
some f u t u r e d a t e when p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h h a s made l a n d i n t o a r e a l s c a r c e ' f a c t o r of production.
From t h e above i t s h o u l d b e c l e a r t h a t t o m a i n t a i n t h a t
g o v e r n m e n t s must make a c h o i c e b e t w e e n s u p p o r t t o a g r i c u l t u r e o r i n d u s t r y i s
a f a l s e dilemma.
I a c c o r d i n g l y a g r e e w i t h t h e V i c e - P r e s i d e n t Mmusi of Bot-
swana t h a t t a n g i b l e p r o g r e s s i n o t h e r s e c t o r s ( t h a n a g r i c u l t u r e ) , r e s t s on
f i n d i n g a s o l u t i o n t o a g r i c u l t u r a l development.
I t i s , however, i n my o p i n i o n ,
d i f f i c u l t t o s e e t h a t a g r i c u l t u r e c a n b e " t h e p r i m a r y e n g i n e o f economic and
s o c i a l t r a n s f o r m a t i o n " i n Botswana
( D a i l y News 1 0 / 5 - 8 3 ) .
The e l e m e n t s o f a s o l u t i o n d i s c u s s e d h e r e w i l l t h u s o n l y aim a t r e d u c i n g
p o v e r t y a n d a c h i e v i n g a f o o d s u r p l u s f o r u r b a n consumption ( i . e . a g r i c u l t u r e
s h o u l d n o t b e a b o t t l e n e c k f o r s u s t a i n e d economic a n d s o c i a l d e v e l o p m e n t j .
The p e a s a n t p a t h t o a g r i c u l t u r a l development a d v o c a t e d h e r e i s b a s e d on mixed
farming.
Mixed f a r m i n g i m p l i e s t h a t a n a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r h a s c a t t l e and
c u l t i v a t e s crops.
The c a t t l e may e i t h e r " a l w a y s " g r a z e i n t h e f i e l d a r e a s
o r be kept i n grazing areas.
Both t y p e s h a v e e x i s t e d t r a d i t i o n a l l y i n Bot-
swana, b u t t h e l a t t e r i s t h e more common.
The v i a b i l i t y o f s m a l l p e a s a n t
f a r m s i n f u t u r e p r o b a b l y d e p e n d s on t h e a b i l i t y t o k e e p some c a t t l e c l o s e t o
t h e farmstead.
A ready access t o c a t t l e f o r t r a c t i o n i s e s s e n t i a l regarding
peasant production,
Even government a s s i s t a n c e t o p e a s a n t p r o d u c t i o n i n
t h e form of s u b s i d i e s on i n p u t s and p r o d u c e r p r i c e s and of m a r k e t i n g
arrangements would n o t b e s u f f i c i e n t i f t h e p r e s e n t l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n of
households w i t h i n a d e q u a t e a c c e s s t o draught- power i s r e t a i n e d .
The i n -
come o b t a i n e d would t h e n p r o b a b l y be t o o low t o induce p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s
t o improve t h e i r p r o d u c t i o n p r a c t i c e s .
skewed d i s t r i b u t i o n of c a t t l e ownership.
The major problem i s e v i d e n t l y t h e
A r e d i s t r i b u t i o n of
s o l v e t h e twin problems of draught- power and income.
c a t t l e would
The f a v o u r a b l e p r i c e
t r e n d f o r c a t t l e would i n such a s i t u a t i o n e n a b l e more p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s
t o r e l y on c a t t l e s a l e f o r s e c u r i t y of l i v e l i h o n r l , and t h u s a l l o w them t o
i n v e s t more t i m e and r e s o u r c e s i n r i s k y c r o p c u l t i v a t i o n .
A redistribution
would, however, b e a r e v o l u t i o n a r y measure i n Botswana today.
The a l t e r n a -
t i v e r e g a r d i n g t h e income t a r g e t i s m u l t i a c t i v i t y a t household l e v e l .
The
o b j e c t i v e s of improved a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n and h i g h e r l e v e l s of l i v i n g
c o u l d b e a c h i e v e d by m u l t i a c t i v i t y a t t h e i n d i v i d u a l l e v e l .
"Small" i s t h e n p o s s i b l e i n Botswana a t p r e s e n t by b a s i n g a g r i c u l t u r a l development p l a n n i n g on t h e a l r e a d y e x i s t i n g commonness of m u l t i a c t i v i t y .
I t would
t h e n a l s o b e of importance t h a t s t a t i s t i c a l p u b l i c a t i o n s i n c l u d e t h e phenomenon of m u l t i a c t i v i t y .
The o p e r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n used h e r e may c o n s t i t u t e an
i n p u t t o t h e p r o c e s s o f e s t a b l i s h i n g a s e t of new c o n c e p t s i n t h i s r e s p e c t .
