Capital Penetration and the Subordination of the Peasantry Under Neoliberalism in Africa

Mazwi, Freedom; Mudimu, G.; Helliker, Kirk

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-89824-3_1

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Commodity prices slumped with the removal of price support systems and the impact of food imports (Moyo, 2011;Patnaik & Patnaik, 2021). Other consequences consisted of widespread land alienation for the peasantry, a decline in the standard of living and rising levels of poverty, and the secular growth of labor reserves (Mazwi et al, 2022;Moyo et al, 2019;Patnaik & Patnaik, 2021;Yeros, 2023). As has been shown, neoliberalism has produced two major detrimental outcomes for agriculture: globalized food production by corporate monopolies mostly located in the North and parts of the South; and expulsions of peasants from their land in the form of land grabs and unfair contract farming arrangements (Amin 2012;.…”

Section: The Importance Of Economic Planning For Accumulation From Belowmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3. In this direction, apart from Mazwi et al (2022) on the CA, there is also the larger tri-continental collaborative project that has addressed various experiences with contract farming, including the state-led model; see .…”

Section: Declaration Of Conflicting Interestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The program provides seed for cereal grains, soybeans, sunflowers, groundnuts, cowpeas, sugar beans, vegetable combo, knapsack sprayers, and cotton, as well as fertilizers and chemicals. In addition to Pfumvudza, a separate Presidential Input Support Scheme benefited a total of 3.3 million rural households in the 2021/2022 agricultural season (Mazwi et al, 2022). The latter scheme differs from Pfumvudza and other input initiatives above in that it is a universal program reaching out to all peasant farmers (Mazwi et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to Pfumvudza, a separate Presidential Input Support Scheme benefited a total of 3.3 million rural households in the 2021/2022 agricultural season (Mazwi et al, 2022). The latter scheme differs from Pfumvudza and other input initiatives above in that it is a universal program reaching out to all peasant farmers (Mazwi et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the 2016/2017 farming season, on the back of a continuing economic downturn, the GoZ additionally introduced the CA program, as a novel contract-farming model targeting maize production (Mazwi et al, 2022). It was a response to the underfinancing of the crop, and it attempted to reduce maize imports and address widespread hunger that had emerged after FTLRP (Mazwi et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Zimbabwe’s Command Agriculture: Problems of Planning Under Neoliberalism

Mazwi,

Yeros

2023

Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy: A triannual Journ

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This article examines the impacts of Zimbabwe’s Command Agriculture (CA) program, a state-driven cereal production model implemented since 2016. In the context of the neglect of cereal crops by African states generally under the accumulation strategies of international and domestic capital, and in the face of persisting neoliberal strategies led by international agencies such as the World Bank, the Zimbabwe experience continues to provide insights into the problems and prospects of planning under neoliberalism. In the case of CA, the Government of Zimbabwe intervened to bolster maize production, which had remained underfunded. The study shows a distinct correlation between national food self-sufficiency and, to some extent, economic stability and growth under state intervention and planning. This suggests that the CA program, as well as other planning initiatives, can stimulate economic growth and development if well managed. It illuminates how farmers were recruited and mobilized under CA and attempts to identify the weaknesses and challenges of the program. We posit that state planning in cereal production poses a threat to neoliberalism and the hierarchical international food system, and is an important step toward attaining national sovereignty.

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