The M i n s i t r y of A g r i c u l t u r e o u g h t f u r t h e r m o r e t o change t h e d e f i n i t i o n s of
" t r a d i t i o n a l " and "commercial" f a r m e r more i n l i n e w i t h t h e d i s t i n c t i o n made
i n t h e p r e s e n t work between p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r and f a r m e r ( e t c . ) .
In a
s t r a t e g y of " m u l t i a c t i v e p e a s a n t p r o d u c t i o n " t h e marketed o u t p u t of each
peasant - cultivator w i l l not be l a r g e .
However, s i n c e many w i l l produce a s u r -
p l u s under somewhat improved c o n d i t i o n s , t h e d o m e s t i c urban market would b e
s a t i s f i e d i n normal y e a r s w i t h l o w c o s t s t a p l e s .
I n y e a r s of ample and w e l l
d i s t r i b u t e d r a i n f a l l through t h e season and r e g i o n a l l y a n a t i o n a l s u r p l u s may
b e produced.
I f s t o r a g e f a c i l i t i e s a r e b u i l t , e x p e n s i v e i m p o r t s (and food
a i d ) may b e avoided when d r o u g h t h i t s .
A t t h e household l e v e l i t i s e s s e n t i a l
t h a t m u l t i a c t i v i t y a l l o w s f o r a n e s c a p e from t h e v a g a r i e s of s e a s o n s and market fluctuation.
The s m a l l urban p o p u l a t i o n and s e m i - a r i d c l i m a t e i n Botswana may make a d i r e c t
g e n e r a l i z a t i o n of t h e s u g g e s t i o n s p u t forward d i f f i c u l t .
A l a r g e r urban po-
p u l a t i o n would i n o t h e r c o u n t r i e s p r o b a b l y a l l o w f o r a f a s t e r d e v e l o p m e n t a l o n g
a p e a s a n t p a t h when a g r a r i a n p o l i c i e s a r e f a v o u r a b l e .
I n c o u n t r i e s where
t h e climate o f f e r s b e t t e r physical conditions f o r agriculture, multiactivity
would n o t be e q u a l l y important f o r a l l a g r i c u l t u r a l producers.
i l l u s t r a t i v e c a s e on t h i s l a t t e r p o i n t .
China i s an
Mao Tse Tung showed t h a t h i s i d e a
of a p e a s a n t p a t h t o a g r i c u l t u r a l development was p o s s i b l e i n p r a c t i c e a t
t h e l e v e l of t h e development of t h e p r o d u c t i v e f o r c e s a t t h a t time.
The ma-
j o r i t y of t h e p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s i n China took p a r t i n t h e modernization,
t h a t i s , a h i g h l y p r o d u c t i v e a g r i c u l t u r e was achieved without a c r e a t i o n of
a m i n o r i t y of f a r m e r s , and t h u s of drop- out and poverty.
The explanation
f o r t h i s l i e s i n t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of double and t r i p p l e cropping i n l a r g e p a r t s
of t h i s country.
I n Botswana, a s i n many o t h e r Third World c o u n t r i e s , multi-
a c t i v i t y e n a b l e s many c u l t i v a t o r s t o continue with a low remunerative crop
cultivation.
Viewed i n t h e l i g h t of t h e commonness of m u l t i a c t i v i t y i n de-
veloped market economies, it seems wise n o t t o p l a n f o r an i n t e r i m p e r i o d of
s p e c i a l i z e d pure farmers.
The a n a l y s i s h a s shown t h a t t h e r e i n Botswana i s a connection between r u r a l
s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n and a g r i c u l t u r a l production and l e v e l of l i v i n g .
The over-
a l l r u r a l s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n s t i l l corresponds t o t h e s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n of
a g r i c u l t u r a l producers.
The low geographical m o b i l i t y caused by i n s u f f i c i e n t
i n f r a s t r u c t u r e , makes t h e d i s t a n c e between v i l l a g e s and f i e l d a r e a s i n t o a
b o t t l e n e c k regarding a g r i c u l t u r a l development.
cultivators
Quite a number of peasant-
p r e f e r t o l i v e a t t h e f i e l d s t h e whole y e a r .
Many of them do
n o t have a house and p a r t of t h e i r c l o s e family i n a v i l l a g e .
A substantial
p r o p o r t i o n of t h e l a r g e amount of f o r e i g n a i d t h a t Botswana has r e c e i v e d dur i n g t h e l a s t 15 y e a r s , h a s been i n t h e form of s o c i a l i n f r a s t r u c t u r e .
The
a v a i l a b i l i t y of p o t a b l e water, education and h e a l t h s e r v i c e s i n most v i l l a g e s
b u t t h e s m a l l e s t ones now c o n s t i t u t e a "magnet" on people l i v i n g a t t h e f i e l d s .
Since t h e modernization of a g r i c u l t u r e i s s t i l l very l i m i t e d , t h e migration
from v i l l a g e s t o f i e l d s has n o t y e t become a g e n e r a l phenomenon i n Botswana.
I n an a g r i c u l t u r a l s t r a t e g y a s d e s c r i b e d above a v i l l a g e l o c a t i o n would not
be p r o f i t a b l e f o r most p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r s .
The t r a d i t i o n a l v i l l a g e p a t t e r n
i s t h u s a l s o counterproductive regarding poverty a l l e v i a t i o n .
APPENDIX 1
DEFINITIONS
The g e n e r a l c o n c e p t s ( f i g u r e 1 3 ) a r e d e f i n e d a s f o l l o w s :
Agricultural producer r e f e r s t o a p e r s o n who c a r r i e s o u t work on own l a n d ,
e i t h e r s h a r e c r o p p e d , l e a s e d o r h e l d on o t h e r arrangements i r r e s p e c t i v e of
h i s t o r i c a l epoch o r economic system.
landayainstpayment a r e not included.
Those working on s o l e l y o t h e r p e o p l e ' s
A g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s may combine
a g r i c u l t u r e w i t h p a i d work e i t h e r i n a g r i c u l t u r e o r i n o t h e r a c t i v i t i e s o r
t h e y may b e self- employed i n such a c t i v i t i e s .
CuZtivaLor r e f e r s t o an a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r who grows c r o p s ( t h i s term i n cludes vegetables e t c . ) .
The term i n c l u d e s t h o s e who keep l i v e s t o c k i n com-
bination with c u l t i v a t i o n .
Herdsman r e f e r s t o a n a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r who k e e p s l i v e s t o c k o n l y and who
is sedentary.
The a n i m a l s may b e moved between g r a z i n g a r e a s , b u t t h e owner
( t h e herdsman) must have a s p e c i f i c p l a c e where he spends most of t h e y e a r .
A herdsman d o e s n o t even grow f o d d e r .
Multiactive agricuZturaZ producer r e f e r s t o an a g r i c u l t u r a l producer who comb i n e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n w i t h one o r more n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l income s o u r c e s
a n d / @ r p a i d work i n o t h e r p e o p l e ' s a g r i c u l t u r e . The same d e f i n i t i o n a p p l i e s
to
multiactive cultivator.
Pure multiactive cuZtivator r e f e r s t o a m u l t i a c t i v e c u l t i v a t o r who r e l i e s on
a combination of own c u l t i v a t i o n and work i n o t h e r p e o p l e ' s a g r i c u l t u r e o n l y .
S i m i l a r s p e c i f i c a t i o n s a p p l y t o herdsmen.
Concepts r e l a t e d t o s t a g e s i n a g r i c u l t u r a l development ( f i g u r e 1 4 ) a r e d e f i n e d
a s follows:
Figure 14.
CONCEPTS
related to stages in agricultural development.
Traditional agriculturalist
Pure
trad. agr.
Pure
Multiactive
trad. agr.
Multiactive Multiactive
Peasant
Pure
peasant
Modern agricultural producer
/\
/
peasant
Multiactive Pure m.a.p.
I\
Multiactive m.a.p.
Pure
/"
Peasant-worker
\
\
Peasant-trader
/
Peasant-worker c m trader
fa m e r r a n c k
--
Traditional, agriculturaZist
r e f e r s t o an a g r i c u l t u r a l producer who l i v e d by
using simple techniques of production i n a pre- market o r p r e - s o c i a l i s t
society.
T r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s d i d n o t depend on s a l e s of products
i n o r d e r t o a c q u i r e goods of fundamental importance t o t h e i r s u r v i v a l except,
f o r i n s t a n c e , f o r an o c c a s i o n a l i r o n b l a d e f o r t h e hoe o r i r o n t i p f o r t h e
spear.
Multiactive traditional euZtivator
r e f e r s t o a t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t i v a t o r who
grew crops (and p o s s i b l y had l i v e s t o c k ) and i n a d d i t i o n had incomes from
o t h e r sources by, f o r i n s t a n c e , being a t r a d i t i o n a l doctor o r a r t i s a n .
Peasant
r e f e r s t o an a g r i c u l t u r a l producer who l i v e s i n a s o c i e t y dominated
by c a p i t a l i s t o r modern s o c i a l i s t market p r i n c i p l e s .
(T~aditionalpeasant
denotes a p e a s a n t w h o u s e s s i m i l a r technology of production a s t r a d i t i o x a l
a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s and who does n o t s e l l any produce.)
Multiactive peasant-cuZtivator
r e f e r s t o a p e a s a n t - c u l t i v a t o r who combines
own c u l t i v a t i o n with p a i d work e i t h e r i n a g r i c u l t u r e o r i n a non-agricult u r a l s e c t o r ( s ) , o r who i s self-employed i n such s e c t o r s .
Modem agricu2turaZ producer
r e f e r s t o an a g r i c u l t u r a l producer who has ac-
cepted new and advanced technology.
He o r she produces f o r a p r o f i t , and
r e i n v e s t s i n production on a s u s t a i n e d b a s i s .
Farmer
r e f e r s t o a modern a g r i c u l t u r a l producer who c u l t i v a t e crops.
A far-
mer may a l s o keep l i v e s t o c k .
Rancher
r e f e r s t o a modern a g r i c u l t u r a l producer who keeps l i v e s t o c k only.
The main produce i s meat n o t milk.
MuZtiactive farmer
r e f e r s t o a farmer who has p a i d work e i t h e r i n a g r i c u l t u r e
o r i n a n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l s e c t o r ( s ) , or who i s self-employed i n such s e c t o r s .
Pure p e a s a n t / f a r m e r / e t c .
denotes non- multiactive p e a s a n t s / e t c .
Some of t h e
concepts may a l s o be given p r e f i x e s t o d e l i m i t a more s p e c i f i e d category
such a s d a i r y farmer, c a t t l e r a n c h e r , m u l t i a c t i v e weekend farmer e t c .
Worker r e f e r s t o a p e r s o n who h a s e i t h e r p e r m a n e n t o r c a s u a l employment i n
agriculture o r in other sectors.
skilled, skilled o r professional.
A worker i s p a i d i n money, and may b e un-
An a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r i s a worker who
may n o t n e c e s s a r i l y b e p a i d i n money.
Trader r e f e r s t o a p e r s o n who owns a s h o p , bar e t c . o r who i s b u y i n g and
s e l l i n g w i t h o u t a permanent p o i n t o f b u s i n e s s .
A t r a d e r i s self- employed.
APPENDIX 2
FUNCTIONS IN LETLHAKENG AND TUTUME
1976 AND 1980
Numbers
1976
-
1980
Bottlestore
Chibuku s a l e s p o i n t
Clinic
1
1
1
2
A g r i c u l t u r a l Demonstrator
1
1
Chief's representative
1
1
Community Development O f f i c e r
Cooperative o f f i c e
Cooperative s t o r e
Police station
Post o f f i c e
Primary school
N a t i o n a l R e c r u i t i n g Corp.
Shabeens
Sub-landboard
Tax c o l l e c t o r s ' o f f i c e
1
1
Cooperative O f f i c e r
1
1
Councillors
1
2
Tax C o l l e c t o r s
2
2
'National
beer s a l e s p o i n t with a sign outside.
I t is a
2The name was changed by 1980 t o t h e Employment Bureau of A f r i c a .
South A f r i c a n o r g a n i z a t i o n f o r r e c r u i t i n g labour m i g r a n t s t o t h e mines t h e r e .
3 ~ l l e g a al l c o h o l s a l e s p o i n t .
Note.
Clerks i n t h e various i n s t i t u t i o n s e t c . a r e not included.
Number S
1976
1980
Botswana Agr. Marketing Board
B a r c l a y ' s Bank (one day every second week)
Bottlestore/bar
Brigade C e n t r e
Chibuku s a l e s p o i n t
Clinic
D i s t r i c t Council Off i c e
D i s t r i c t Council works d e p t .
Immigration o f f i c e
N a t i o n a l Dev, Bank
Police station
1
Post off i c e
(1 new t o
s t a r t 1981)
Primary school
Secondary s c h o o l
Sl~ops/restaurants
Vegetable market
Bicycle r e p a i r
Watch r e p a i r
Transport vehicles
(passengers)
A q r i c i r l t u r a l Demonstrator
2
Ass. Council S e c r e t a r y
1
Chief's representative
1
1 (Chief)
cornrnunlty Dev. O f f i c e r
1
1
D i s t r i c t Agr. O f f i c e r
1
D i s t r i c t O f f i c e r of Dev.
1
D i s t r i c t O f f i c e r of Lands
1
D i s t r i c t O f f i c e r of t h e Council
1
Educatlan O!-flcer
1
1
I n s p e c t o r of Schools
Tds Collectors
I ~ r e s s m a k e r s ,mechanics, c a r p e n t e r s , brickmakers,
p o u l t r y farm.
1
2
2
v e g e t a b l e garden and
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